Real Estate Blog - French Normandy

Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The Work of Wallace Frost

Posted by Kay Agney on May 9th, 2023

Last week we presented the history of St. Ambrose Church, located at 15020 Hampton Rd, Grosse Pointe Park. The church was completed in 1927, having been designed by Detroit based firm Donaldson and Meier – one of several buildings constructed by the firm for St. Ambrose Parish.

This week we turn our attention to a rather special architect, Wallace Frost. During his career he designed 44 homes in and around Birmingham, Michigan. However, despite working predominantly on the west side of Metro Detroit he also designed at least nine homes in Grosse Pointe that spanned several architectural styles and decades – 1920’s through to the 1950’s. His projects include:

•        16632 E. Jefferson (1926)
•        42 Hendrie Lane (1926)
•        41…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – 16632 E. Jefferson

Posted by Kay Agney on March 28th, 2023

Last week we presented the story of one of Grosse Pointe’s lost estates – 910 Edgemont Park – a once beautiful Italian Renaissance Revival style home completed in 1925, allegedly for Walter & Edith Scotten. Our files list the architect as George V. Pottle; however, this has not been verified by blueprints. 910 Edgemont was raised in April 1995.

This week we head to an iconic home -16632 E. Jefferson. Located on the shores of Lake St. Clair, it was commissioned in 1926, by Detroit Industrialist Edgar Woodbury Bowen. It was designed by esteemed architect Wallace Frost.

16632 E. Jefferson is an 8,140 sq ft stately French Normandy style home situated on a private lane (adjacent to Jefferson Court) on nearly one acre of land. It is one of the…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to 78 Lake Shore

Posted by Kay Agney on July 5th, 2022

Last week we featured the work of a lesser-known designer Joseph P. Jogerst. Born in Marathon, Wisconsin in 1884, he created at least two homes in Grosse Pointe Park – 1006 Whittier Rd and 1000 Devonshire – and was a leading name in the design of apartment buildings in Metro Detroit during the 1920’s, and the mid 1940’s.

This week we head to an outstanding home in Grosse Pointe Farms, 78 Lake Shore. The French Normandy style home was completed in 1928, by the multi-talented Hugh T. Keyes for Marie Fleitz Dwyer, the widow of Francis T. Dwyer. It is one of the finest examples of French Normandy architecture in the Grosse Pointe communities - the French Normandy style had become popular in the U.S shortly after the First World War when French chateaus…

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