Linden's 1871 Mill Leans Toward the River. Saving It Costs $5.62 Million.

By Carrie Thompson, Strategic Marketing Real Estate Agent, eXp Realty | Grand Blanc & Genesee County, MI

The Linden Mill was built in 1871 on the Shiawassee River. It is four stories of hand-hewn timber, it leans toward the water, and according to the man who runs the museum inside it, there is not a single nail or screw holding it together.

It is also making noise.

"It does creak and squeak," said Pete Maas, president of the Linden Mills Historical Society and Museum. "It breathes." (MLive, October 2025)

Maas has been inside it at night. He told MLive that when you get up on the top floor and it starts squeaking on a windy day, you look over your shoulder.

The building is now in the middle of a $5.62 million renovation.

The lean is real, and only part of the building does it

Jackie Hoist of H2A Architects, the Davison-based firm brought in to examine the building before construction, described what they found.

"It leans towards the river, but what's interesting is only the basement leans. The rest of it is straight," Hoist said. "So, then we scratched our heads and said, 'Did they know it was leaning when they built it?'"

They also found a twist in the building, which Hoist joked had not been included in the drawings.

The fix involves elements called counterforts. Hoist described them as being like huge concrete claws or buttresses driven into the earth on the opposite side. The goal is not to straighten the building. "Rather than hold it up, we keep it from going any farther," she said.

The examination recorded the building's features, including oak timber columns and beams, rough saw and lumber joists, planking and siding, using laser scanning to determine what the structure can still carry. Hoist called the work almost forensic, an effort to discover what the original builders did and how, and whether it could still be done similarly.

More than half the budget is going into the ground

Linden City Council voted 6 to 0 in August 2025 to approve the project. (MLive, September 5, 2025)

"That building means a lot to us," council member Denise Miller said at the meeting.

The work includes a roof replacement, a new porch, window installation and restoration, façade and masonry improvements, exterior repainting, and an addition on the west side. Inside, there will be bathrooms on every floor of the four-story building and an elevator to meet ADA requirements.

But the largest single piece is underneath. Council member Brad Dick said rebuilding the mill's foundation alone will cost nearly $2.9 million, with historic preservation of the building running about another $500,000.

On a $5.62 million project, roughly half the money is going into the foundation.

Of the total, $4 million came from a legislative enhancement grant through the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, directed by state Representative Mike Mueller of Linden. The city covered the remainder.

The foundation has three rows of stone, one for each rebuild

This is the detail worth carrying around.

Mayor Liz Armstrong said the thing that struck her most was what is holding the building up.

"There were three rows of stones in the foundation, one for each time they have rebuilt," Armstrong said. "That speaks to the strength and character of this community in the past as well as today."

The rebuilds were not metaphorical. Maas said the current building is not the first on that foundation. A fire destroyed the original mill in the 1840s. Pioneers had placed a grist mill on the north bank of the Shiawassee and a sawmill on the south bank, and after the first two burned in 1845, a third grist mill went up on the south bank.

The State of Michigan approved the Articles of Incorporation for the Village of Linden on March 2, 1871. The mill standing today was built that same year.

It ran until the 1950s. The Village of Linden then bought it and restored it as a civic center. In 1972 it became the first structure in Genesee County placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and it marked its 150th anniversary in 2021.

"The mill has withstood so much unbelievable turmoil and stress that it's unbelievable this building has survived," Maas said. He noted that people come from across the country to see it. "There's not one nail or screw in there, it's all hand hewn. It's just unbelievable what's keeping this thing together."

What is going back inside, and when

The museum had to empty out. Maas, whose wife Barb helps run the museum's operations, said they pulled every artifact, including a buggy and a fire hydrant, and stored them in garages, barns and other buildings.

When the mill reopens, the museum will occupy the fourth floor and the library will take the first. The basement becomes mixed-use community space. The third floor will stay vacant for now, and the city plans to advertise it for lease as commercial space.

At the groundbreaking, the reopening was described as roughly a year out. Novi-based Cunningham-Limp Development Co. is construction manager, with president Sam Ashley on hand at the ceremony.

Why this is a real estate story

Because a town that will put $2.9 million into rebuilding a foundation under a 155-year-old building is telling you something about itself.

Mayor Armstrong said it at the groundbreaking better than I can. "Whether you have lived in Linden your entire life or recently moved here, you know this community is special and how much this building means to our community."

Buyers looking at Linden will compare price per square foot and school district and drive time, and all of that matters. What is harder to see on a listing sheet is whether a place is willing to spend real money on something that produces no revenue, simply because it is theirs. Linden voted 6 to 0 on that question.

There is also a practical note in here. The third floor of the building is staying vacant, and the city plans to advertise it for lease as commercial space once the project is finished. Commercial space inside a National Register building does not come up often. If you know a business owner who has wanted a space with actual character in this area, that is worth watching.

The City of Linden posts council and DDA information at lindenmi.us, and the Linden Mills Historical Society runs the museum that is going back into the fourth floor.

If you are thinking about buying or selling in Linden, Fenton, Grand Blanc, Davison, Flushing, Swartz Creek, Burton, Goodrich or Holly, call or text me at (810) 893-3269.

About Carrie Thompson

Carrie Thompson is a licensed Michigan Realtor (#6501338662) with eXp Realty, serving Grand Blanc, Fenton, Davison, Linden, Flushing, Swartz Creek, Burton, Goodrich, Holly, and Genesee County. Known as "Your Favorite Property Girl," she brings a strategic marketing approach to every listing and every buyer search. Call or text (810) 893-3269.