Volume XVI, Issue 2 2nd Quarter 2008
The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House
Reminiscing by Hugo S. Higbie...Founder
of Higbie Maxon Agney, Inc.
One of Grosse Pointe’s great estates is that built
on the shore of Lake St. Clair by the Edsel Fords in
the 1920’s.
Edsel and Eleanor decided they needed a suitable
home to bring up their four children; they needed
space and size for their growing family and
lifestyle. They traveled through England and
studied various examples of authentic Cotswold
estates. They were a fabulously romantic couple and
the word “ostentation” was not in their vocabulary.
The entire house and grounds, designed by Albert
Kahn with much personal input from Edsel, showed the
couple’s stylish restraint.
When Edsel died in 1943, and in the long years
following, after the children were grown and gone,
Mrs. Ford carried on the same quiet, but still
social, way of life. We were honored to be among
her guests on many festive occasions. She loved
giving tasteful parties for her granddaughters.
Eleanor was saddened to see the Horace Dodge house,
Rose Terrace, fall to the wrecking ball in the early
1970’s. While the houses were quite different, they
were similar in size, age and lakeside
location, and needed huge upkeep. However, Anna
Dodge had no control over any funds to bequeath for
it’s preservation. Eleanor loved her English
country house, therefore, she set up the Trust to
save the property from such a sad demise, and endow
it for the public, all of us, to enjoy into
the future.
The Ford House offers many upcoming events... Behind
the Scenes Architecture/Staff Life Tours, Ground
Exploration Tours, Wildflower Walks, Bird Walks,
Spring Tea & Tour, Mother’s Day Brunch & Tour, Mutt
March (bring your canine companion to this
fundraising walk), Eyes on Design (See more than 200
vehicles on the grounds during this annual car
show).
For more activities and a detailed history of this
fabulous Grosse Pointe jewel, visit their website at
www.FordHouse.org..v
Source: H. S. Higbie and V. Colwell
