Discuss Detroit » Archives - January 2008 » Grand residential architecture beyond Detroit « Previous Next »
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5411
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 9:56 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroit has one of the nation’s finest stocks of historical residential architecture.The grand homes of Indian Village, Arden Park, and Palmer Woods have been discussed on DetroitYes on numerous occasions. I am curious about the finer homes built in what would have been considered the “countryside” back in the 20’s. I am not really interested in the homes of Bloomfield or GP since those two areas have been discussed in great detail.

If you drive through a number of Southfield neighborhoods, you are bound to find a lone Tudor placed amongst drab “modern” homes built in the 60’s. For example, take the Ty Cobb estate built near 10 and Southfield. That whole corridor along Southfield Road has numerous grand homes tucked away in the adjacent subdivisions. Take Lathrup Village along Southfield Road….there are numerous mini mansions built by some notable architects…I think J. Ivan Dise even designed several. It has been said that even Albert Kahn designed a grand home for his brother in Southfield.

In Farmington, along Grand River has a number of great estates. Marcus Burrowes designed a number of homes in Farmington including his own along the banks of the Rouge. Dearborn and Grosse Ile have some splendid homes as does Mt Clemens along the Clinton River. Pontiac has an Indian Village neighborhood similar to the homes in Mt Clemens. There is even that grand hidden Tudor on Mound Road, just south of 12 Mile that many seem to be curious about.

Any comments?
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Sludgedaddy
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Username: Sludgedaddy

Post Number: 46
Registered: 01-2008
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

How about the trailer park at 8 Mile and Sherwood?
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 1216
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Romeo and Almont are loaded with Victorians, as well as are Armada, Imlay City, Rochester, Lapeer and most of the other towns out this way. If you go to Saginaw/Bay City you'll see the Lumber Baron homes, some of which are amazing. Several have been turned into B&Bs
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5412
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hey, that was featured in a Hollywood film. Can folks in Palmer Woods say the same?
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5413
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:11 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Yeah, I was going to say Romeo but figured it was too isolated from Detroit. George D. mason designed their old high school from what I remember complete with Pewabic fireplaces. Romeo's isolation is why Henry Ford bought his mistress Evangeline Dahlinger a horse farm out there. I thought I had heard that a Scripps built a nice estate not far from Romeo. I am aware of the Moulton manor mansion on Lake Orion though.
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Dtowncitylover
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Username: Dtowncitylover

Post Number: 132
Registered: 02-2008
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:16 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I wish the Frank Lloyd Wright homes in Madison Heights weren't destroyed to make a stupid (another) Meijer's. I never saw them but my parents said they used to be there. What a treasure we could still have...now we have to go to Oak Park, IL to see them.
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5414
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:22 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The Buhls built a magnificent summer estate in Oxford. I think it is now a state park but not sure of the name. There is a pic of it in WSU's Motor City photo archive.
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5415
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:24 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

We had a really good thread years ago about the FLW sub that was developed near John R. Does anyone have any info on this?
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5417
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:30 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Here is an excellent link to the Frank Lloyd Wright Co-op Homestead project.

http://www.agaarchitects.com/p ages/agg_and_fllw/coop_hmstd.h tml
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 1217
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:33 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Is the Buhl home now Addison Oaks, by any chance? It's north of Rochester and east of Oxford on 32 Mile Rd.
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5418
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Another FLW Madison Heights link

http://www.futurehousenow.com/ 2007/06/inspiration-from-detro its-past-frank.html
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Yaktown
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Username: Yaktown

Post Number: 353
Registered: 02-2006
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:43 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If you look on this page (http://www.livgenmi.com/1940oa klandatlas~addison.htm), it shows the landowner for section 33 was Buhl. They also owned several other parcels of land in Addison Twp. Section 33 is now Addison Oaks County Park which does have a beautiful Tudor style building, I assume that's what Patrick was referring to in the above post.
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Dtowncitylover
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Username: Dtowncitylover

Post Number: 134
Registered: 02-2008
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:44 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

It amazes me that the city could have let these homes get bulldozed and be turned in a stupid Meijer, I guess thats the fault of the homeowners. Probably saw the check for their homes and immediately were sold, no pun intended.
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Grumpyoldlady
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Username: Grumpyoldlady

