The Chappel-Stewart House

By the late 1870s, Delos Chappell was a Nationally known architect who specialized in designing Water and Sewer systems around the country.

 

After taking a municipal role in Colorado, Delos’ parents, Allen Darwin Chappell & Lydia Delano (Hart) oversaw the construction of this home which was soon to be located at “Number 13 Elm”. Once completed, Allen & Lydia moved into the home in the Fall of 1880, with their daughter Louise’s family joining them in April 1881. Although Delos had funded its construction and visited once after it was complete, he never moved back from Colorado or took occupancy. Louise and William Coats had three children; Freeman “Fred” Coats, William Russell Coats Jr, and D.A. Coats, who remained in the home until 1893.

 

Interestingly, the house was then sold to a fraternity who had possession for only 16 days. Then it was sold to George W. Miller. In 1896, it was bought by Nathaniel & Ella Stewart, who were friends of the Chappells.

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Nathaniel Stewart arrived in Kalamazoo on May 5th, 1868, 20 years old, penniless and friendless, making his rise through law school and building his career as a prominent attorney and circuit judge all the more impressive.

 

Stewart was on the board for the mental institution at Asylum Lake, and also was instrumental in his fundraising role with Mayor Samuel Folz for Western Normal College, now WMU.

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Upon purchasing 213 Elm in 1896, Stewart extensively remodeled the house. He replaced and updated doors, moldings, hardware, installed gasolier-electrolier chandeliers and converted the fireplaces to natural gas.

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Nathaniel and Ella went on to raise 2 children, Donald Argyle Stewart and Gordon Lyttle Stewart. After Nathaniel died in 1919, the home continued to remain in the family until 1963. Since then, the home has been home to four different families who have done substantial work in its preservation and care.

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The highly ornate, beautiful Queen Anne home contains Eastlake & Stick Style architecture. Its exterior façade has twelve patterns of siding and an array of brackets and woodwork, designed to mimic the piece-meal homes of Tudor England. The sagging front porch roof with its intricate ornamentation was a feat of engineering and carpentry.

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The interior of this home boasts 10 stained glass windows, stunning hand-carved newel posts, and a sloping staircase that slowly winds to the second floor. Each room is also trimmed with a different species of wood.

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The ornate gasolier-electrolier chandeliers are still fully functional. Additionally, one of the five fireplaces has a unique fluted chimney with a sliding stained glass window above it.

 

In most recent years, the house has had its entire roof replaced , along with the HVAC unit in the carriage house which was converted into a luxury apartment a little more than a decade ago. 213 Elm Street remains as one of the most finely preserved homes not only in the Stuart Neighborhood, but in Kalamazoo

as a whole.