I thought I’d share a bit of my interest with you guys. I’m an architect at heart and have always been fascinated with Detroit and its architecture. Fortunately living relatively close makes it easy to visit and experience the City regularly. Detroit has been known for its urban decay for quite some time. However, there’s been quite a bit of action taken recently to restore and preserve Detroit’s significant historic buildings. It’s actually quite amazing the state that some of these structures were in and that they were actually able to be saved. Below is a collection of my favorite Detroit architectural pieces; not all of these are necessarily rehabs. Most of the information I already had due to a class project I did back during college (pictures below are not mine). Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy!

11. Fort Street Presbyterian Church

The Gothic Revival style Fort Street Presbyterian Church was originally completed in 1855 at a total cost of $77k dollars (at the time). The Church was mostly destroyed by a fire in 1876 and was rebuilt to the original plans just one year later. The Church’s spire is a familiar part of Detroit’s skyline; rising to 265 feet, it is one of the tallest churches in the United States. The interior features a 3-isle nave, horseshoe balcony, and hand-carved black walnut pews. The organ, built in 1914, contains 3,253 pipes ranging from ¼ inch tall to 16 feet tall, including a section of the original 1855 organ. The Church was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.





10. Emanuel Schloss House

Located in the Brush Park Historic District (one of Detroit’s first wealthy neighborhoods and what used to be the farm of the well-known Brush family) at 234 Winder Street is Emanuel Schloss House. The Second Empire style home was built in 1872 for dry goods merchant and haberdasher Emanuel Schloss. The house is part of the Brush Park Rehabilitation Project which started in the 1990’s and was restored in the early 2000’s, now serving as an inn with five suites.



9. Edmund Place

Also located in the Brush Park Historic District, and my favorite house in the District, is 291 Edmund Place, an 8,200 square foot Victorian style house built in 1882 for banker Frederick Butler. It is named after Elijah Brush’s son, Edmund, who served as president of Detroit’s Board of Water Commissioners for 26 years. Rehabilitation of Edmund place began in 2006 and was completed in 2008, converted into four condominiums; the largest condo unit being 2,200 square feet.









Edmund place before its rehabilitation.



8. Lucien Moore House

Another Brush Park Historic District house is the 7,000 square foot Lucien Moore House at 104 Edmund Place. The Modern Domestic Gothic style home was built in 1885 for Lucien Moore, who was in the Michigan lumber industry. In 2005, the house was selected for rehabilitation by HGTV in partnership with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The house was converted into six condominiums.







Lucien Moore before its rehabilitation.







7. John Harvey House

Continuing the Brush Park Historic District theme, the 11,000 square foot John Harvey House at 97 Winder Street was built in 1887 for pharmacist and philanthropist John Harvey. The late Victorian style house contains 8 marble fireplaces and a three-story staircase. Rehabilitation of the house was completed in 2005 and is currently a bed and breakfast. It is one of the largest remaining Victorian homes of the 1870's in Detroit.







John Harvey before its rehabilitation.

 

Moving onto the early 1900's when Detroit really began to prosper, grow, and built up. During this period, Detroit was the place to be and was known as the "Paris of the Midwest". Detroit did exceptionally well during the 1920's and went crazy with new building construction during this decade. There remains a vast collection of 1920's buildings throughout Downtown.

6. Book Cadillac Hotel

The original Cadillac Hotel was purchased by the Book brothers in 1917 and was demolished in 1923 to make way for their new, significantly larger, hotel designed by Louis Kamper (the current building). The Neo-Renaissance style hotel opened in December 1924, rising 349 feet at the corner of Michigan Ave. and Washington Blvd. When completed, the Book Cadillac was Detroit’s tallest building and the World’s tallest hotel. At the time, it contained a total of 1,136 guest rooms on floors 7 through 29. The hotel’s 1,500 phones were managed on a switchboard by 36 operators. The Book brothers lost the hotel in the early 1930’s, due to the Great Depression, and the hotel underwent multiple owner changes, including Sheraton and Radisson, between 1951 and when it closed its doors in 1984. After sitting abandoned for 22 years, and actually scheduled to be demolished at one point, Cleveland’s Ferchill Group announced renovation plans. Renovation began August 2006 and the grand opening was on October 2008. The building currently resides a Westin with 455 guest rooms and 67 private luxury condominiums on the top 9 floors.

The Venetian Ballroom which was mostly restored to its original appearance.







The Italian Gardens which was also restored to its original appearance.



Book Cadillac before its restoration.

This is how the Venetian Ballroom looked before the Hotel was restored.



And the Venetian Ballroom at an even worse state just before restoration.



5. Book Tower

Designed by Louis Kamper for the Book brothers is the Neo-Renaissance style Book Tower. Construction began in 1916 and was completed in 1926. Standing at 476 feet, Book Tower was the tallest building in Detroit for 2 years. A second, taller tower was to be built at the south end of the complex but the Great Depression cancelled those plans. The building currently sits abandoned, however renovation plans are in place (though specific plans have yet to be addressed).











