History of Manistee Ranch

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Manistee Ranch was built by Herbert W. Hamilton in 1897 as a home for his family. The house is better known as the residence of Louis M. Sands, who purchased it in 1907 and named in Manistee Ranch after his hometown in Michigan.

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The Manistee Ranch Historic Site consists of the main house, a barn (the granary), a garage built in 1912, an office building dating from about 1924, a small field with a farming/ranching exhibit and the date orchard which is over 85 years old.  The house itself is a late example of the Queen Anne Revival style.  It has three stories and a basement and is constructed of brick masonry and wood framing.  Its most distinctive feature is the square tower, known as The Sky Parlor, rising above the center of the house that affords an unsurpassed view of surrounding areas.  In 1925 Sands began two major alterations to the house.  On the west he added a bedroom for his daughter, and on the east he removed part of the original porch to make way for an extension of the living room, basement and upper story.  In 1947 John Sands enclosed the breezeway between the main house and the separate kitchen, forming a new kitchen and breakfast room.

 

In 1996 the Glendale Arizona Historical Society acquired two acres and the buildings from the family with the help of grants from the State Historic Preservation Office and the Sands family.  At the same time the City of Glendale acquired the date orchard from the family with the help of a Heritage Fund grant.

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                                                                              Herbert W. Hamilton

 

A lumberman from Marinette, Wisconsin, Hamilton visited the Salt River Valley in February 1897, purchased a half-section of land in July, and by August began building the ranch house.  Just who designed the house is unknown, but it has been suggested that a well-known Chicago architect, who designed the Guest House of nearby Sahuaro Ranch was the designer.

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The Hamiltons occupied the house from December 1897 until 1903, during which time Mrs. Hamilton gave birth (in California) to their fourth child.  While in Arizona, Hamilton was concerned with cattle-raising and land speculation, not lumbering.  But in 1903 he moved to Eureka in northern California where he established the Hamilton Land and Lumber Company.  Nevertheless, for more than a decade, Hamilton continued to have extensive land holdings in the Salt River Valley.