Completed in 1896, this was the home of William Peter (1824-1899), a prominent Columbiaville businessman who rose from poverty after arriving in the area from Germany by way of New York state around 1847 as a penniless immigrant. He immediately began working in a local sawmill, invested his earnings in large tracts of land, and platted the village of Columbiaville in 1871. From 1879 to 1899, he developed the community by building a gristmill, a woolen mill, houses for his workmen, a school, a church, and several commercial buildings, and most of Columbiaville was owned and dominated by him. His wife, Roxanna, planned the Italianate residence, which still displays its original hardwood floors and decorative woodwork in oak, mahogany, walnut, cherry, and maple.