Post Number: 97
Registered: 06-2005
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:47 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Back in the 60's my family belonged to a group of former Kentuckians that held their annual pot luck dinner at a big old white house located in what was then a rural setting. There was lots of vacant land around it. I'm thinking maybe it was Dearborn or someplace near that since the club president was from Dearborn. It was an elegant home..I think it has columns on the front, and it had a beautiful ballroom with intricate wood carvings all over the ceiling. I'd love to know where it is/was, and know the history and maybe see some photos. Any ideas?
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5419
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:48 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't know if any FLW homes were ever built on the site. I am not sure if it was just an empty lot when Meijer acquired it.

Yak, yes and thank you. Addison Oaks is the park...
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Grumpyoldlady
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Username: Grumpyoldlady

Post Number: 98
Registered: 06-2005
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:49 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Northbound Gratiot up in/near Port Huron has some grand old homes.
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Texorama
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Username: Texorama

Post Number: 233
Registered: 12-2006
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:50 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Ypsilanti's historic district is the largest in the state. From the ridiculous water tower to the dual commercial districts, it was once a town that thought big. That shows in the residential architecture--there are a few spectacular mansions, like the giant at 118 Woodward, and numerous smaller gems.
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Dtowncitylover
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Username: Dtowncitylover

Post Number: 135
Registered: 02-2008
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:51 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

My dad said his friends family lived in it, he's been inside one. Maybe they never completed the project then disbanded it.
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5420
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:54 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

WSU has this image listed as the Arthur Buhl mansion near Oxford, Michigan. This home may be 1480 West Romeo Road. It may also have been listed as the Lawrence and Cora Peck Buhl estate. It was designed in 1927 by Robert O. Derrick.


text description of image
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 1219
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Monday, May 26, 2008 - 10:58 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

West Romeo Rd. is 32 Mile rd.
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Kpm
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Username: Kpm

Post Number: 92
Registered: 08-2005
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 9:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I love the homes in Pleasant Ridge.
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Wood
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Username: Wood

Post Number: 61
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 9:43 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Dtowncitylover and Patrick, you don't need to drive to IL to see collections of Frank Lloyd Wright homes. Kalamazoo has a nice little collection in the Wright-designed Parkwyn Village; another cooperative was built in nearby Galesburg.

Occasionally one of these homes goes on the market for around $300,000. Kalamazoo isn't Detroit but it's a great place (at least it's not a suburb).
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 1222
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 9:54 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

This site has a complete listing of FLW houses around the world. It includes 36 here in Michigan, including one in Detroit, a gas station in Ferndale and 2 in Bloomfield Hills. There are links to some of them. Most are in the west side of the state
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Swiburn
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Username: Swiburn

Post Number: 252
Registered: 07-2006
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 10:06 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Kpm, I love the Pleasant Ridge homes, too. My family home is the oldest one in the town-built l908. The houses are all different.
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Hudkina
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Username: Hudkina

Post Number: 213
Registered: 12-2004
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 12:45 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Grosse Ile has a lot of great old houses that were built as "summer homes" of some of Detroit's wealthy citizens.

There are some nice older victorian homes in Wyandotte, though none of them are particularly "estate-like". Trenton has a few as well, particularly along Riverside Dr.

Monroe actually has a large collection of nice older homes.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6890
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Tuesday, May 27, 2008 - 9:36 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Great thread Patrick!

It was nice meeting you at the Picnic. We could have talked about buildings and development for hours!

There's a stately home in the metro area that folks here have forgotten about. Reason is because it was incorporated into a church...

The Kirk-in-the-Hills church near Lone Pine Rd. and Franklin Rd. is arguably one of the nicest Metro churches outside Detroit. This is high praise since Shrine of the Little Flower and Cranbrook Church are also amazing.

I can't find the book that mentions this, but one of metro Detroit's wealthy families gave the mansion, land and money to build Kirk-in-the-Hills. The mansion was incorporated into the church proper.

