The Thompson Home is a Victorian structure located at 4756 Cass Avenue in
Midtown 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 ...
. Originally the Thompson Home for Old Ladies, it was constructed in 1884,
[Thompson Home for Old Ladies](_blank)
from the city of Detroit designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1974,
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 1976.
History
David Thompson, a wealthy Detroit businessman, died in the early 1870s, leaving his estate to his wife Mary with instructions to establish a charitable institution.
[Thompson Home for Old Ladies](_blank)
from Detroit1701.org In 1874, Mary Thompson allocated $10,000 to build a home for aged women. However, construction did not start until nearly ten years later when land was purchased and Mary commissioned
George D. Mason of the firm Mason & Rice to design the home.
Mason designed a four-story home measuring 60 by 90 feet with private rooms for forty women. For a number of years, the Thompson Home was a prestigious retirement home for wealthy widows.
Sun rooms were added to the original structure in 1914, living quarters for the staff were added in the 1950s, and a five-bed infirmary was constructed in 1964.
However, the number of residents declined in the 1960s and 1970s, and the home closed in 1977.
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 ...
bought the building and remodeled it, and in 1980 WSU's School of Social Work was installed in the building.
In 2015, the School of Social Work relocated. The building was then converted into housing for students from the College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts, reopening in Fall of 2017 after an extensive renovation.
Architecture
The four-story home is
Queen Anne in style.
The front façade is dominated by an 80-foot
tower
A tower is a tall structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting structures.
Towers are specifi ...
, on either side of which bay window protrude. The windows are symmetric about the front, and a large stone carrying the building's name is set between the second and third floor. Artistic brickwork and painted bandcourses finish the exterior.
References
Further reading
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External links
Wayne State University's School of Social Work
{{National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Houses completed in 1884
Queen Anne architecture in Michigan
Towers in Michigan
Houses on the National Register of Historic Places in Michigan
Houses in Detroit
Michigan State Historic Sites
Wayne State University
Historic district contributing properties in Michigan
1884 establishments in Michigan
National Register of Historic Places in Detroit