Charles A. Goff House

This two-story frame residence is one of Rochester's best surviving examples of a late nineteenth-century Queen Anne style house. It features elaborate barge boards, beveled corners, diamond windows and fish scale shingles. Local building contractor Charles A. Goff built this house as his family residence in 1885-86, and lived in it for only a few years before moving his family to Detroit. The original carriage barn at the back of the lot is one of only a few remaining examples in the city of Rochester.

This house was built in 1885 by Charles A. Goff, a carpenter by trade, as his personal family residence. The house was begun late in the building season of 1885 and was not occupied until early 1886. The Rochester Era reported on October 2, 1885: "Charley Goff is painting his new house on Madison Square and will finish the building at once." The Rochester correspondent to the Utica Sentinel wrote in that newspaper on February 7, 1886: "Charley Goff is putting up a new house on his lot over in Madison Square. It bids fair to be one of the finest houses in that part of the town, and the design is something new."

On March 26, 1886, the Rochester Era continued its commentary: "Chas. Goff has moved into his new house opposite Madison Square." Goff moved his family to Detroit a few years later and leased the house to a tenant. It was sold to Hattie Lee Baker in 1893, and was occupied by William Wilson Benson (1866-1937) and his wife Augusta M. Retzlaff Benson (1872-1954) in 1897. Benson was a motorman for the D.U.R., a charter member of the Rochester Volunteer Fire Department and also served as village marshal in 1907. He was the father of Carl Benson, a long-time barber in the village of Rochester. William Benson died in his home at 446 Sixth Street in 1937.

UPDATE: The Charles A. Goff house and carriage barn were demolished in August 2022.

"Charley Goff is painting his new house on Madison Square...," Rochester Era, October 2, 1885, p.1.

"Charley Goff is putting up a new house on his lot over in Madison Square...," Rochester correspondent to Utica Sentinel, February 7, 1886, p.4.

"Chas. Goff has moved into his new house opposite Madison Square...," Rochester Era, March 26, 1886, p.1.

"William Benson and family have removed to the house on Madison Sq.," Rochester Era, September 10, 1897, p.1.

"Old D.U.R. Motorman Dies at His Home Here," Rochester Era, January 15, 1937, p.1.

"83-Year-Old Native of Rochester Buried Here Last Tuesday," Rochester Era, March 2, 1945, p.1.

Adaline L. Sprague to Charles A. Goff, Lot 45, Sprague's Addition to the Village of Rochester, 14 April 1883, $65 consideration, Oakland County Record of Deeds, Liber 141, p.611.

Charles A. Goff to Edith M. Goff, Lot 45, Sprague's Addition to the Village of Rochester, 03 October 1889, $1 consideration plus assumption of existing mortgage, Oakland County Record of Deeds, Liber 162, p.411.

Charles A. Goff and Edith M. Goff, his wife, to Hattie B. Lee Baker, Lot 45, Sprague's Addition to the Village of Rochester, 05 March 1893, consideration $330 plus assumption of existing mortgage, Oakland County Record of Deeds, Liber 166, p.87.

"United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MS9K-VY5 : accessed 6 November 2020), William W Bursarn [i.e. Benson], Avon township Rochester village, Oakland, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 81, sheet 10A, family 215, NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1972.); FHL microfilm 1,240,735. 

"United States Census, 1920," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org /pal:/MM9.1.1/MZQ5-QNM : accessed 28 Dec 2012), Augusta Benson in household of William W Benson, , Oakland, Michigan; citing enumeration district (ED) , sheet 17B, family 411, NARA microfilm publication T625, FHL microfilm 1820789.

"United States Census, 1930," index and images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org /pal:/MM9.1.1/XQ1V-37D : accessed 28 Dec 2012), Augusta Benson in household of William Benson, Rochester, Oakland, Michigan; citing enumeration district (ED) 0003, sheet 7B, family 190, NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 1016.

"United States Census, 1940," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K4GB-QJC : 29 February 2020), Augusta Benson, Rochester, Avon Township, Oakland, Michigan, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) 63-3, sheet 2B, line 78, family 44, Sixteenth Census of the United States, 1940, NARA digital publication T627. Records of the Bureau of the Census, 1790 - 2007, RG 29. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2012, roll 1798.