Visiting the beautiful estates of Henry and Edsel Ford

After my interview at the Chrysler headquarters, I traveled to the Henry Ford Estate at Fair Lane in Dearborn, Michigan, where I gave a talk to some Ford executives about my connection to the Ford family.  I am, after all, the proud owner of Skylands, Edsel Ford's vacation retreat in Seal Harbor, Maine. So, after a wonderful tour and after being served a delicious lunch in the elegant executive dining room, I was thrilled to motor to Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and walk through the stately home of Edsel and Eleanor Ford. I must say that there were many things about the style, architecture, and landscapes of these two wonderful properties that are reflected in my home in Maine.

The Henry Ford Estate -- it took 500 to 800 men, working seven days a week for two years to complete construction of this building in 1913.
   

A beautiful Model T Ford.

The Henry Ford house is an imposing "prairie-style" stone edifice with extraordinary woodwork and leaded windows.

Look at the amazing limestone facades, sandstone embellishments, and both leaded and stained glass windows.

These are such amazing architectural details and a feat of woodworking. I call this type of carpentry "carpenters' joy!"

Here is a garden at the Ford house.

The same "cracked ice" paving was used by Edsel in Maine.

This is a lovely "blue" garden behind the home.

This great lawn stretches into the distance to more gardens.

The peonies were just about to bloom -- they must have been magnificent.

This 29-foot banister in Henry's home was ornately carved from a single walnut tree.

The Henry Ford estate dining room where Ford hosted a delicious lunch for us.

This is a famous quote from Henry Ford.

The bathroom fixtures are all original -- beautiful American-made sinks and toilets and nickel fixtures, just like at Skylands.

Beautifully tiled walls and wooden toilet seats.

Large and comfortable bathtubs

One of the mantles was made at the Wedgwood Pottery in England -- Jasperware in brown and white.

Here I am with Elena Ford, Henry's granddaughter.

Here I am with Gary Rodgers, president of the Henry Ford Estate at Fair Lane.

Trisha Guyot, special events and sales manager; me; and Gail Raby, special events and sales manager of the Henry Ford Estate at Fair Lane

We are now looking at the Edsel Ford house in Grosse Pointe. We visited this historic sight after lunch for a tour. The thick roof tiles, leaded gutters and downspouts, and fantastic stone work are the bold features of Edsel's home.

Here I am with Ellie Ford and Lynn Ford Alandt, great-granddaughters of Henry Ford.

The park is very impressive -- it is a landscape designed by Jens Jensen, the renowned "prairie" architect who designed municipal parks and great estates like this one (and my landscape at Skylands in 1925 when the house was built by Edsel)

More of the park grounds -- sweeping lawns and majestic trees.

The exterior terrace is very beautiful and looks out to Lake St. Clair; there's a 3,000-foot shoreline on the property.

Beautiful awnings are held aloft on wrought iron brackets.

The stone is wonderful sandstone.

A pretty and peaceful pond.

Beautiful limestone roof imported from Europe.

The Fords moved into their home in 1929, after two years of construction.

The pool is 125 feet long and 55 feet wide. It holds 100,000 gallons of water and has brass fixtures.  It was designed to look as though you stumbled upon a natural pool of water in the forest.

A lovely reflecting pond -- again with the "cracked ice" stonework.

Edsel's dining room.

The butler's pantry at Edsel Ford Estate.

These refrigerators are much like the ones at Skylands.

This hallway reminds me so much of Skylands.

Edsel and Eleanor Ford to the left and Clara and Henry Ford on the right. This picture was taken in the Gallery Room at Edsel's estate on April 11, 1938, celebrating Edsel and Eleanor's wedding anniversary.

Here I am in the playhouse that Edsel built for his daughter, Josephine. The number 36 represents Detroit Tigers player Barney Mckowski, whom Josephine adored.

Comments

[liisamarja]

i so envy you for getting to visit such beautiful houses and gardens. just love the type of architecture featured in these homes, and in skylands as well!

i will be remodelling one of my bathrooms soon, hoping to find tiles in that shy shade of pink that one of your bathrooms in skylands has.

[John]

Martha, Thank you again some beautiful photographs! Though I've never been to the Fairlane Mansion of Henry Ford's, the Edsel & Eleanor Ford home is just gorgeous. I drive past it several times a week!

[Vivian Love]

Martha, What a wonderful tour of the Ford estate. My husband works for Ford and I've never been to Detroit. Thanks for taking us on a "virtual" tour!

VivianLove, California

[Robb]

Awe-inspiring. The estates are steeped with history and americana, THANK YOU for sharing.

[Jan Erickson]

Hi Martha, This is a most magnificent blog. What an exquisite photo gallery you have given us of your tour of these magnificent homes of Henry and Edsel Ford. I am just in awe of the fantastic archirecture and the fabulous gardens surrounding these magnificent homes. I am going to enjoy looking at these photos again and again because they are so wonderful. It really feels like I am right there with you on these tours because your descriptions are so fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing. Jan

[Tylor B. of Michigan]

Martha...how did i ever miss you visiting Michigan? Funny thing because my niece just adores you and she is only 7 years old. She would of loved to see you in person, but who knows if that will ever happen.

