Enoch Shaffer House

Home of Potato Farmer

Built around 1870, the Enoch Shaffer House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The brick Victorian farmhouse resides along Douglas Avenue, just south of Ravine Road. Shaffer came to Kalamazoo to pursue a life of farming after having spent time as “baker, photographer and dry goods salesman.” He was known locally for his potatoes. Originally from Pennsylvania, he was a Civil War veteran, having served in an Ohio unit before migrating to Kalamazoo in the late 1860s. Shaffer married Josephine Lilly in 1868. She lived in the home for several more years after Enoch died in 1913.

NRHP Nomination Form

“The Shaffer House is a well detailed Italianate farm house with many attractive Gothic-style features. Two-and-one-half stories in height, and of brick construction, the dwelling rests upon a cut stone foundation. Utilizing a cross-shaped plan, the façade to the home is unusual as it employs a large projecting bay in the center. The windows of the house are typical of the Italianate style and feature elaborate keystone hoods. The gables are each attractively trimmed as is the front porch. Gothic-style features on the home include the curvilinear sawn bargeboard present in the steep gables and the expressive brackets present under the front and side bays and on the front porch.”

Written by Ryan Gage, Kalamazoo Public Library staff, June 2024