Real Estate Blog

Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The Lost Estates – Part 1

Last week we featured 55 Tonnancour Place, the distinctive home that occupies a division of land that was once part of the extensive Theodore Parsons Hall estate.

After researching this home we became more intrigued about the Hall estate and the subsequent development(s) of the original Hall property.

Based on research by the Grosse Pointe Historical Society we know Mr. Theodore Parsons Hall purchased 63 acres of land in the 1880, and set about building an elaborate estate called Tonnancour. Mr. Hall had retired early, having made his fortune in the grain business, and dedicated much of his time to his estate, which he shared with his wife, Alexandrine, and their nine children. Part of the property included an eye-catching summer residence – a…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – 55 Tonnancour

Last week we featured one of the oldest homes in Grosse Pointe, the Cadiuex Farmhouse. This week we turn our attention to another notable residence – 55 Tonnancour Place – one of Grosse Pointe’s more distinctive homes.

The stunning Georgian revival home sits on one of the most distinguished streets in the Grosse Pointe communities, Tonnancour Place, which was originally part of the historic Theodore Parsons Hall estate. Mr. Hall had purchased the 63 acres of land, which stretched back 2 ½ miles from Lake St. Clair, in the early 1880’s, and set about building an elaborate estate called Tonnancour. This included an eye-catching summer residence on the property – a Victorian Swiss Chalet style mansion. Source: Thomas W. Brunk, courtesy of the Grosse…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The Cadieux Farmhouse

Once upon a time, many years ago, 1850 to be exact, a young man by the name of Isadore Cadieux built a house in Detroit. 168 years later the home is still going strong, and now sits in its fourth location. Lets take a look at the story of the Cadieux Farmhouse.

In 1701 the first French settlers arrived in Detroit. As you could imagine the country was vastly different to the shores of France, not only geographically, but also culturally, and environmentally. They started to build residences, but the challenges were monumental. The materials they used in their homeland were unavailable, they had to figure our a way to keep out the bitter cold, and a method had to be perfected to stabilize their structures in order to prevent them from sinking into…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to Woodland Place

Last year we featured two homes on Woodland Place, number 2 and number 7. This week we thought we would delve into some of the other properties on this picturesque street in Grosse Pointe Farms.

Woodland Place, once a heavily wooded area on the shores of Lake St. Clair, is a narrow street, paved with bricks, and home to eight unique residences. The majority of the homes were built in the 1920’s by a handful of noted architects. Each of these architects worked on a couple of projects on the road, which is quite remarkable given that only 6 homes were built during this era.

Number 7 was the first home to be built on Woodland Place. It was completed in 1909 as a summer home for the Hazen S. Pingree family. Hazen S. Pingree was a four-term mayor of…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Architect Henry F. Stanton

Last week we welcomed you to 330 Provencal, an opulent mansion designed in 1927 by Henry F. Stanton. Having enjoyed his work so much we thought we would delve into some of Stanton’s other projects that can be found throughout the Grosse Pointe communities.

There seems to be very little information on Stanton’s career, however, we do know Stanton was a faculty member of University of Michigan, and formed at least three partnerships with noted architects during his career – including Charles Kotting, Charles Crombie and James Hillier. Charles Kotting was ‘recognized as an architect of pronounced skill and ability whose designs combine in most attractive form, utility, convenience and beauty’. Source: the book ‘The City of Detroit, Michigan,…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to 330 Provencal

Last week we introduced you to a distinctive Tudor Revival home in Grosse Pointe Park, located at 1007 Bishop. The home was completed in 1923 by the architectural firm of Walter Maul and Walter Lentz.

This week we explore a superb colonial home in Grosse Pointe Farms, 330 Provencal, which was completed in 1927, a mere four years later from the home on Bishop, but as you will agree presents a vastly different architectural approach.

Henry F. Stanton designed 330 Provencal during an era when grand homes were being constructed in Grosse Pointe Farms. It was a period when the Farms underwent a major architectural transformation.

Stanton, a faculty member of University of Michigan and master of exquisite brickwork, was a diverse designer, and was…

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2017 Annual Report – Grosse Pointe Real Estate

Higbie Maxon Agney is pleased to offer our 2017 Grosse Pointe Real Estate Annual Report – Within this report you will find information on average sale prices, sales volume, real estate trends, and much more.

The report presents an extremely positive picture of the continually improving Grosse Pointe housing market. 2017 saw the biggest increase in the average sales price over the past five years, up $35,244 over the past 12 months. The increase was reflected across most of the cities, while the number of sales also rose in many of the communities. Over the past twelve months residential sales topped $302 million, and the number of transactions improved to 855.

The sale of luxury homes (over $1 million) in 2017 far surpassed previous years with…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to 1007 Bishop

For the past couple of weeks we have been reviewing the historic homes on Lake Shore, in Grosse Pointe Shores – in particular the homes that were built before 1911.

This week we head to Grosse Pointe Park to one of the largest lots on Bishop Road, number 1007.

Michael J. Murphy, president of the Murphy Chair Company in Detroit, commissioned the home in 1923, hiring the firm of Walter Maul and Walter Lentz (the former partners of – Walter MacFarlane, who died in 1919). Maul and Lentz, both graduates from the University of Michigan, designed many historic homes in Indian Village, and the affluent suburbs of Metro Detroit during this era. Here in Grosse Pointe, we believe they designed at least 3 other homes – 411 Lake Land, Grosse Pointe…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The Pre 1911 Homes on Lake Shore, Grosse Pointe Shores

Having featured the superb historic homes of 980 and 976 Lake Shore last week, we were curious to find out how many other homes on Lake Shore, Grosse Pointe Shores were constructed around the beginning of the 20th Century.

There is an abundance of homes from this era on St Clair Avenue, Grosse Pointe City, but what about the Shores?

In 2011 the Village of Grosse Pointe Shores celebrated its centennial year. Based on research by Arthur M. Woodford in his book The Village of Grosse Pointe Shores we learnt that as part of this centennial celebration the Village honored the homes built before 1911 – there are at least a dozen.

Mr. Woodfood revealed four of these homes, and we have been able to find six others – to present 10 of these historic…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to 980 and 976 Lake Shore

Having focused the last couple of blog posts on nationally recognized architects – Bloodgood Tuttle and Harrie T. Lindeberg – and their rare projects in Grosse Pointe, we now turn our attention to one of the oldest homes in the community 980 Lake Shore.

The origins of this property can be traced back as far as 1808. According to research by the Grosse Pointe Historical Society the patent title for the property was given to the French “Habitant” family of Julien Forton at the beginning of the 19th century.

The original property was a large farm bordered by Lake St. Clair, Mack Avenue and the Macomb County (Milk River) line. It is believed the landowner; Mr. Forton then deeded part of property to his daughter Monique and her husband. Several years…

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