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Skyscrapers
In the 1880s, Gilded Age architects such as Gordon Lloyd, Harry J. Rill, and others turned their attention to office and commercial buildings. They designed some of Detroit's ornately stone-carved nineteenth century tall buildings, many of which are still standing. Lloyd's Romanesque 6-story iron-framed Wright-Kay (1891) at 1500 Woodward Ave and his R. H. Traver Building (1889) at 1211 Woodward are prime examples.3 The Wright-Kay or Schwankovsky was among the first with an electric elevator.3 Rill designed the ornate Beaux-Arts facade of Detroit Cornice and Slate (1897) at 733 Antoine.3
At 12 stories, the steel-framed United Way Community Services Building (1895), at 1212 Griswold, originally known as the Chamber of Commerce Building, qualifies as Detroit's oldest existing skyscraper.67 The 10-story Hammond Building (1889), now demolished, is considered the city's first skyscraper.8
Though too numerous to list, the city has a surprising number of architecturally significant late nineteenth and early twentieth century buildings and skyscrapers.3 Daniel Burnham, Louis Kamper, and the Smith Hinchman & Grylls firm are among the architects who designed some of the city's other important skyscrapers at the turn of the century which endure today. Burnham's three remaining Detroit skyscraper designs are the Neo-Classical styled Dime (1912) — renovated in 2002, and the Neo-Renaissance Whitney (1915) and Ford (1909) buildings. Among their early projects Smith Hinchman & Grylls designed the Neo-Gothic R.H. Fyfe Building (1919) at Woodward and Adams, now a residential high-rise.
While some cities have demolished historic structures to make way for the new, Detroit has preserved a large number with many of its buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Even so, the city has many historic structures awaiting restoration. The most significant of these is the Michigan Central Station (1913) by Warren & Wetmore and Reed & Stern.
Rising higher
Albert Kahn designed what is now Cadillac Place (1923), with its Neo-Classical architecture, for General Motors. Kahn, sometimes called the architect of Detroit, originally worked for John Scott, the architect of the Wayne County Building (1897). It opened as the second largest office building in the world.6 The seven Fisher brothers who owned the automotive company Fisher Body essentially gave architect Kahn a blank check to design and build the most beautiful building in the world.9 This became Detroit's famous Fisher Building (1927) which, with its detailed work, has been called the city's largest art object; its opulent three story barrel vaulted lobby is constructed with forty different kinds of marble.91011 Albert Kahn Associates chief architect for the Fisher Building was Joseph Nathaniel French.12 The Fisher Building and Cadillac Place are among the National Historic Landmarks in Detroit.
During the Roaring Twenties, Detroit's historic skyline arose.13 Louis Kamper designed the ornate Neo-Renaissance styled Book-Cadillac Hotel (1924), which opened as the world's tallest hotel at the time. The city's architectural legacy is rich in Art Deco style. Joseph L. Hudson, the department store magnate, had commissioned architect Hugh Ferriss to sketch a series of drawings depicting new buildings for the city skyline.14 Hudson's department store window displayed the Ferriss drawings to commenorate its fiftieth anniversary as well as the opening of a new building for the Detroit Institute of Arts.14 Other architects would take up the task of designing the buildings roughly based on the Hugh Ferriss concepts which included the Guardian Building, the David Stott Building, the J.L Hudson Building, and others.14
Architect Wirt C. Rowland played a significant role in crafting the city's historic skyline with his designs for the Buhl buildings, Greater Penobscot, and the Guardian buildings. Rowland's design for the Buhl Building (1925) included a Gothic Revival design with a clever blend of Romanesque accents. Noted examples of Art Deco include Rowland's Greater Penobscot Building (1928), and Guardian Building (1929),13 as well as Albert Kahn's Fisher Building (1928), and John M. Donaldson's David Stott Building (1929). Architectural tiles made from Pewabic Pottery by American ceramist Mary Chase Perry Stratton are a prominent feature in the Guardian Building's facade and decor.13
With the notable exception of the 1001 Woodward (1965) building, Detroit's skyscrapers show less influence by the Chicago school of architecture and are more eastern in character.3 Minoru Yamasaki patterned his award winning design for the New York City's former World Trade Center towers after his design for Detroit's One Woodward Avenue (1962).15 Today, the city's restored historic skyscapers stand beside the contemporary. Wirt Rowland's historic Penobscot Building (1928), in the heart of the financial district's wireless Internet zone, blends with Comerica Tower at Detroit Center (1993), with its neogothic spires, a fine example of post modern architecture by leading architects Philip Johnson and John Burgee.
