Real Estate Blog

Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – An Elegant Home – 30 Preston Place

Nestled in the corner of Grosse Pointe Farms is a small dead end street – Preston Place.

Preston Place was originally part of Kercheval, however over the years the land was sub-divided, with the separate plots of land creating the Preston Place subdivision.

The home was the recent location for the Grosse Pointe Historical Society’s Pop-Up tour, and we would like to thank the Historical Society for contributing a large amount of their research to us for this blog post.

So lets travel back in time to 1920 – Ms. Louise Webber, niece of J.L.Hudson (of Hudson’s Department store), is living with her husband Roscoe Jackson, president of the Hudson Motor Car Company, in an Arts and Crafts style home (designed by Leonard B. Willeke) in Indian Village.

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – An Exploration – Part 3: Westchester 2nd block

Having previewed the myriad of architectural styles on display on the 1st block of Westchester we continue our journey down the street as we explore the 2nd block – between Fairfax and Exeter.

Many residences on the first block were created during the golden era of the 1920’s, however the homes on the second block span several decades. Primarily the 1920’s through to 1940, the broader range of influences come from numerous different movements and eras – there is the Art Deco styled modern home at number 766, the excellent example of a classic Georgian Colonial home, number 895, the Tudor inspired home of 718 and the French Provincial style of house number 705.

So lets begin with one of the older homes on the block, house number 705. Designed in the…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – An Exploration – Part 2: Westchester 1st block

Continuing with our exploration of individual streets in Grosse Pointe, we now turn our attention to Grosse Park and the sunny street of Westchester with its eclectic mix of homes.

Having recently previewed the houses on several prominent roads in Grosse Pointe Farms and the first block of Roslyn Road in Grosse Pointe Shores, we thought it was time to start exploring the Park.

Many of the houses in the Park were built prior to World War II. Built for high-flying executives looking to relocate their families to Grosse Pointe, the requirement for a grand home close to Lake St. Clair began to attract many noted architects. While some of these architects were based in Detroit, others came from further afield and were of national prominence.

With its…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – An Exploration – Part 1: Roslyn Road

One of the more intriguing things about living in Grosse Pointe is the array of architectural styles that are visible on every street in the community. There are the older homes, and the more modern residences, homes created by some of the states leading architects, properties with architectural significance, and the homes that may not have been created by a noted designer, but are utterly charming.

Having recently previewed the houses on several prominent roads in Grosse Pointe Farms (most recently Kenwood Road) our thoughts turned to exploring some of the other roads that are part of the five cities. Many of the roads in the community have a superb collection of homes featuring some real gems that we may barely notice. We might not know much about…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to Kenwood Road – the Designers’ Collection: Part 2

After recently profiling the first block of Kenwood Road – ‘the Designers’ Collection: Part 1’ – we continue with our exploration of this roads stunning homes. Having presented the French inspired residences designed by Raymond Carey – numbers 51 and 100 – we continue this trend with a look at the work of D. Allen Wright.

D. Allen Wright. D. Allen Wright was a talented designer; he created the Headmaster’s House at Cranbrook School (in 1930), two homes on Kenwood long with two French Inspired homes on Cloverly Road. His creations on Kenwood are once again excellent examples of the French Provincial approach. House number 79 (completed in 1925) is particularly noticeable and typifies the qualities associated with this architectural style that were…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to Kenwood Road – The Designers’ Collection: Part 1

Throughout our series of blog posts we regularly focus on the history of specific homes, profile individual designers and explore interesting roads.

This week we focus on the latter with an exploration of the first block of Kenwood Road, Grosse Pointe Farms, and its designer’s collection of beautifully crafted houses.

There are many roads in Grosse Pointe that have an abundance of homes created by some of Detroit’s most prominent architects – Bishop, Cloverly, Edgemont Park and Vendome being prime examples.

Kenwood is up there with the best of them, and may even lay claim to having the largest collection of homes – on one block – by the leading architectural talent of the 1920’s. With a road of such prominence we decided to separate the story of…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The house that Burrowes built – 34 Beverly Road

Once upon a time, not so long a go a small road in Grosse Pointe Farms was visited by several of Detroit’s leading designer’s of the early 20th century. The road, a pretty cul-de-sac, looks rather normal from the outside, but on closer inspection there are many exciting things to see.

Beverly Road is one of the few private streets in Grosse Pointe Farms, and is home to 15 houses. In 1995 something very special happened to Beverly Road – it was listed on the National Register of Historical Places. If you take a walk down the street you will view the many large-scale, wonderfully styled homes that are on display – you can read the full story of Beverly Road by clicking here.

One day, back in 1913, a rather talented architect from Detroit, Marcus…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to Stephens Road – home of the ranches

As you travel around Grosse Pointe it becomes apparent that not all roads are the same. Grosse Pointe may have once been a heavily wooded farming community, with primarily flat land, but on closer inspection there are exceptions to the rule.

In Grosse Pointe Farms a major change in the landscape occurs. From Lewiston to Vendome on the blocks between Ridge Road and Charlevoix the long flat streets give way to a significant gradient, and with it comes a notable change to the architectural style found in this part of community.

Many of the homes on these streets have been designed to reflect the change in the terrain, and it is understandable why many of the designers chose to work with the surroundings as opposed to fighting them. They created…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – there is no finer place to call home – a history of Grosse Pointe

In celebration of Independence Day yesterday, we wanted to take this opportunity to take you back in time and share with you a brief history of our prominent and much loved community.

We will start with a very brief history of Detroit and then explore Grosse Pointe a little further.

During the period of 1701 through to 1796 three flags were flown over Detroit, first came the French, then the British followed by the Americans in 1796.

Having been occupied primarily by the French, Detroit surrendered to the English in 1760. Under this new flag many of the French settlers left the city and moved to Grosse Pointe to join the large French contingent that had made the area their home, having arrived in the region around 1701.

French map of…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The Lost Tudor Mansions of Grosse Pointe – Part 1: the Standish Backus Estate

After the conclusion of World War 1 the number of mansions in Grosse Pointe grew exponentially. The construction of grand homes for wealthy occupants was visible throughout the community, non more so than on Lake Shore.

Wealthy Detroiter’s were choosing to utilize their prosperity and fortunes by commissioning the architectural crème de la crème to create a one of a kind grandiose mansions for their families.

Arguably some of the most famous homes constructed during this era were the Harley Higbie House (1926), the Roy D. Chapin home (1927), Rose Terrace (1934), the Alvan Macauley Home (1930), the Edsel B. Ford Estate (1929) and the Standish Backus Mansion (1934).

Mrs. Backus

While the majority of these homes have now gone, they are not…

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