BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
Gate closed and free of workers and trucks Monday morning, the historic Bailey house may be enjoying a reprieve from its scheduled demolition.
“Quite a bit happened over the weekend,” said Sam Moraco of Independence Township, who has called for preservation of the 150-year-old building on Sashabaw Road, north of Clarkston Road.
He was at the house Saturday morning for final board-up with some Bailey descendants on hand to pick up a few final pieces of the house, the very last thing before demolition, when he was contacted by Clarkston teacher Jeff Peariso.
“He had an idea the school could use it for its construction program,” Moraco said. “That would work out great.”
Peariso read about the plight of the house, which was built by some of Independence Township’s earliest settlers, in “Last stand for historic house,” in last week’s paper.
“Thank God for The Clarkston News,” he said. “I’ve been here for 28 years and the community has always been behind us – now is the time to help the rest of the community.”
He contacted Dan Stencil, executive officer for Oakland County Parks and Clarkston resident, and other county officials with his idea to partner his construction tech students with other community groups to renovate the house for use as an educational center.
The project was set to be delayed for utility work, anyway, Stencil said.

The county has worked for years, since the property was donated and made part of the Oakland County Parks system, to preserve the house by repurposing it or moving it to a different location, he said.
“There may be some opportunity for collaborative effort – to talk to other organizations in the community about possibilities to reuse the building and possibly other assets, and see where it goes,” he said.
Peariso’s idea is for Clarkston Community Schools Construction Tech Program to save and restore the Bailey house.
“We would love to use this as a way to train our students on how to renovate and restore,” the teacher said in an email to the county. “Our goal is to restore the home and then set it up as a local Native American tribal museum and educational center for our local community’s history.”
Local construction companies are interested in volunteering to help, he said.
“For our class, it will be a great stepping stone for our students to go from projects in our shop to a real hands on construction. That is our goal to get them ready to go out in our community as skilled construction crews,” he said.
The cost for Clarkston Schools to buy land then build a home would probably be more expensive then restoring the existing building, he said.
“This will also be an example for our students to give back to their community. We are looking at this as a win win for both the county and our school district,” he said.
Issues include the extension of the township safety path north to the park, which is currently slated to go through the house’s location, as well as parking at the site.
The house, which is in the north section of Independence Oaks County Park, is a mix of Gothic and Queen Anne details and designs, according to a review of the structure in 2013.
The blend of styles is found consistently through Independence Township and Clarkston Village and represent a vernacular that is distinctly Clarkston. The mix of styles is more common in the village and is more rare in the township farming area where many of the farmhouses from that era (1880) tend to be less decorative. This more uniquely elegant rural character continues on into the interior, according to the report.
It has been owned by Oakland County Parks and Recreation Commission since 2010, when it was part of the Upper Bushman property donation. It had been used as a rental property for decade and was unoccupied at the time.
The Bailey family helped settle Independence Township, and the house is on the original US Government land grant of 1856. According to a 1998 Independence Township inventory report, “This house is significant because of its high degree of exterior architectural integrity. It is a good example of the T-plan farmhouse style built within the township in the late 1800s.”
The county said it doesn’t have the funds to repair and maintain the structure, and residential leasing of it violates grant agreement and deed restrictions.
For more information, call Oakland County Parks at 248-858-0906, and Independence Township at 248-625-5111.