Tallest buildings
| Rank | Building | Height | Stories | Built | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Detroit Marriott at the Renaissance Center | 727 feet (222 m) | 73 | 1977 | 16 | |
| 2 | Comerica Tower at Detroit Center | 619 feet (189 m) | 43 | 1993 | 17 | |
| 3 | Penobscot Building | 565 feet (172 m) | 47 | 1928 | 18 | |
| T-4 | GM Renaissance Center Tower 100 | 522 feet (159 m) | 39 | 1977 | 19 | |
| T-4 | GM Renaissance Center Tower 200 | 522 feet (159 m) | 39 | 1977 | 20 | |
| T-4 | GM Renaissance Center Tower 300 | 522 feet (159 m) | 39 | 1977 | 21 | |
| T-4 | GM Renaissance Center Tower 400 | 522 feet (159 m) | 39 | 1977 | 22 | |
| 8 | Guardian Building | 496 feet (151 m) | 40 | 1929 | 23 | |
| 9 | Book Tower | 475 feet (145 m) | 38 | 1926 | 24 | |
| 10 | 150 West Jefferson | 455 feet (139 m) | 26 | 1989 | 25 |
Contemporary highlights
An indicator of economic strength, the competitive office market in Metro Detroit is one of the nation's largest, with 147,880,000 square feet (13,739,000 m2).26 Two notable office complexes are the 5,500,000 sq ft (511,000 m2) Renaissance Center and the 2,200,000 sq ft (204,400 m2) Southfield Town Center. Each mixed-use complex is an interconnected group of skyscrapers termed a city within a city.
The construction of the Renaissance Center in downtown Detroit marked a new era for the city's architecture. In the 1970s, Detroit Renaissance, chaired by Henry Ford II, commissioned highly regarded architect John Portman to design an enormous skyscraper complex called the Renaissance Center in hopes of stemming the tide of white flight to the suburbs precipitated in part by court-ordered busing. Portman had hoped to halt the exodus.
Portman expanded on his earlier design for the Westin Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia for the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan beginning a new popular architectural era for the skyscraper hotel.3 (See Portman's Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, California). In the ensuing decades, the Renaissance Center would undergo expansions joining the city's restored historic art deco skycrapers to form the current skyline.
In 1924, Detroit's Book-Cadillac opened as the world's tallest hotel (it is now a re-developed Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel). Completion of first phase of the Renaissance Center in 1977 restored this distinction to the city. The Renaissance Center's central tower opened with a flagship Westin hotel, the tallest in the world, 27 and a conference center with the world's largest rooftop restaurant. However, Westin moved its flagship Detroit hotel to the Southfield Town Center across from Lawrence Technological University. The central tower of the Renaissance Center became occupied by Marriott International's largest hotel with 1,298 rooms. Though it is no longer the world's tallest hotel, it remains the tallest in the Western Hemisphere.27
Stemming the flight of capital from the city proved difficult, however, as the suburban office market continued to grow, notably in Southfield and Troy. The Southfield Town Center, constructed from 1975 to 1989, became easy to recognize with its marque of five golden glass skyscapers. It attracted tenants in competition with the Renaissance Center as Metro Detroit's office market continued its suburban sprawl.
Portman designed the Renaissance Center with interior spaces, yet secure. It quickly became a symbol of the city of Detroit. In 1996, the Renaissance Center's design changed when General Motors purchased the entire complex for its new headquarters. The $500-million makeover of the complex included a $100-million renovation of the hotel.28 A new front door Wintergarden (2003) provides waterfront views and expanded retail space. Prior to completion of its renovation in 2003, some had criticized its circular corridors as confusing. Construction of a lighted glass walkway now facilitates ease of navigation encircling the interior mezzanine. A pedestrian-friendly glass entry way has replaced the former concrete berms along Jefferson Avenue.
