Real Estate Blog - Grosse Pointe Real Estate

Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The Residences of Edwin Hewitt Brown – Part 1

Last week we introduced you to 187 Irvine Lane, the spectacular residence created by Robert O. Derrick for prominent Detroit attorney Sidney T. Miller Jr.

This week, in the first of our two part series, we would like to present one of the magnificent homes in Grosse Pointe that was once owned by Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Hewitt Brown, a prominent family in the community.  Welcome to 300 Lincoln.

The Brown’s took up residence in Grosse Pointe in 1915. Edwin H. Brown was born in Chicago in 1879. In 1907 he married Olive Marie McIntosh (born in Cleveland, 1883). Brown was a senior manager in the Detroit office of the Aluminum Company of America. He then took the position of vice president and treasurer of The General Aluminum and Brass Castings Company of…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to 187 Irvine Lane

Last week we introduced you to 17620 E. Jefferson, the former home of nationally recognized architect Frank C. Baldwin, built in 1907. In 1911 Dr. Fred T. Murphy purchased the house, and subsequently hired influential Grosse Pointe architect Robert O. Derrick to make extensive alterations, adding a large two-storied library to the property.

This week we stay with Robert O. Derrick’s work and visit the home he designed for Sidney T. Miller Jr., in 1949, 187 Irvine Lane.

Sidney T. Miller Jr. was a prominent attorney in Detroit. A Harvard Law School graduate he was the third member of the Miller family to work for the prestigious firm of Miller Canfield. Having joined as an associate in 1921 he made partner in 1923. The firms name was then…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to 17620 E. Jefferson

Over the past couple of weeks we have been exploring the homes that were part of the grand Fredrick Moulton Alger estate. The original home designed by William Stratton and Frank C. Baldwin (17700 E. Jefferson, designed in 1908), and the guesthouse (1 Island Lane), designed in 1925 by Stratton and Snyder.

This week we move to the house located next door to the Alger estate, and introduce the home of one of the architects’ mentioned above – Frank C. Baldwin. Located at 17620 E. Jefferson, the home, also known as “the Hedges”, was built in 1907, having been designed by Baldwin himself, and his partner William Stratton. Image courtesy of: Tonnancour, Volume 1. 

Unlike the Frederick Alger home (the innovative, ahead of its time neighbor), the…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to 1 Island Lane

Last week we presented the former home of Frederick Moulton Alger, “By-Way”, located at 17770 East Jefferson. The property was one of the grand estates of Grosse Pointe that has been lost over time, having been demolished and the land subdivided for new homes.

While the original house is now gone there is a home, which was part of the original estate, that still exists today, albeit with extensive alterations and an addition - welcome to 1 Island Lane.

Island Lane is a quiet dead end street in Grosse Pointe. It is located off of Jefferson Avenue, between Alger Place and Dodge Place. 1 Island Lane is at the end of the street. It was built, in 1925, as a guesthouse to what was once part of the large Alger residence that had been designed by…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to 17700 E. Jefferson

Last week we introduced you to 16761 E. Jefferson, the magnificent mansion designed by Louis Kamper. This week we would like to focus on another of Grosse Pointes’ lost mansions – “By-Way”, formally located at 17770 E. Jefferson, and the home of Frederick Moulton Alger. 

We have already delved into the history of several lost estates on Lakeshore. These grand mansions, owned by prominent members of the community (Scott Whitcomb, Henry D. Sheldon, William P. Stevens, and J. Brooks Nichols), have been lost over time having been demolished and the properties subdivided for new homes.

“By-Way” was designed by William B. Stratton & Frank C. Baldwin, and completed in 1908. William Buck Stratton, born in Ithaca, New York in 1865, was an innovative…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – Welcome to 16761 E. Jefferson

Having featured the superb work of Clarence E. Day last week, we now turn our attention to a rather prominent home of Jefferson – welcome to “Lawn Leighton” also known as 16761 E.Jefferson.

This magnificent mansion was designed by one of Detroit’s finest architects, Louis Kamper, and was built between 1916-17. Christian Henry Haberkorn, Jr., a prominent banker in Detroit, commissioned it. Mr. Haberkorn was the son of C. H. Haberkorn, Sr., and Fances H. Ruehle, whose family had been prominent in Detroit for four generations. Born in Detroit, 1889, he graduated from Harvard in 1912 with a degree in Economics. Shortly after leaving Harvard Mr. Haberkorn began his career with C. H. Haberkorn & Co., manufacturers of furniture, where he held the title of…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The Work of Clarence E. Day

Last week we presented the former home of William Ledyard Mitchell Jr. – 61 Kenwood Road - designed by the firm of Weston and Ellington. 

One of the designers, Harold Ellington, later in his career (1932), formed a partnership with noted architect Alvin Harley to form Harley and Ellington. In 1943 the firm welcomed the talented designer Clarence E. Day as a partner. Clarence Day was a particularly active and successful designer in his own right, and so this week we would like to focus on his work, and several of the homes he created in Grosse Pointe.

Clarence Day was born in Detroit in 1886. In 1905, having graduated, he worked as an apprentice with several architectural firms in the city, which he would continue to do until 1914. In 1915 he…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – 61 Kenwood Road

Last week we introduced you to William Ledyard Mitchell, and his striking residence located at 180 Ridge Road, Grosse Pointe Farms.

This week we stay with the Mitchell family and explore the residence of one of William Ledyard Mitchell’s sons, William Ledyard Mitchell Jr. (born in 1912), and his former home at 61 Kenwood Road.

The Dutch style 5,351 sq ft colonial home was completed in 1929, having been designed by the firm of Weston and Ellington. It is constructed of whitewashed brick and white clapboard.

The first floor features a large screened porch (15’ x 27’), library (10’ x 14’) living room (16’ x 24’) and a dining room (15’ x 20’). The living room contains a large natural fireplace while French doors open on to a 15’ x 27’…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The Residence of William Ledyard Mitchell

Last week we journeyed back to the late nineteenth century and explored the Queen Anne style home of prominent Detroiter Henry Brockholst Ledyard.

This week we would like to introduce you to another prominent Detroiter with Ledyard in his name – Mr. William Ledyard Mitchell, and his home at 180 Ridge, Grosse Pointe Farms.

William Ledyard Mitchell, born in Cincinnati, 1881, was a key player in the auto industry during the 1920’s and 1930’s - as secretary and vice president in charge of manufacturing for Chrysler after it was formed to succeed the old Maxwell Motor Corporation (in 1925). Source: The New York Times. In 1926 he became general manager, and in 1929 he was named board chairman of the export division. Three years later, in 1932, William…

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Historical Architecture of Grosse Pointe – The Residence of Henry Brockholst Ledyard

Over the past couple of weeks we have presented two architects who were big names in the city, during the 1920’s, but were somewhat lesser known in Grosse Pointe – William Kapp and Rupert Koch. 

This week we journey back to the late nineteenth century and explore the Queen Anne style home of prominent Detroiter Henry Brockholst Ledyard.

Towards the end of the nineteenth century Grosse Pointe was a vastly different scene to the community we live in today. Land was at a premium and the area was becoming a ‘hotspot’ for wealthy Detroit businessman to build large summer cottages for their families. Many of the new constructions were typical of the Gothic Revival and Queen Anne architectural styles of that period. Given this was where families would…

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