Adrian Family has owned house since lawyer bought it in 1871

By John Mulcahy The Daily Telegram (Adrian) ADRIAN, Mich. (AP) -- Prosser "Mike" Watts stands on the stairs of his Adrian home. Watts' great-grandfather, Richard Austin Watts, bought the home in about 1871, and it has been owned by the family since then. Watts is also the fourth generation of his family to live there. The home, built in the mid-1860s, was bought in about 1871 by Watts' great-grandfather, Richard Austin Watts, a Civil War veteran who had been wounded five times and served with Maj. Gen. John Hartranft, the man put in charge of the Lincoln assassination conspirators. Richard Austin Watts also founded what today is the Walker, Watts, Jackson and McFarland law firm in Adrian, and he was one of the organizers of the Adrian State Bank. Watts' descendants and their families who have occupied the home include his son, Richard Herbert Watts; grandson, Richard Prosser Watts; and the current occupant, Prosser Watts. Prosser Watts describes his occupation of the family home for 50 years as almost "accidental." Just out of law school at the University of Michigan in 1958, he decided to come back to Lenawee County because of a cabin the family also owns at Sand Lake, he said. "We always came back to Sand Lake during the summer," he said. Watts moved in as a renter with his uncle, Richard Prosser Watts, and practiced law in the firm started by his great-grandfather. Prosser Watts bought the family home from his uncle, who then remained as a renter until he was 93 years old. The house itself has gone through changes during the years. Built by a man who owned a brick yard on Mixer Street, the home had 15 rooms when first built, Watts said. The home was built in the Italianate style, one feature of which is its tall windows. Sometime from about 1890 to 1900 the house got major renovations, probably when his grandfather, Richard Herbert Watts, moved back in at the behest of his great-grandfather, Watts said. A billiard room was added. Also, the dining room was redone in the Adam style, which was then enjoying a revival, Watts said. Watts pointed to the ceiling trim, which is more refined than the heavier original Victorian construction in the rest of the house. At some time before 1900 the exterior brick of the house was painted with a yellow ochre paint, remnants of which remain and which Watts has decided to leave because he likes the look it gives to the house. Published: Tue, May 8, 2012