The city, together with the Riverfront Conservancy, undertook another major project planned at $559-million along the Detroit International Riverfront to construct a three-mile (5 km) riverfront promenade park along the east river from Hart Plaza and the Renaissance Center to the Belle Isle bridge.29 Detroit Wayne County Port Authority added the Dock of Detroit (2005), a state of the art cruise ship dock near the Renaissance Center on Hart Plaza. A two-mile (3 km) extension along the west river will take the riverfront promenade park from Hart Plaza to the Ambassador Bridge (1929) for a total of five miles (8 km) of parkway from bridge to bridge. The state of Michigan constructed its first urban state park, the Tri-Centennial State Park (2003) and Harbor. The 2007, two major casino resorts were completed in the city, the MGM Grand Detroit by SmithGroup and Motor City Casino resort. The third, Greektown Casino resort, is scheduled for 2008–09. Caesars Windsor casino resort is visible from the International Riverfront.
Besides the Town Center skyscrapers, Southfield's modern towers include the 25-story American Center (1975) by the SmithGroup and One Towne Square (1992) by Rossetti with 21-stories. Other notable centers of commerce in the area are Dearborn, Troy, and Auburn Hills. Dearborn contains the world headquarters of the Ford Motor Company. Dearborn's 14-story Hyatt Regency (1976) luxury hotel with its contemporary arced design by Charles Luckman is among the region's finest. One of the largest in the Hyatt chain, it has 772 rooms. Rossetti designed Dearborn's modern Ritz-Carlton Hotel (1988) along with the complementary Fairlane Plaza North and South (1990) as well as the Parklane Towers (1973). Troy has a large number of office buildings, many of which are situated along the corridor of Big Beaver Road. The tallest of these is the Top of Troy (1975) building, a 27-story triangular tower. Troy also contains what is generally considered to be the most upscale shopping center in the region, the Somerset Collection.
The suburb of Auburn Hills is home to the Chrysler Headquarters and Technology Center. The Chrysler headquarters complex has 4,400,000 sq ft (409,000 m2) on 504 acres (2.04 km2) located near I-75.30 CRSS Architects designed the Chrysler Technology Center (1993) in a cross-axial formation where its elongated atrium topped concourses converge with an octagonal radiant skylight at its center. The SmithGroup designed the attached Chrysler Headquarters (1996) tower crowned with the pentastar emblem. The nearby Palace of Auburn Hills (1988) by Rosetti is a sports arena that has served as a prototype for many others of its kind.
Future development
- See also: Economy of metropolitan Detroit and Urban development in Detroit
In downtown Detroit, there are $1.3 billion in new construction projects.31 On November 12, 2007, Quicken Loans announced its development agreement with the city to move the company headquarters to downtown Detroit, consolidating suburban offices, a move considered to be a high importance to city planners to reestablish the historic downtown.32 The construction sites reserved for development by the agreement include the location of the former Statler on Grand Circus Park and the former Hudson's location.32 Plans for a major residential and retail development adjacent to the Renaissance Center have been announced. In 2007, DTE announced a major transformation of the area around its downtown headquarters into an urban oasis with parks, walkways, and a reflecting pool adjacent to the MGM Grand Detroit.33 Many residential lofts and high rises are under construction in the Detroit area. The Inn at Ferry Street is an example of a successful historic downtown restoration project. Other historic restoration projects in Detroit include housing in the Midtown area, the Doubletree Guest Suites Fort Shelby, and the Westin Book-Cadillac Hotel. Meanwhile, the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) is studying the feasibility of a light rail or other rapid transit link from Ann Arbor to Detroit.3435
In January 2008, the City of Detroit announced plans for a new Cadillac Centre, a $150 million mixed-use residential entertainment-retail complex attached to the Cadillac Tower. Architect Anthony Caradonna designed the Cadillac Centre in the postmodern architectural genre known as deconstructivism similar to the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. The 24-story steel and glass twin-towers complex to be located on Campus Martius is planned to begin construction in the fall of 2009.36 The futuristic Cadillac Centre is to be constructed on Detroit's historic Monroe block, once a collection of eight antebellum commercial buildings demolished in 1990.37
