This little gray Grosse Ile limestone Gothic Revival cottage was built for a family with “a strong taste for rural life and scenery.” Its owner, Samuel Douglass (1814–1898), was a lawyer (and an amateur scientist, who accompanied his cousin Douglass Houghton on expeditions) who commuted to Detroit. The house has intersecting gables with lacy vergeboards, finials, an assortment of porches, an oriel window, and ornamental brick chimneys typical of the style.