Building Description JJ Deal and Son Carriage Factory - Kiddie Brush and Toy Company, Jonesville Michigan
The J. J. Deal and Son Carriage Factory is situated on the east side of West Street in the southwest corner of downtown Jonesville. The historic four-story portion of the building has a flat roof, brick walls, and a long rectangular footprint that runs east-west along an alley located one block south of the historic Chicago Road (US-12). One and two-story metal-clad additions take up the south half of the property which runs along South Street.
The site is flat, the west facade of the building abuts the sidewalk, and the north elevation abuts a paved alley. Newer, non-historic one and two-story additions are attached to the south and east elevations. There are asphalt paved parking areas and recessed driveways on the south side of the addition to access two loading docks.
The historic portion of the front facade faces west and is three bays wide and four stories tall. The bays are separated by brick piers. The entrance fills the entire center bay on the first floor and is marked by a small flat canopy across the top of the opening and a set of three concrete steps leading up to it. The entrance has a solid metal door on the left, with vertical wood siding filling in the right two-thirds of the opening. Transom windows are located above the door and above the siding. The bays on either side of the opening each contain two double-hung windows in jack-arch openings. As the windows are vinyl replacements they do not have the original muntin pattern, but have an appearance of multiple lights in the upper and lower sashes.
The second floor has two original six-over-nine double-hung windows in each bay. The third and fourth floors retain the original jack arch openings but the windows have been replaced by boards. There is a brick band between the third and fourth floors, and at the top of the fourth floor creating a frame around the top floor, probably a result of the fourth floor being added in 1909. A stone plaque with "Deal 1897" is set in the center of the top of the wall.
The north elevation of the historic building is four stories tall and has thirty openings in each floor spread equally across the elevation. The base of the building has a concrete coating applied from the ground to the bottom of the first-floor window sills. There are two door openings at ground level in the east half of the building. In the fourth vertical bank of openings from the east edge of the building there is a jack arch opening containing a pair of non-original solid metal doors; the transom has been boarded closed. The thirteenth vertical bank of openings from the east end of the building contains a metal overhead garage in a jack-arch opening. The balance of the first-floor openings contain the original six-over-nine double-hung wood windows or are either boarded or have metal vents. All but two of the second-floor openings contain the original wood, six-over-nine double-hung windows. One has been boarded, and the other is a taller door-size opening that has been boarded. All of the third and fourth-floor window openings have been boarded.
The east elevation is comprised of the flat roofed addition's one-story painted concrete block wall with no openings, in front of the first floor of the historic building. The top three floors of the east end of the historic building are visible behind and above the addition. The three bays each contain two window openings at every floor. The second floor retains four of the original six-over-nine wood double-hung windows, one opening has a vent, and one has been boarded. The third and fourth-floor openings have been boarded.
The south elevation of the historic building has non-historic metal-clad one to two-story additions covering the first two floors. The upper two floors are devoid of openings except for two stacked windows in the third and fourth floors near the west end that have been boarded. The top of the flat-roofed brick elevator and stair shaft are slightly visible on the roof.
The additions to the building extend to the south and to the east. The earliest addition, circa 1960, is a red brick-faced two-story addition attached to the south side of the west facade of the historic building. The facade is not divided into bays but has six one-over-one double-hung vinyl windows spaced equally across the first floor. The second floor has two metal multi-pane windows above two of the first-floor windows. A one-story concrete block addition (c. 1970) extends from the east end of the north elevation. It has painted concrete block walls, a flat roof, and no openings.
The south elevation of the additions are sheathed in vertical metal siding above a concrete foundation. The additions span the entire south side of the original building and are in a variety of sizes and footprints. The west section extends the furthest south, nearly to South Street, and has two metal sliding windows. Moving eastward there is a recessed loading dock with a sloped driveway leading to a large metal overhead door and a pedestrian door accessed by a set of wood stairs. The next section is the widest and has a pedestrian door, a large metal overhead door, and three small window openings at the top of the wall. A small gable-roofed section has a metal canopy supported by metal posts over a concrete loading dock. A second sloped driveway accesses the loading dock. The easternmost section is the back wall of the one-story concrete block addition and has one large metal overhead door.
The interior of the historic four-story building is typical for slow-burning construction. The building has two rows of solid one foot square posts with flared capitals. The posts have metal caps that aid in supporting one foot square solid wood beams that run the length of the building. The two-inch by twelve-inch floor joists run between the beams and are attached to the beams with metal joist hangers. At the exterior walls the joists are in brick pockets to fall inward if damaged by fire. The floor-to-ceiling height is about ten feet on all four floors. The ground floor surface is concrete. The second, third, and fourth floors are made up of six-inch wide planks running lengthwise that support two-inch wide wood flooring running across the building width.
The brick wall between the original west section and later east section of the building remains in place with door openings. The doors are heavy hung sliding doors that are encased in sheet metal. The only vertical circulation in the building consists of a brick-encased stairway and elevator hoist which is located near the center of the east end of the building.
The interior of the additions are comprised of several large open spaces separated by concrete block walls. The floors are concrete. The metal roof structure is exposed. The gable-roof section of the addition has exposed wood trusses.