Landmarks
- See also: List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan, List of Registered Historic Places in Detroit, Michigan, List of Registered Historic Places in Wayne County, Michigan, Religious Structures of Woodward Ave. TR, Theatre in Detroit, and Grosse Pointe
Founded in 1701, Detroit contains the second oldest Roman Catholic parish in the United States.38 Consequently, Metro Detroit's many churches and cathedrals, though too numerous to list, are among its architectural gems and sites in the National Register of Historic Places. Churches dominated the city's Civil War era skyline. The Gothic Revival architecture of Ste. Anne de Detroit (1887) by Alert E. French and Leon Conquard includes flying buttresses, displaying the French influence. It is on the site of the city's original French Catholic Parish. The Gothic styled St. Joseph Church (1873/1883) by Francis Himpler is an authentic German Catholic Parish and an important site listed in the National Register of Historic Places, noted for its architecture and stained glass.6
Other architecturally significant churches include the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament (1915) on Woodward, the Victorian Gothic style Fort Street Presbyterian Church (1855), Old St. Mary's Church (1885) in Greektown, and the Cathedral Church of St. Paul (1911) by Ralph Adams Cram. Sculptor Corrado Parducci's work adorns many of Detroit's churches including the ornate facade of St. Aloysius Church (1930). Among his Detroit projects, Gordon W. Lloyd designed the Christ P.E. Church (1863) at 960 E. Jefferson Avenue. Detroit's First Presbyterian Church (1891) is a fine example of Richardsonian Romanesque style by George D. Mason and Zachariah Rice.
The large concentration of Poles in the metropolitan Detroit resulted in a number of ornate churches in the Polish Cathedral style designed by noted architects. Henry Engelbert designed the Gothic styled St. Albertus (1885), Detroit's first Polish Catholic parish. Harry J. Rill designed St. Hedwig's (1915) and the Baroque styled St. Stanislaus (1913). Donaldson and Meier designed St. Hyacinth's (1924). Ralph Adams Cram designed the ornate Gothic styled St. Florian's Church (1928) at 2626 Poland Street in Hamtramck. Joseph G. Kastler and William B.N. Hunter designed the Victorian styled St. Josaphat's (1901) which has spires that line-up with the Renaissance Center towers when approaching the city on I-75. The Historical Society at the Detroit Historical Museum provides information on tours of the area's many historic churches. The historic Beaubien House (c. 1851) at 553 East Jefferson houses the Michigan Society of Architects.
Grand Circus
In 1805, Detroit suffered a devastating fire, which destroyed most of the city's French colonial architecture. Shortly afterward, Father Gabriel Richard said, Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus, meaning, We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes, which became the city's official motto.38 For Detroit, Justice Augustus B. Woodward devised a plan similar to Pierre Charles L'Enfant's design for Washington, DC. Detroit's monumental avenues and traffic circles fan out in a baroque styled radial fashion from Grand Circus Park in the heart of the city's theater district.39
The ornate Fox Theatre (1928), by C. Howard Crane, near the Grand Circus is a National Historic Landmark which was fully restored in 1988.40 In Gothic revival design, St. John's Episcopal Church (1861) stands across from the Fox Theatre along with Woodward Avenue's vintage street lights. Restored in 1996, the Detroit Opera House (1922), also by Crane, faces Grand Circus Park.41 The grounds include antique statuary and old-fashioned water fountains. Architect Henry Bacon designed the Russell Alger Memorial Fountain (1921) in Grand Circus Park. The Russell Alger Memorial Fountain contains a classic Roman figure symbolizing Michigan by renowned American sculptor Daniel French.42
Campus Martius
Campus Martius is a park at the encircled confluence of Woodward and Michigan Avenues. It serves as one of the city's central gathering place for events. The park disappeared in the 1900s as the downtown reconfigured to accommodate increased vehicular traffic.43 In 2004, the city restored the park with traffic circle. Granite waterfalls are at the western edge of the north and south sitting gardens. The park has two stages for live entertainment. Greenways and flowering botanical gardens fan out from Woodward Fountain, the centerpiece of Campus Martius, which can jet water over 100 feet (30 m) into the air,44 while the Bagley Memorial Fountain sits nearby on Cadillac Square. Grand Circus is on Woodward Avenue, down the street.
