edsel & eleanor ford house

My husband, daughter and I went to the Edsel Ford house on a cold Sunday afternoon. First you check in at the visitor center and then a shuttle bus takes you to the main house. We only had 7 in our group, so it was a nice small group. Our tour guide was so knowledgeable about the house and history of the Fords. I forgot her name but she said she has been there for almost 30 years!! The basic tour includes the main house, playhouse (which is amazing!!), garage and powerhouse and then you can tour the grounds, too. We only walked a little because it was too cold. They have a behind the scenes tour, too, which includes the basement, attic tunnels and more. We definitely want to come back and do that but it sells out quickly. Check the website for dates. The house was so beautiful. The style of each of the rooms was so interesting and hearing where they got the different pieces of furniture and art was cool. This is a "must see" for anyone in the area. We loved it!!

Whatever your event, the Ford House is marvelous! We used to take the kids on their "Halloween Walk", which was very cool! What an amazing place- hard to believe a place like this exists, much less that it's available for rent!

We visited dec. 23 and I think everyone should go and learn about a great big piece of detroits history. It was a great tour of the grounds and the house.

This was a very nice tour of the Ford House and property, the guides are very nice and knowledgeable. The house has all of the old furnishings, fabulous woodwork and plaster ceilings. They decorate for the Holiday season both inside and out. There were three pristine old cars in the garage (1914 Ford, 1940's Lincoln Town Car, and a 1965 Ford Mustang). The food we were served was excellent.

This was a pleasant surprise. I brought my parents here from out of town and we all loved it. Our tour guide was great, she was so detailed and gave excellent info so much that I could picture those days. It didn't hurt that it was a beautiful fall day!

Great tour. Not real hard to find..ample parking. $12 admission for adults. Allows you to tour the house and the grounds. Shuttle bus from visitors center. We walked it--about a scenic 8-10 minute walk(flat land). Docent was great--tour was about 50 minutes. Just the amount of right time. House if magnificent and one a kind. To get upstairs there are about 20 steps to climb. Afterwards you can tour the grounds and walk back if you wish to the activities center(restaurant; gift shop; etc). Well worth a visit.

Having grown up only three blocks from the Edsel and Eleanor Ford House, I may be a bit partial to this attraction. As a boy we used to take our boat to "Fords Cove" which was the private cove that was part of the Ford Estate. The house and its grounds have always been maintained impeccably when the the widow of Edsel Ford resided there until her death and its donation as a historic landmark/tourist attraction. The mansion, its guest houses, gate house and grounds stand as a testament to the grandeur in which the automotive elite resided. Albeit, not quite the grandeur of some of the other old famous homes in Grosse Pointe, many of which have been lost to the times and development, such as Rose Terrace (the Dodge Estate) the home and its beauty and originality stand as it did when the Fords resided there. Of particular interest to me and to anyone who love art deco is the study.

I loved the ford house because you can explore the grounds at your own pace. We have a very knowledgeable tour guide and it was just a beautiful piece of well-kept history.

The architecture in and out is wonderful and a surprisingly nice mixture of European medieval influence and American art deco. The tour guide was great and walking the outside grounds was fun too. Some real history here.

I've visited Edsel and Eleanore beautiful home several times, and have enjoyed my visit every time. What a blessing to have this home available to tour with all the original furninshings, thanks to Eleanore's generosity. I've been on the tour several times and learn something new each time!Elenore was a great supporter of the arts and believed in sharing her beautiful art collection in her home and at the Detroit Art Institute. This home is a must see for everyone who loves history! Plus the home is right on the lake and the views are gorgeous! Stop and have lunch a wonderful lunch at the Cotswold Cafe, the food is great. Wonderful sandwiches and soups, salads and more!

My husband and I visited the Edsel and Eleanor Ford Estate a couple of weeks ago and it was like a step back into the Golden Age of Detroit. The Fords traveled to England with the architect Albert Kahn for the concept's ideas, where they were attracted to the vernacular architecture of the Cotswolds. They asked Kahn to design a house that would resemble the closely assembled village cottages typical of that rural region and the estate's gardens were designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen with his traditional 'long view,' giving visitors a glimpse of the residence down the long meadow after the passing the entry gates. Construction on the house began in 1926 and by 1929, the house became the new residence of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford family. The house features an extensive art collection, reflecting Edsel and Eleanor’s status as serious museum benefactors. After Eleanor Ford’s death, many important paintings were donated to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA). Reproductions were hung in their place. The Drawing Room features two original Paul Cézanne paintings and reproductions of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Edgar Degas and Vincent van Gogh hangs in the estate as well. An original Diego Rivera painting, Cactus on the Plains, hangs in the Modern Room. All of these are a feast for the eyes!!! Other interesting design elements include kitchen counters made of sterling silver, a "secret" photographic darkroom behind a panel of Edsel Ford's office, and Art Deco style rooms designed by Walter Dorwin Teague, a leading industrial designer of the 1930s. The tour is a MUST and well worth the small entry fees. After the tour my husband and I decided on a late lunch at The Cotswold Cafe, located in the visitor center. A perfect ending to a perfect day.

A home of the supper rich. Right on the Lake with room for your yacht. All kinds of art. Beautiful grounds. The tour was great. It was interesting to see the "modern rooms " upstairs. The tour was great. They have a large swimming pool and a pool house. The garage has 3 cars and an exhibit about women drivers. There is a cottage built in 2/3 scale.

The Edsel and Eleanor ford Estate north of Detroit in Grosse Point Shores, MI, is a huge complex on the shores of Lake St. Clair. Edsel, Henry Ford's son and longtime head of the Ford Motor Company, and his wife Eleanor built this lovely home and its adjacent outbuildings in the manner of an English Cotswold manor. The main house has something like 60 rooms (20 of which are included in the guided house tours), all set as they were when Eleanor died in the mid-1970s. The grounds are also beautifully laid out, and the panoramic views of the lake are gorgeous.In addition to viewing this property, the drive along the lake through the several Grosse Pointe communities to get there provides a fine example of how the other half live. What a collection of large mansions!

It is a beautiful, remarkable home. It was interesting to see both forward-thinking amenities (master bath, each bedroom has it's own bath) as well as period things (the refrigerators). The grounds are beautiful as well.

The behind the scenes tour is only offered a few times a year and sells out quick. But it's incredible so if you get the chance, take it. Not only do you get to see how and where the staff lived and worked, you get personal stories about the staff's relationship with the Ford. Mrs. Ford was exceptionally close to her butler and chauffer, for example. It lasts about 1.5 hours and takes in the house from the basement to the attic.