P.s. It's funny how you visit so close to where I live, and yet I happen to miss it like a needle in the haystack. I need to watch the news more often...

Yours Truly,
Tylor B.

[O]

Fascinating! Thank you for taking us on the Ford journey with you. I don't think I'd ever see it otherwise. All the architecture is beautiful and amazing.

[Rose C. Moriarty]

I was born and grew up in Detroit. Also lived in Maine for 17 years. I now live in Southern New Jersey. The pictures are just wonderful. Enjoyed them very much! Thank you for taking them.

[Michelle]

Beautiful pictures!

For those of you that live in Michigan and would like to visit, you can come for free with this program

http://www.detroitadventurepass.org/

[zarpandit_gokche]

hiiii!
ı'm from TURKEY!
it's delicious blog!
you are perfect:):):):)

[suemare]

That swimming pool is amazing. Thank you for sharing that photo.

[Paula]

Very beautiful Thank-you for sharing !!!!I wonder what they would think about gas prices ??

[Hardboiledegg]

On several of my vacations we have visited cities of interest that make us strangers in a strange land as there are no relatives to give us the tour. Far too often, when a relative brings a visiting relative to a place ,it may be the first or last time the local ever steps foot on the location. What a shame, to ignore local points of interest. Certainly this is not true for central park in New York but recently I asked a new Yorker Who is buried in grants tomb and Where is it?-- well he only got half the answer right. Grant's wife is buried there and it is located in Morning side park near the campus of Columbia University

My point is if one were to visit local historic sites it may put history in some perspective for example, the Fontana Dam in North carolina is part of the TVA -- the Government agency which provided hydroelectric power to rural- at the time -Appalachia now the Fontana dam required hundreds of workers-- hundreds which were housed in small wooden houses which still exist today -- as rental cabins in this city of sorts in the Mountains . That was during the 30's during the Great Depression when the stock market crashed in 1929 the same year the Fords moved into there Mansion on Fairlane estate. Where did the workers live during the construction of the estate ? to be Fair, are there not other Large estates in the area as it was a popular enclave for the wealthy business executives I think Thomas edison was a good friend of Ford they would go camping there was another member of the trio oh yes Firestone the the tire guy

[Joan Fluor Mason, OH]

Hi Martha,

The Ford Estate, just beautiful. Thanks for the wonderful photos.

Skylands has to be beautiful too
have you shown any pictures of Skylands on your blog? I know it would be beautiful, too.

[Andrew Ritchie]

Wow! What a house! Was it designed by Duncan Candler, as Skylands was? I see many similarities between the two houses. Interesting that Jensen was the landscape architect. I read that it cost over $2-million to build the house at the time, which would have been an enormous fortune in 1916!

Lovely photos!

-Andrew

[Patty]

As always, the pictures and narrative are wonderful !! The Wedgewood mantel is stunning. To those of you who call Michigan home, is the land as flat as it appears in the garden pictures ? I've never been to MI and being from the beautiful rolling hills of Pennsylvania it always strikes me when I see so far off into the distance.

[Becky Byrne]

Hi Martha,
As one who will never be able to afford to go to the places you visit, I am so grateful for your wonderful pictures. I like that you take pictures of everything! I feel like I've been there. Thank you.

[Lauren P]

Martha,
You are so cute in these photos! I love seeing your snapshots. Your posting them on the blog just furthers our perspective of your personality and it's fun to see you doing things, like traveling or snapping photos, that we would find ourselves doing. Thanks for your transparency and for sharing. I'm a fan of your show, books, and brand. I'm learning a lot from you as a 21 year old married gal from Texas!

[Gail]

This was so great to see! If the hallway reminds you of Skylands...that's a good thing, very cool.

Thanks Martha

[Amy]

Martha,
I just want to say THANK YOU for your blog -- I read it almost everyday and it's such a pleasure! I live in Ann Arbor,MI, just west of Detroit, and I especially loved your entry about your trip to Detroit. I'm very glad that you enjoyed your time here. Thank you for visiting, and thanks again for your blog!

[Barbara]

You should also see the buildings that he built on the Berry College Campus and how a bag of peanuts he gave to Martha Berry created a wonderful school with over 28,000 acres. It located in Rome, Ga. and it is a story you would enjoy.

[Stephane]

Maybe on your next trip to brazil you can visit Fordlandia.
Henry ford purchased 25,000 square kilometers tract of land along the Amazon River.
Brazilian workers were forced to work from 9-5 under the tropical sun, celebrate american holidays and even square-dancing, and English-language sing-alongs.

The venture was a disaster, for Henry Ford and for the Amazon ecosystem.

[Teresa]

Now I'd like to see a virtual tour of Skylands.

[Amy in Houston, TX]

Another thanks for posting the pictures and description. This is a fantastic use for a blog--and Martha does it right--and it's greatly appreciated for those of us who are Martha fans and love this kind of thing. The estate is absolutely beautiful, the staircase is amazing, and I'm glad to know that someone thought to preserve a Model T!

Amy

[David Jones]

Martha,
As an Englishman I would like to apologize for the authorities here in the U.K. for refusing you entry. It's madness! Perhaps if you were a terrorist we'd have allowed you entry.

David Jones