MICHIGAN HOUSE ENVY

John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. were guests in $2.1M Detroit mansion

Judy Rose
Special to the Detroit Free Press

Black marble baseboards, carved and gilded walnut paneling, marble pillars, lacy metal work, musical instruments painted on the ceiling — this opulent limestone house was built in 1918 by Frederick Fisher, oldest of the coach-building Fisher brothers of Fisher Body fame, and is filled with elaborate decoration.

In the 101 years since it was built, the home that sits in the historic district called Arden Park-East Boston, directly east of the better-known Boston-Edison Historic District, has had only two other owners and each cared for it meticulously, changing nothing.

So it is the rare historic mansion that stands virtually identical to when it was new. 

Frederick Fisher, the oldest Fisher brother, had this house built of limestone with a clay tile roof on Arden Park Boulevard, now part of a historic district. Greek-style stone pilasters are on each side of the front door, which is made of metal and glass. Photographed in Detroit, Mich., Tuesday, July 9, 2019.

Historic guests here are said to include President Franklin D. Roosevelt, a campaigning John F. Kennedy and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

The music room can seat 60 to 80 guests for a concert. The morning room has a Pewabic tile floor and fountain. The lower level has a gilt-trimmed Louis XVI-style ballroom and Art Deco bar. The 100-year-old maroon velvet rope still swags alongside the curving stairs.

Even the kitchen is still original, restored but not changed. It has four rooms, floor-to-ceiling white tile walls, a domed ceiling and a great butler’s pantry. A modern stove and fridge have been added, but the vintage refrigerator wall with many doors is still there and it works.

Frederick Fisher missed few chances to add elaborate decoration to his house, which is in excellent original condition. Here, the top of a scored marble pillar meets women's figures in a heavily carved alabaster cap. They're topped by a deeply carved and gilded wood panel, then the decoratively painted ceiling beam and finally ceiling images behind it.

“Most houses of this type have lost their kitchens,” said Jim Draper, one of the owners. “But nothing has been removed since the house it was built.

“It had such good owners. They had a lot of money and they spent it on the house.”

Those owners were Fred and Bertha Fisher, who lived here from 1918 till he died in 1944.

The living room has a fireplace with a raised design that's made from blue and white porcelain. The paneling around the painting of a youth is carved in a historic English style mode of animals and plants called Gringling Gibbons, after its originator. Behind the living room is the evening room.

Then a prominent African American couple, Dr. Dewitt and Alice Burton, bought the house and held it 60-plus years. Among the couple’s notable activities, he founded the former Burton-Mercy hospital. 

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Twelve years ago the current owners bought the house from Alice Burton’s estate. Its condition was near perfect then, Draper said, including the mechanical systems.

 “Over 12 years we’ve had surprisingly little to do. We redecorated to suit our own taste and completely re-landscaped.”

The music room, where Fisher would hold concerts, has its original beamed and coffered ceiling with paintings of flowers and cherubs and musical instruments between the coffers. At the rear wall, two marble pillars are scored with a spiral design under carved alabaster caps. They frame an inset of deep carved paneling.

Some changes to the landscaping

With B and D Garden Design in Royal Oak, they took the grounds down to black dirt and created an Italian-style formal garden, aiming for four seasons of color. “It took about three months of very heavy labor with a huge crew,” Draper said.

Realtor Kenan Bakirci, who specializes in historic Detroit neighborhoods, called this house “possibly the most well preserved and elaborate I have seen.”

The evening room is one of several with an all-Pewabic tile floor. The white fireplace is carved, veined marble. The mural over it is original to Fisher's house, a scene of women bathing among classical ruins.The designs around the walls were drawn from ancient Italian life.

The architect was George D. Mason, whose work includes Detroit’s Masonic Temple. The top metal artist of the day, Samuel Yellin, made lacy metal doors for the music room. The chandeliers and sconces are by the Caldwell Co., hard hardware by Guerin. 

The current owners had large carpets made to suit some of the rooms. For example for the large music room they made a 14-by-26-foot rug with musical motifs and Greek key designs.

Standing inside the wrought iron gazebo, the view is back to the Fisher house through the formal Italian garden. The owners stripped out the landscape down to dirt and started over from scratch.

Fisher home on Arden Park Boulevard

Where: 54 Arden Park Blvd., Detroit

How much: $2.17 million.

Bedrooms: 6 – two owners’ suites, one guest suite, three staff bedrooms.

Baths: 4 full, 2 half

Square feet: About 7,200 on the main floors, 3,600 in the lower level ballroom area.

Key features:  Beautiful house built by Frederick Fisher is extravagantly decorated and preserved in original condition. Stunning interior details, lavish formal garden, handsome limestone architecture.

Contact:  Kenan Bakirci, Max Broock Realtors, 248-330-8038.