4. David Broderick Tower

Designed by Louis and Paul Kamper, costruction of Broderick Tower (originally named Eaton Tower) began in 1926 and was completed in 1928. When completed, the tower was the 2nd tallest building in Detroit and Michigan. It is named after David Broderick, a Detroit insurance broker, who purchased the tower in 1945 and renamed it after himself. The tower’s footprint is not a square as it fans out from the central point of the radial Grand Circus Park. The tower is known for its large humpback whale mural done in 1997 by Metro Detroit native and artist Wyland. Renovation plans were secured in late 2010 by JC Beal Construction and the tower was fully renovated in 2012. As of March 2013, Broderick Tower is 100% leased and occupied.

David Broderick shown on the far left. Also shown here is the restoration work that has begun on the David Whitney Building (center).







David Broderick before its restoration.

David Broderick to the left and David Whitney in the foreground to the right.

 

Continuing with the 1920's...

3. Penobscot Building

By far my favorite Detroit building, Penobscot, was designed by Wirt C. Rowland and is named after a Native American Indian Tribe from Maine. Detroit’s first building to have its foundation constructed on bedrock, construction began in 1927 and was completed in 1928. The Art Deco style Penobscot Building rises 565 feet at the corner of Griswold and Fort Streets in the heart of the City’s financial district. When completed, it was the 8th tallest building in the World and the tallest in the World (outside of New York and Chicago). It is currently the 3rd tallest building in Detroit and Michigan and was the City and State's tallest for nearly 50 years (until the Renaissance Center surpassed it in 1977). The first televisions in Michigan were sold at the Penobscot Building and the building also serves as the fiber optic hub (voice, data, and video transmission) for the entire Detroit area. Atop the building is a large red neon orb that is visible for 40 miles.





Penobscot Building on the left within the skyline.











2. David Stott Building

My second favorite Detroit building, David Stott, was designed by Donaldson and Meier and completed in 1929. The Art Deco style building was named after David Stott, a Detroit businessman, and stands at the corner of Griswold and State Streets, rising 437 feet.



David Stott, left, and Penobscot Building, right.









1. Guardian Building

Designed by Wirt C. Rowland, the Guardian Building was built for Detroit’s leading financial institution, United Trust Company, founded in Detroit in 1890. The very bold Art Deco style building was completed in 1929 and was initially called the United Trust Building. At the time, the building, rising 496 feet, was the tallest masonry structure in the World. United Trust Company fell victim to the stock market crash in 1929 but was saved by investors and renamed Union Guardian Trust Company. During WWII, the building served as the U.S. Army Command Center for war time production. Guardian has been known as the “cathedral of finance” because of its structural resemblance of a cathedral. The building received a restoration in 1986 and was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1989. It is currently Detroit's 8th tallest building.

Guardian Building's main lobby.



Guardian Building's banking hall featuring a large mural by Erza Winter depicting the State of Michigan and its trades.













Those of you who sat tight through everything, thank you and hope you enjoyed!

 

I sat through it all

The architecture is absolutely amazing. It's impressive how people can come up with ideas on paper and bring them to fruition in such magnificent fashion.

 

Some good reading and pictures, although some pics appear broken to me. I love architecture. My wife in I always disagree when decorating the housing cuz she always wants floral prints and crap while I prefer landscaping and architecture. Restorations of anything, before & afters are always fun. Unfortunately, I come from a city with very little "big architecture"

Good read

 

That was cool thanks for the pic.!I have never been there and didn't have a desire to but now I'm ready to take my next vacation there!I would really like to see all those buildings in person.

 

Those were some really cool buildings. I wish Des Moines had architecture like that.

 

Detroit gets a bad rep and that's unfortunately how the majority of the rest of the country sees and portrays Detroit. If you look beyond that stuff, and the mess of politics that have plagued the City as well, Detroit is really a very interesting and unique place with a very rich history.

Thanks guys!

 

Hi `Matt,
Another super thread about your area & your profession in life.
Thanks for taking the time to post & share.

Beautiful pictures & designs. Thanks for all your super contributions to our Monte Carlo Forum.

p.s. I shall return to view again & enjoy!

 

Matt:
That was some really interesting reading aswell as great pics of Detroits historic buildings... It really brought back some great memories for me from my childhood. Reminding me of all the Great things in downtown Detroit. Boy I sure miss those days.! As a child of the "50's" Going downtown to Detroit was always a big todo at least for our family back ten.
The sights, The lights, everything was almost surreal .... At one time my father worked out of the Penobscott building, My mom use to work at what use to be the JL Hudson Building. The Hotel Ponchatrain was one of the frequent stops as well as eating at the Rooster Tail.A number of years ago, In the late 90's before the MGM Grand Casino went into business ... A lady I use to work with at the Casino actually worked at the Book Cadillac Hotel as a concierge for many years, When I use to work for the Meyer Jewelry company in the 60's ... There were many a time I had to go to the David Whitney Building for "Special" Diamond and Jewelry pick ups. These building were certainly a great wonder for me back then.

Thanks Matt for reawakening my valued memories from back then...
That's when Detroit was "ALL" that!
Thanks for the Trip down Memory Lane!

Its to bad now that Detroit has lost its luster as you mentyioned previously amongst all the blight and political failures over the past 30+ years.

Thanks for sharing!