Detail above front door at Counselor Apartments, at 108 Washtenaw, Ypsilanti.

Ralph Stevens (R.S.) Gerganoff (January 19, 1887 - November 25, 1966) was the Ypsilanti-based architect of a number of notable buildings in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti. The Gerganoff neighborhood, near Huron River Drive and Superior Road, is named for him. The Bentley Library hosts a collection of his papers.

Biography

Gerganoff (ger-GAN-off) was born Rashko Stoyan Gerganoff in Kereka, Bulgaria, the son of a self-taught architect/builder. R.S. immigrated to the United States in 1905, working as a cabinet maker in Madison, Ill., and studying in Fredonia, NY, before studying architecture from 1910-1917 at the University of Michigan. He naturalized in 1920, Americanizing his name at that time.

Gerganoff worked first for Detroit architecture firm Donaldson and Meier before starting his own firm in Ypsilanti in 1925.

In 1947, he brought his nephews Steve (Stoyan) and Zack (Zdravka) to Michigan from Bulgaria; both followed R.S. in studying architecture at the University of Michigan. He married Mary Louise Pace, of Indiana.

Buildings

Homes:

Images

City Printing Co. building, at 411 W. Cross, Ypsilanti.Front of Cross St. Village, at 210 W. Cross, Ypsilanti.

Sources

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