The Alumni Association would like to thank the homeowners of Ann Arbor's "Little Big House" for sharing the rich history associated with their home and preserving its legacy for the community. We appreciate them allowing us to use the "Little Big House" name for our hurricane relief project.

Ann Arbor's "Little Big House"

Built in 1930 by Dr. Fielding Yost, University of Michigan’s famous and most successful football coach, and his wife, Eunice Fite Yost, Ann Arbor’s own “Little Big House” is deep in University of Michigan tradition. Just two years after overseeing construction of the University of Michigan Football Stadium (which Yost proudly coined the “Big House”), he created his “Second Big House” or “Little Big House”, as he liked to call it.

The home is one of Ann Arbor’s most significant properties not only for its long history but also its architectural beauty and setting. Standing on one of the highest plot of land in Ann Arbor city limits, just east of Geddes Road near the arboretum, the house is designed in the Georgian Revival style. Reflective of Yost’s larger than life personality and vision, it has the same grand feel as the University of Michigan Stadium, with large common rooms, graceful exterior grill work, and Roman arches.

A stone fence surrounds the property which Dr. Yost created from original University of Michigan Law School stones, including an inscribed founding stone of the University. The “Pine Room”, located on the lower level of the home, was Yost’s spacious study and his favorite place to gather his University of Michigan players each Sunday for team strategy sessions. The gatherings were often joined by fans and friends, including local and national celebrities such as Henry Ford and Will Rogers.