Hart Plaza, along the riverfront, was designed to replace Campus Martius as a focal point. Yet Hart Plaza is a primarily hard-surfaced area, many residents came to lament the lack of true park space in the city's downtown area. This led to calls to rebuild Campus Martius. Compuware World Headquarters overlooks the reconstructed traffic cicle surrounding Campus Martius Park with the historic Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument of the American Civil War by Randolph Rogers.42 The old Detroit City Hall (1861) was demolished in 1961. It was built by Alexander Chapoton of one of the city's oldest French families. The Queen Anne style Alexander Chapoton House (c. 1870) stands at 511 Beaubien.
Paris of the West
In the late nineteenth century, Detroit was called the Paris of the West for its architecture and open public spaces,38 in keeping with the City Beautiful movement.45 Architects John and Arthur Scott designed the Wayne County Building (1897) in downtown Detroit. Expense was not a factor in construction of its lavish design. Topped with bronze quadrigas by J. Massey Rhind and an Anthony Wayne pediment by Edward Wagner, it may be America's finest surviving example of Roman Baroque architecture with a blend of Beaux-Arts.5 Stanford White, architect of Newport, Rhode Island's Rosecliff mansion, designed Detroit's Neo-Classical Savoyard Centre (1900) at 151 Fort St. Belle Isle Park provides panoramic views of city skyline along the Detroit International Riverfront.
The French-American architect Paul Philippe Cret designed the Detroit Institute of Arts. Cret was educated at the École des Beaux-Arts in Lyon then in Paris, and came to the United States in 1903 to teach at the University of Pennsylvania. Cret was also the architect of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington D.C. Michael Graves designed the 2007 renovation and expansion of the Detroit Institute of Arts with its exterior covered in white marble.
The Detroit area is home to light houses,46 yacht clubs, and many unique monuments.42 Examples include the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club (1929) and the Beaux-Arts Chauncey Hurlbut Memorial Gate (1894) at Waterworks Park.47 The Detroit Historical Society has begun an incomplete list with more than 122 public sculptures and monuments just near the downtown area,48 while Detroit1701 lists many additional downtown monuments.49 Architects such as Cass Gilbert who designed the United States Supreme Court in Washington, DC also designed the Detroit Public Library (1921) and Belle Isle's exquisite James Scott Fountain.50 Frederick Olmsted, landscape architect of New York City's Central Park, designed Detroit's 982-acre (3.97 km2) Belle Isle park. Marshall Fredericks' sculptures, which include the Spirit of Detroit, may be seen throughout the metropolitan area.51 Sculptor Corrado Parducci's work adorns many notable Metro Detroit buildings such as the Meadowbrook Hall mansion, the Guardian Building, the Buhl Building (1925), the Penobscot Building, the Fisher Building and the David Stott Building.
Metro Detroit's many architecturally significant landmarks extend beyond the city and include the French Gothic St. Paul on the Lake Catholic Church (1899) by Harry J. Rill in Grosse Pointe Farms, Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian (1958) in Bloomfield Hills by Wirt C. Rowland, and Christ Church Cranbrook (1928) by Bertram Goodhue in Bloomfield Hills.6
Eliel Saarinen was the architect for the Cranbrook Educational Community in the Metro Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills.6 Eliel's son, the famed modernist Eero Saarinen, designed a complex of buildings in the suburb of Warren, Michigan for General Motors known as the GM Technical Center.6 Sculptor Carl Milles' numerous works in Metro Detroit include those at Cranbrook Educational Community in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan such as Mermaids & Tritons Fountain (1930), Sven Hedin on a Camel (1932), Jonah and the Whale Fountain (1932), Orpheus Fountain (1936), and the Spirit of Transportation (1952) at the Detroit Civic Center.52 Architect Bertram Goodhue designed Christ Church Cranbrook, while Wirt Rowland designed Kirk in the Hills (1958), another architecturally renowned church in the Bloomfield Hills.
