Henry Ford Square House
Henry Ford Square House | |
U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
Michigan State Historic Site | |
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Location | 29835 Beechwood Ave., Garden City, Michigan |
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Coordinates | 42°19′37″N 83°20′7″W / 42.32694°N 83.33528°WCoordinates: 42°19′37″N 83°20′7″W / 42.32694°N 83.33528°W |
Area | less than one acre |
Built | 1888 |
Built by | Henry Ford |
Architect | Clara Ford |
NRHP reference No. | 80001932[1] |
Significant dates | |
Added to NRHP | November 25, 1980 |
Designated MSHS | August 3, 1979[2] |
The Henry Ford Square House (also known as the Henry Ford Honeymoon House)[2] is a single-family house located at 29835 Beechwood Avenue in Garden City, Michigan. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1979[2] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]
History[]
Henry Ford and Clara Jane Bryant were married on April 11, 1888.[2] Soon after, they began construction on this house,[2] then located at the corner of Ford Road and what is now the Southfield Freeway.[3] Clara drew the plans, specifying the kitchen, sitting room, parlor and bedroom.[2] Henry built the house himself, using timber cut on the property and finished in the sawmill he operated.[2] An expert carpenter helped with the fancy-work details, such as the turned balustrades.[3] The couple moved into the house in about June 1889.[3] Ford later added a workshop, where he experimented with gasoline-powered engines.[2]
The Fords lived in this house only until September 1891,[3] when they left for Detroit.[2] However, they retained ownership of the house until 1937, using it as a summer cottage.[2] Ford gave the cottage to an employee, Robert Smith. After the Fords died, the land around the house was bought by the , who told Smith to move the cottage to make room for freeway expansion; in 1952, it was moved to its present location.[2] The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1]
Description[]
The Henry Ford Square House is a 2-story square house, 31 feet on each side,[3] with a mansard roof and clapboard siding.[2] The center-entrance front facade has a window cap on the second-floor bedroom window.[2] The interior of the house has a kitchen, dining room, living room, family room, 4 bedrooms, 1 1/2 baths, and a full basement.
References[]
- ^ a b c "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Ford, Henry, Square House Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine from the state of Michigan, retrieved 1/4/10
- ^ a b c d e Sidney Olson, Young Henry Ford: a picture history of the first forty years, Wayne State University Press, 1997, ISBN 0-8143-1224-1, p. 48
- Houses in Wayne County, Michigan
- Houses completed in 1888
- Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
- Michigan State Historic Sites in Wayne County, Michigan
- National Register of Historic Places in Wayne County, Michigan
- Henry Ford