Every now and then, I come across photos that need to be shared. Today was no exception as I found a picture of Mellen House as it was taken in 1948. It appeared on the front page of the March 4 edition of The Romeo Observer that same year.
This home was constructed in 1863 as an Italianate home, and it initially belonged to Harvey Mellen - a surveyor and lumberer who served in the Michigan House of Representatives and Senate in the late 1800s. When he was killed in a train accident in 1895, daughter Sarah Stephens - wife of Henry Stephens II - took over ownership and expanded and redesigned the property in the Colonial style. Then in 1927, the home was transformed into the exclusive Pennington School for Girls aka Paton Hall, and it remained so until 1936 when it was taken over by the Wehenkel Sanitarium as a tuberculosis sanitarium.
In 1948, Dr. Wehenkel decided that he wanted to retire, so he sold the property to Melvin F. Lanphar and Company. Lanphar was not only the president of that business, but also of the Romeo Savings Bank at the time. Arrangements were made so that Mr. and Mrs. Richard Sammond could lease said property to expand the facilites of the Sammond Lodge - another sanitarium.
Since then, the Mellen House has been a private residence, a restaurant, an office building, and as of now, the Romeo location for the Macomb Family Services.
I wouldn't be surprised if the importance of this home in the Village of Romeo was the reason why The Romeo Observer put the sale of it on its front page in 1948. I would've done the same thing knowing how well-documented the residence is.
Source: The Romeo Observer, March 3, 1948, p.1 and p.8 and May 11, 1988, p.3-A