We are back from a trip to Detroit to visit my best friend, and while there, I got to indulge in one of my favorite activities: enviously touring the beautiful homes of the rich (and now dead). The D--thanks to the auto industry's downward spiral--may no longer be the thriving metropolis it once was, but you can still go and see (and tour) some of the homes of its one-time moguls.
Edsel was the son of Henry Ford, and his wife, Eleanor Clay, was the niece of the founder of Hudsons department store. My photos are all outdoors, as photography is not allowed in the home, but you can see some photos on the home's website. The home was designed and built to look like a cluster of homes in a Cotswolds village, and most of the interior is furnished like an ancient English manor home. However, my favorite rooms were the Modern Room and the boys' bedroom, which were both furnished in an art deco style completely at odds with the rest of the house.
The home is set on the shores of Lake St. Clair, and the large property includes a lagoon, swimming pool, and rose garden.
The estate also has a playhouse--yes, that's a photo of a playhouse below--built at 2/3 scale for Ford daughter Josephine in 1930. It cost $13,000 to build, which was over four times the cost of an average family home at the time. And apparently, Josephine was a tomboy, who rarely used it!
Frankly, I could easily live happily in the thing.
Detail of the playhouse's cute wallpaper.
Wonderful bas relief nursery rhyme motifs on the playhouse's gables.
See those cute little duckies? Love!
xo
K
No comments:
Post a Comment