Residential architecture
Downtown and New Center areas contain high-rise buildings, while the majority of the surrounding city consists of low-rise structures and single-family homes. Outside of the city's core, apartments and high-rises are found in neighborhoods such as the East Riverfront extending toward Grosse Pointe and the Palmer Park neighborhood just west of Woodward. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe designed the buildings for Detroit's Lafayette Park neighborhood (1958–1965), including three high-rise apartment buildings and over 200 townhouses. A successful 78 acre urban renewal project, this development is the largest concentration of buildings designed by Mies van der Rohe in the world.53
The city's neighborhoods constructed prior to World War II feature the architecture of the times with wood frame and brick houses in the working class neighborhoods, larger brick homes in middle class neighborhoods, and ornate mansions in neighborhoods such as Brush Park, Woodbridge, Indian Village, Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest, and others. The oldest neighborhoods are along the Woodward and Jefferson corridors, while newer neighborhoods, built as late as the 1950s, are found in the far west and closer to 8-mile Road. Some of the oldest extant neighborhoods include Corktown, a working class, formerly Irish neighborhood, and Brush Park. Both are now seeing redevelopment and construction of new homes and condos.
Detroit neighborhood historic districts contain notable residential architecture from the city's Gilded Age.54 Areas such as Arden Park-East Boston (a National Historic district comprising Arden Park Boulevard and East Boston Boulevard, running for three blocks east of Woodward in central Detroit) are noted for mansions built by the industrial giants of the 1910s and 1920s.55 Residents included the Dodge Brothers, J. L. Hudson, and Fred Fisher, the founder of Fisher Body.56 Fisher's residence on Arden Park (George D. Mason, 1918, with additions in 1923) is constructed of Indiana limestone in the Italian Villa style. It features elaborate stone carvings and intricate ironwork and was the subject of a 1926 "Fortune Magazine" discussion of "the harmony of materials and proportion in residential architecture." The nearby Boston-Edison neighborhood (comprising four residential blocks west of Woodward) features several Kahn residences, including the Benjamin Siegal residence (1915), the James Couzens house (1910), and one of Kahn's rare stucco residences, the Ernest Venn house (1908). Additional architecturally significant homes in the neighborhood include the Sebastian S. Kresge house and the Henry Ford house.
Noted architect Gordon W. Lloyd designed the David Whitney House (1894) constructed of jasper stone.57 The Whitney House is now a fine restaurant at 4421 Woodward Avenue.
Detroit's heritage includes works by Frank Lloyd Wright who had participated in the initial design for Henry Ford's Fair Lane Estate,58 a National Historic Landmark in Dearborn. Frank Lloyd Wright also designed the Turkel house at 2760 West Seven Mile Rd.59, the Affleck House at 1925 N. Woodward Ave., the Marvin Smith House at 5045 Ponvalley Rd., and the Carlton P. Wall House at 12305 Beck Rd. in Plymouth Township.
The mansions of metropolitan Detroit are among the nation's grandest estates. Meadow Brook Hall (1929), the 110 room 88,000 sq ft (8,200 m2) mansion of Matilda Dodge Wilson at 480 South Adams Rd. in the suburb of Rochester Hills, is the fourth largest in the United States.58 Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the mansion is open to the public. The suburbs of Bloomfield Hills and Grosse Pointe are replete with grandiose mansions. Albert Kahn designed Cranbrook House in Bloomfield Hills. Bloomfield Hills, contains vast estates from the early twentieth century, as well as newer developments, such as Turtle Lake.61
Albert Kahn designed the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House (1927) at 1100 Lakeshore Dr. in Grosse Pointe which is open to the public.58 Rose Terrace (1934–1976), the mansion of Anna Dodge, once stood at 12 Lakeshore Dr. in Grosse Pointe. Designed by Horace Trumbauer as a Louis XV styled château, Rose Terrace was an enlarged version of the firm's Miramar in Newport, RI.62 A developer, the highest bidder for Rose Terrace, demolished it in 1976 to create an upscale neighborhood. This gave a renewed sense of urgency to preservationists.62 The Dodge Collection from Rose Terrace may be viewed at the Detroit Institute of Arts. The Italian Renaissance styled Russell A. Alger Jr., House (1910), at 32 Lakeshore Dr., by architect Charles A. Platt serves as the Grosse Pointe War Memorial.63 The five Grosse Pointe communities also have grand estates from the twentieth century.56 They once featured a nearly unbroken string of early twentieth century mansions flanking the shores of Lake St. Clair, but some were redeveloped into upscale subdivisions, beginning in the 1950s.
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Skyscrapers
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Landmarks
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