This thirty-one room mansion, built for $250,000 in 1891-92, was the home of John Torrent (1833-1915), a pioneering lumberman, alderman, justice of the peace, and three-term mayor of Muskegon. A successful entrepreneur, he owned shingle, saw, and lumber mills in Muskegon, Manistee, Ludington, Whitehall, Traverse City, and Sault Ste. Marie, and equipped them with the most modern machinery. Over the years, the structure also housed a mortuary, hospital, and the local Red Cross headquarters. In 1972, the city purchased the house to prevent its demolition.