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 he tale of how Fair Lane came to be is a complex one. In late 1909, Henry Ford approached Frank Lloyd Wright to discuss a commission for the design of a new country house. The home was to be built on a dramatic 1300-acre site Ford had acquired alongside the Rouge River, just two miles from where he had been born.
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Marion Mahony
Griffin's original
"Prairie School" design. |
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A few days after meeting with Henry Ford, Frank Lloyd Wright eloped to Europe with the wife of one of his clients.
Fair Lane's design was taken over by Marion Mahony Griffin, a former student of Wright who was with the Chicago architectural firm of
Van Holst & Fyfe. Griffin's plans
closely embodied |
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Wright's "Prairie School" design philosophy. |
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As the story goes, Mr. Ford noticed that the Van
Holst people were being quite extravagant with the use of materials in the construction of Fair Lane's footings and foundation.
It has also been said that Clara Ford and Griffin
were at odds over certain aspects of Fair Lane's
design. In 1912, the Fords returned from their
first trip to Europe with a new found appreciation
for English manor houses. Henry Ford soon dismissed the Van Holst &
Fyfe firm and hired the Pittsburgh concern of William H. Van Tine. Under Van Tine, Fair Lane's design was greatly modified. The result was an eclectic mixture of English castle elements juxtaposed with Wright-Midwestern prairie features. |
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Constructed of Ohio Marblehead limestone the "Residence," as Mr. Ford liked to call it, contained over 31,000 square feet divided into 56 rooms. Its outer walls were from 18 to 24 inches thick. They surrounded seven bedrooms, fifteen baths, a kitchen, service and storage rooms,
a "field "room,
an indoor swimming
pool, a bowling alley and a billiard room.
Rare roseleaf mahogany paneling graced the home’s
Palladian dining room, while heavy carved oak adorned its 25 foot tall
main entry staircase. Light and |
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airy sun porches extended the living spaces
into the outdoors.
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Fair Lane's design, in many ways, reflects the complex personality that was Henry Ford. In truth, the stately mansion and its gardens were the province and passion of Clara Ford. It was at
the Powerhouse that Mr. Ford reined ...
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