The Charles Lang Freer House is located at 71 East Ferry Avenue in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, USA. The house was originally built for the industrialist and art collector

Charles Lang Freer Charles Lang Freer (February 25, 1854 – September 25, 1919) was an American industrialist, art collector, and patron. He is known for his large collection of East Asian, American, and Middle Eastern Art. In 1906, Freer donated his extensive col ...

, whose gift of the Freer Gallery of Art began the

Smithsonian Institution The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. The structure currently hosts the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute of Child & Family Development of

Wayne State University Wayne State University (WSU) is a public research university in Detroit, Michigan. It is Michigan's third-largest university. Founded in 1868, Wayne State consists of 13 schools and colleges offering approximately 350 programs to nearly 25,000 ...

. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1970 and listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1971.

History

, in partnership with Col.

Frank J. Hecker Frank J. Hecker (July 6, 1846 - 1927) was an American businessman in the railroad-car manufacturing business. Hecker was from Detroit, Michigan. Early life Frank J. Hecker was born in Freedom, Michigan (in Washtenaw County) on July 6, 1846.

, made his fortune from the

Peninsular Car Company The Peninsular Car Company was a railroad rolling stock manufacturer, founded by Charles L. Freer and Frank J. Hecker in 1885. In 1892, the company merged with Michigan Car Company, the Russel Wheel and Foundry Company, the Detroit Car Wheel C ...

.Charles Lang Freer Home
from Detroit1701.org Freer travelled widely, with one of his favorite spots being

Newport, Rhode Island Newport is an American seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and northeast of New Yor ...

. There, he was favorably impressed by the shingle style summer cottages built by the wealthy. Desiring a similar home, in 1890 Freer contracted with

Wilson Eyre Wilson Eyre, Jr. (October 30, 1858 – October 23, 1944) was an American architect, teacher and writer who practiced in the Philadelphia area. He is known for his deliberately informal and welcoming country houses, and for being an innovator in ...

to design a home in Detroit. The house, on Ferry Street next door to Hecker's home, was completed in 1892.

Architecture

For the exterior, Eyre used coursed hard blue

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

(now discolored) from New York for the first floor. Dark, closely spaced shingles of Michigan oak cover most of the rest of the façade. On the third story, a triangular

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

and various dormers interrupt the roofline. Chimneys dominate the east and west ends of the home, underneath which are porches. These porches were originally open-air, but are currently closed stucco. On the interior, Eyre designed the home with Freer's art collection in mind. (This collection is now in the

's Freer Gallery of Art.) There are 22 rooms and 12 fireplaces in the house, as well as an elevator, and numerous balconies, bay windows, enclosed porches, and skylights.Charles Lang Freer House
from the city of Detroit In 1906, Eyre designed an art gallery, added above the stable. In 1904, Frederick Leyland's widow sold Freer ''

The Peacock Room ''Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room'' (better known as ''The Peacock Room'') is a masterpiece of interior decorative art created by James McNeill Whistler and Thomas Jeckyll, translocated to the Freer Gallery of Art in Washington, DC. W ...

'', designed by

James Whistler James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...

, and Freer had Eyre design another room in the carriage houseFreer House history
from the Merrill Palmer Institute in which to install it.

Current use

In 1916, Lizzie Pitts Merrill Palmer left a bequest of three million dollars to found a school centering on home and family development.
from the Merrill Palmer Institute In 1923, the Institute purchased the house, and have remained there since. In 1980, this Institute (currently Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute) was incorporated into

. The Institute runs the Early Childhood Center, a preschool for area children age 2 1/2 to 5, and has a research faculty of 12 studying children from infancy to adulthood.

References

External links

MPSI, Freer House Main Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Freer, Charles Lang, House Houses completed in 1887 Houses in Detroit Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan Culture of Detroit Shingle Style houses Michigan State Historic Sites Historic district contributing properties in Michigan National Register of Historic Places in Detroit Shingle Style architecture in Michigan Gilded Age mansions

History

Architecture

Current use

References

Further reading

External links