The one that got away

The Willis Log Cabin was moved to Cobblestone Farm ini 1981. But another cabin takes the title as "Ann Arbor's Last Log Cabin."

Ann Arbor’s last pioneer cabin stood at 1563 South Maple Road for more than a hundred years on a bluff overlooking the city from the west. The ancient structure was offered to the Cobblestone Farm Association by the Ann Arbor Board of Realtors in 1977.

Kurtis Exterminating Company did an assessment of the property and said they could find “no traces of termites” and the damage that had been done “was created by Powder Post Beetles over the years, plus also damage from the elements.”

Robert M. Darvas & Associates, consulting structural engineers, made an inspection, reporting on the roof, attic floor, grade floor level, exterior walls, dry-rot, and the possibility of moving the building. After that report the Board of Realtors decided not to restore the cabin.

CFA asked the realtors for permission to use the funds for farm restoration.

Elder Richard Foster led the Spiritual Israel Church in the old cabin until it was razed in October of 1986.