WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI – For sale: historic farmstead with roots in Washtenaw County’s agrarian (and German-speaking) past. Those interested in demolition need not apply.

That’s not exactly the kind of ad Scio Township is preparing to issue for a five-acre property it owns West Liberty Road, some five miles outside Ann Arbor, but it might come pretty close.

The township finds itself in possession of the Wild-Frey farmstead thanks to a tax foreclosure, and officials are taking steps to put historic protections in place before flipping the property to new owners through a formal proposal process.

“There’s a wonderful history of sustained and consistent use of the land for agriculture, so what this farmstead does is it helps tell that background story for how Washtenaw County had its livelihood for such a long time,” said Melissa Milton-Pung, an architectural historian hired by the township as lead investigator for a historic survey process for the property at 7970 West Liberty Road.

The land features a farmhouse seated on a fieldstone foundation, a dairy barn likely dating back more than 100 years and a series of out-buildings, including a chicken coop and sheep barn.

“A lot of people don’t know that Washtenaw County at one time had one of largest populations of sheep in Michigan,” Milton-Pung said, explaining the farm is a reminder of the local heyday for wool production and rearing of lambs for meat.

“This wasn’t a situation of a hardscrabble, trying to make it off of what we can do (situation). This was more of a prosperous farmstead where they were actively participating in a trade network and contributing to the economic livelihood of Washtenaw County,” she said.

Who are they?

The answer that question will likely come into focus in more detail this coming year as Milton-Pung and a committee of experts assembled by the Washtenaw County Historic District Commission at Scio Township’s request put together a report on the historic significance of the farmstead, a necessary step in the process of having it designated as a historic district, preserving its resources in perpetuity.

A preliminary survey report Milton-Pung has already authored sketches a rough outline of the history, from the land’s place in the territory of the indigenous Anishinaabeg, a group of native peoples in the Great Lakes region, to English-speaking settlement of the area beginning in the 1820s.

The Frey family, of German descent, owned the property for more than 70 years between the late 1800s and 1970s, when Paul Wild married one of the Freys, subsequently running an apple cider operation with farm animals on the land, according to Milton-Pung’s report and a historical summary in a separate Scio Township document.

Township officials found themselves in possession of the farmstead — and more than 50 acres of surrounding land — through the settlement of an unpaid tax situation, according to township Supervisor Will Hathaway.

Since the 1980s, it was owned by Ernest Bateson, who has since died.

Bateson’s company Ann Arbor Super Soils removed roughly 50% of the topsoil from the land for sale, according to the Scio Township report. But he and his companies also faced foreclosure proceedings and at least six different lawsuits from local municipalities, including allegations of zoning violations, MLive/The Ann Arbor News reported in 2014.

Scio Township acquired the land for conservation purposes and has converted most of it to the Liberty Pond Nature Area, according to Hathaway.

The new preserve, already a destination for school field trips and being developed with a trailhead and parking lot, is the “success story” for the township, Hathaway said. But officials didn’t want to be in the rental business when it came to the five acres where the farm buildings sit, he added.

As a result they turned to a conservation strategy they’ve successfully employed with other farmland known as “buy-protect-sell,” where properties are acquired, protected often through conservation easements and then flipped to a new owner.

Read more: How a ‘chance conversation’ saved a historic 160-acre farm near Ann Arbor from becoming McMansions

In this case, officials recognize the farm buildings are vulnerable to demolition, especially with development encroaching on the area, according to Milton-Pung. The historic district designation would ensure new owners protect the property, while also offering resources for preservation and restoration through the county commission.

“What is critical about this property is that there’s the opportunity for someone to purchase it and care for it. Oftentimes these properties don’t come to market. They are either kept in the family or because they are attached to much larger plots of land it’s no longer within the range of attainability for people to acquire it because the price point is usually much higher,” Milton-Pung said.

Hathaway says the township has already been approached by people interested in the farm. The township intends to issue a formal request for proposals, and vet them before choosing a buyer, he said.

The supervisor hopes the process will happen quickly, so the farmstead buildings can avoid any further deterioration.

The farmhouse is mostly in good shape, Milton-Pung said, though it will need to be updated with modern appliances and electrical and plumbing systems. The main barn is also structurally sound, but some of the out-buildings are deteriorating and on the verge of collapse, she added.

“In terms of looking at it in terms of a historic property, it’s pretty darn good. I’ve lived in worse,” she said, adding the property is closely monitored by township officials and neighbors even while not occupied.

Since the the township requested the county Historic District Commission undertake the evaluation process for the historic district, it will ultimately have to be approved by the county board of commissioners, with opportunities for public comment and review of the final historic district report beforehand.

Milton-Pung said she aims to make progress on the historical research for the report early next year.

“I’m doing this because I live in the township, I care about this property and I want to make sure we’re able to follow through with the buy-protect-sell strategy, which I really admire,” she said.

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