The brick Italianate Passolt house is one of the few that survived the 1893 fire. Passolt (1836–1914), a manufacturer of soap, had his house designed by Bude (1827–1910), a German-born engineer who arrived in Saginaw in 1855 and earned a reputation as a drainage expert, bridge engineer, architect, wood-carver, cabinetmaker, and teacher. Before the ready availability of architects in Michigan, Bude and other engineers, who had gone to Saginaw to work on internal improvement projects, prepared the architectural plans for major projects. The symmetrical hipped-roof house has a full-height projecting gabled center incorporating the entrance, which is sheltered by a columned and classically detailed porch. The richly corbeled and paneled exterior walls rise to dramatically projecting eaves supported by paired scrolled brackets.