Any info in this mansion?
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Wash_man
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Username: Wash_man

Post Number: 774
Registered: 05-2006
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 2:12 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Some nice Romeo homes here. I am within walking distance to most of them, unfortunately I live in a 1000 sf 1954 Ranch!

http://www.libcoop.net/romrhs/ historic%20homes.htm
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56packman
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Username: 56packman

Post Number: 2297
Registered: 12-2005
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 3:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

There are some Rosedale-worthy houses north of five mile in Redford twp. on a street called Fox, just east of Beech-Daly, one short block, about a dozen fine homes facing each other on that block, surrounded by post-war abestos-sided bungalows.
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Kathleen
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Username: Kathleen

Post Number: 2872
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 3:52 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gistok...From the Kirk in the Hills website:

"The Kirk House was originally Colonel George's home, a mansion built in 1923 in the English Tudor style.

The original name, Cedarholm, is represented in the name of the chapel, which, with its fine pipe organ and intimate atmosphere, provides a fitting setting for smaller services.

The Kirk House also contains an extensive collection of 16th and 17th century religious art, a stately Fireside Room, a Board Room, Bride's Room and offices for the Kirk staff."
http://www.kirkinthehills.org/ templates/cuskirkinthehills/de tails.asp?id=25103&PID=101283

I think Kirk House is attached to the church building, originally designed by Wirt Roland prior to his death.
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Alan55
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Username: Alan55

Post Number: 1731
Registered: 09-2005
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 4:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

So far, no one has mentioned Meadowbrook Hall in Rochester at Adams and Walton (University) Roads. This is one of the largest homes in Michigan, if not the largest.

Also, even farther afield, is Marshall, Michigan, which has one of the finest collections of 19th century homes in the Great Lakes region.
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Rb336
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Username: Rb336

Post Number: 6311
Registered: 02-2007
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 4:05 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

ya know, FLW really designed some truly ugly houses.
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Mama_jackson
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Username: Mama_jackson

Post Number: 358
Registered: 06-2006
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 4:14 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Well, since you guys are talking about Romeo and Lapeer. I am going to throw Flint, Fenton and Flushing into the fray.

In downtown Flint, there are some very beautiful homes that have been refurbished and made in to offices. Just get into downtown Flint and start driving around. The homes are on southwest side of Grand Traverse, west (Carriage town) and east side of town (East Village).

Right now I have my eye on an Arts and Craft home that is scheduled for demo. I have snuck into it and couldn't believe the arch. details this home has. It needs a roof, siding, perhaps foundation work, joist work, but oh gosh-it's a beauty waiting for a knight in shining armor to arrive. It really isn't worthy of demo.

Flushing-those homes are still homes. Though many have been remodeled into one or more rentals. Shame but the exteriors are still original and most of the homes are occupied by the homeowners. The city used to have a home tour of the older places. I don't know if they still do. Call the Chamber of Commerce and they would know about it, I am sure.

Now in Fenton, you will have to visit the old part of town-the south side (Owen Rd exit, turn right, follow into town-Dibbleville) and there is quite a few old homes that are still owned and maintained as individual homes. Some have been turned into businesses, but still maintain the exterior home feeling.

Over all, I think Flint and Flushing have the majority of Victorian homes that would be worth the drive to look at.
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Jcole
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Username: Jcole

Post Number: 1267
Registered: 04-2005
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 4:15 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

RB, you got that right. I don't see myself living in a cement home.
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56packman
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Username: 56packman

Post Number: 2298
Registered: 12-2005
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 5:39 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Quote: "ya know, FLW really designed some truly ugly houses"

Not to mention roofs that perpetually leaked
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Patrick
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Username: Patrick

Post Number: 5423
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 7:04 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

No, Meadowbrook Hall has been discussed in depth on here many times. that is an obvious one. However, I think there are several cottages near Meadowbrook such as the Seyburn estate and a few others.
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Gistok
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Username: Gistok

Post Number: 6895
Registered: 08-2004
Posted on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 7:27 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Thanks Kathleen. I had no idea that Kirk-in-the-Hills was a Wirt Rowland design. WOW!!

Mr. Rowland (of Penobscot, Guardian and Buhl Building fame), like C. Howard Crane and Charles Agree, is one of Detroit's great and versatile architects that sat in the shadows of Albert Kahn for the 1st half of the 20th century.

(Message edited by Gistok on May 28, 2008)

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