KRUPP-FUNTUKIS
508 West Jefferson Street

1894 Eastlake
Home Tour 2002

This graceful Modified Eastlake-style house has the distinction of having been home to four generations of the Krupp family.  The Eastlake style is very similar to the Queen Anne or the Princess Anne style, except it lacks the ornamentation usually found on those styles. The front porch, with its triangular roof and spindles is also characteristic of the Eastlake style.  The house is located on the old Edmund Lampson property.  Mr. Lampson was the first permanent white settler in Grand Ledge, arriving here in 1848.  He owned over 150 acres on the south side of the river, as well as some property on the north side.  His third and last home still stands at the corner of West Jefferson and Spring Streets.  Mr. Lampson sold off parts of his property over the years, and after his death in 1889 his heirs continued to do so.  In August 1894 his daughter, Elizabeth Lampson Krupp, sold the lot where the Funtukis house stands to Jacob and Melissa Rosenberger.  The price of the lot was $325.

Jacob Rosenberger (note: his name sometimes appears in the newspaper as “Rosenberg” or “Rosenburg”) built a home on the land shortly afterwards.  The Grand Ledge Independent made note of the building project: (9/14/1894 p.5 col. 3) “J.C. Rosenberger’s new house on West Jefferson Street is rapidly approaching completion.  It is a commodious and modern structure, and will make a fine home.”  The Grand Ledge Independent issued a year-end report on local home construction for 1894—Mr. Rosenberger’s house cost $1000 to build.  We do not know much about the Rosenbergers themselves; Krupp family “legend” fills in some details for us.  Apparently, Jacob was building the home for his bride.  She did not like the house and it is possible the house was not completed.  The Rosenbergers never moved in, according to the story passed down through the Krupp family.  What we do know for certain is that about one year later, in April 1896, the Grand Ledge Independent announced that Mrs. Elizabeth Krupp purchased the property from the Rosenbergers.  (4/24/1896) “Mrs. Elizabeth Krupp has purchased of J.C. Rosenburg his new house and lot on W. Jefferson and sold the place occupied by herself to W.J. DeVoe, salesman at Geo. Campbell & Sons.”  We do not know where Mrs. Krupp was living on West Jefferson at the time she decided to move.

Elizabeth Lampson Krupp was the daughter of Edmund Lampson and his first wife, Amy Hedges Lampson.  She was born in Farmington Michigan on May 23, 1845, one of eleven children.  The family moved to this area when she was three years old, traveling by team and wagon since there were no railroads here yet.  The family lived in a log cabin until Edmund and his sons cleared a tract of land and built a more permanent home on what was to become West Jefferson.  According to an article written about her when she reached her eightieth birthday, “…Mrs. Krupp, who has lived her entire life on this one street, has thus seen the city and state grow and develop from the very bud.” 

Elizabeth, or Libbie as she was called, married Frank Krupp on January 26, 1870.  They had two sons, Edmund, born in 1870, and Frank, born in 1871.  A terrible tragedy struck the young family on March 18, 1873 when Frank Krupp was killed in a saw mill accident.  The Grand Ledge Independent called it  “One of the most shocking calamities that has ever visited this village…” Frank and Mr. Barrett owned a steam saw mill, called Krupp & Barrett.  Frank was “…in the act of lifting one end of a board with a view of placing it on the log carriage…” when apparently, in stepping backwards and turning around, he lost his balance and fell into the moving saw.  Frank was a nephew to one of the other early settler families in this area, Peter and Frances Kent.  In such a small village, and with so many families related to one another, it was a terrible blow to the community.  His obituary described his funeral at the Congregational Church:  “The procession left his late residence at about 2 o’clock PM.  The hearse was preceded by a long line of members of the Masonic fraternity, followed by a large circle of the immediate family connections of the deceased.  On arriving at the church, it was found densely crowded in every part, with the exception of those seats that had been reserved for the procession, and although every effort was made to accommodate all, about 100 went away unable to obtain an entrance.”

If Frank’s death was a blow to the community, one can only imagine how devastating a blow it was to Elizabeth, who was left a young widow with two very small sons to raise alone.  She never remarried. She worked as a seamstress to support her family.   Edmund grew up and married Edna Harris in 1903.  Edmund had a farm in Roxand and he and Edna raised two sons there, Gerald and Kenneth.  Frank Krupp never married, and lived in the house at 508 West Jefferson with his mother.  The 1920 Census records indicate that Frank, like his brother, was a farmer, probably helping to work the Roxand farm.  Elizabeth died on November 13, 1931 at the farm in Roxand.  She was 86 years old.  Her obituary praised her generous nature: “…Mrs. Krupp possessed a fine spirit of hospitality, counting it a real pleasure to entertain her friends.  Aunt Libbie, as she was lovingly called by both relative and friend, was a haven to which her friends loved to go.”  Elizabeth and Frank were living at the Roxand farm with Edmund and his family at the time she died, and the house was vacant or rented out for a number of years.  Frank Krupp inherited the house from his mother, but he continued to live at the farm with his brother’s family. 

Edmund’s sons Kenneth and Gerald grew up and graduated from Grand Ledge High School, in 1924 and 1931 respectively.  Frank Krupp died in 1935 and left the house to his nephew, Gerald. Gerald married Florence Wolf in 1937.  Florence was a local girl, graduating from Grand Ledge High School in 1935. Gerald was working for the State Highway Department and Florence also was an employee of the State at the time of the wedding.  Their wedding announcement in the Grand Ledge Independent said: “The young people are well known and popular in the younger social set of the city.  They will reside in an apartment they have furnished for occupancy at the E.L. Krupp country home.”   Edmund and Edna moved from the farm into the house on West Jefferson in March 1940, when Edna became ill. Gerald and Florence lived on Washington Street at that time, near Greenwood School.  They moved into the West Jefferson Street house to be with Edmund and Edna.  She died at home on May 8, 1940 at the age of 61.  Edmund lived the rest of his life in this home with Gerald and Florence and their two sons, Ron and Don.  He died in 1948. 

The house had fallen into disrepair during the years the family was absent, and needed a lot of work and updating.  Over the years, the Krupps added the coat closet in the front vestibule.  They put on a new roof and new siding.  They put new cupboards in the kitchen and painted the woodwork downstairs.  They took out the doors that separated the formal front parlor from the rest of the house and changed the layout of the rooms: the old parlor became their living room; the old living room became their dining room; the old dining room became their new kitchen; and the old kitchen became their laundry room. Some of the cupboards from the original kitchen are still there, in the laundry room. The first-floor bedroom/office was Edmund’s bedroom during the nine years he lived there.  After he died the room was used as a den.  An old porch was enclosed to enlarge the bathroom.  The upstairs remained pretty much as it had always been. The Krupps used the large upstairs hallway area as a bedroom.  There was a small bathroom area up there too. 

Florence Krupp has fond memories of the old family home, but the time came when it was too large and too much to maintain, and she and Gerald decided to move.  They sold the house to Harry and Denise Funtukis in 1987.

The Funtukises have updated and renovated the old house, and made it a comfortable home to raise their young family.  They put in some new windows and upgraded the electrical service and plumbing.  Inside, they stripped old wallpaper, repaired plaster walls, stripped the old woodwork upstairs and refinished it (the woodwork upstairs was not painted, but the old varnish had darkened over the years).  They gutted and re-outfitted the bathroom.  There are new cabinets in the kitchen.  They added the deck on the back of the house.  They took up old carpet and refinished the floors upstairs.  The house, now over one hundred years old, has been updated to accommodate life in the 21st century, and Harry and Denise have accomplished that while maintaining many of the elements that make the 19th century house so charming.