Flamingos: just one of the mysteries of the Manor Sarah Potter Ding-dong. Here I am standing at the stoop of the only mansion on campus. De Witt Manor is at best a mystery and at worst the perfect prank location, but I am here as a guest. Susan Byker, wife of Calvin’s president Gaylen Byker, led me through the house. Hard wood floors and vaulted ceilings frame the elegant antique furniture. Most of the furnishings came with the house, Susan explained. The Bykers have tried to put a piece of their own heritage in each room as well: a wedding present, a photograph Susan took. The Bykers are the first family of the president to live in the manor, and the home was extensively remodeled (with donated money) for them. The Manor is a mix of old and new. While parts are obviously redone, there is a sense that it has a history, that interesting people have lived there. One of these interesting people is J.C. Miller, who built the De Witt Manor and eventually sold it (along with the rest of Calvin’s property) to the college. Miller, a millionaire businessman with a fourth-grade education, bought the land where De Witt Manor is in 1928. Miller invented a lock mechanism for the Chrysler Corporation and managed to stay wealthy during the depression, when he built the Manor House. He vowed to spend 5,000 dollars a year on improvements to the land he named Knollcrest. With those investments, Miller dug out the pond, building a brick wall along Burton Street, landscaping, and buying large marble urns for the front porch. Miller also redecorated with exotic antique furniture from New Orleans. Miller was well-traveled and his ideas for his home were fashioned after his journeys. He planted the trees which line the Manor after returning from a European vacation. Miller tried farming (key word: tried). There were horses in the barn and there were reports of illegal cockfights with his unruly chickens. Even though he seemed to fail time and time again, he continued to invest in cows, chickens, ducks, swans, peacocks, flamingos and alligators. Yes, alligators in the Sem Pond. Miller was also active in the social scene in Grand Rapids. Every year, he gave a party at Knollcrest for his friends. He spent an estimated 30,000 dollars on the event. Miller’s first marriage ended in the late 1930’s and he lived alone in the estate for about ten years. His second wife did not like the Michigan weather and Miller sold Knollcrest property to Calvin. While the rest of the current campus changed dramatically when Calvin bought it, De Witt Manor stayed the same. The barn, which housed Miller’s strange farming ventures, was torn down in 1971 to provide room for Spoelhof Center.