Founded by Boston native Irish-American architects F. Charles Donah McGinnis (1867-1955) and Timothy Francis Walsh (1868-1934), Maginnis & Walsh was an early to mid-20th-century design firm that specialized in prestigious ecclesiastical designs, particularly churches, chapels, monasteries, seminaries, rectories, and chanceries influenced by Gothic, Romanesque, and Tudor Revival styling. Together, Maginnis & Walsh had a major […]

Maurice V. Rogers (1898 – 1985) was a Detroit architect and designer who began his career at the height of the city’s rapid industrial expansion period, a time when elite families commissioned expertly crafted residences that reflected their abundance and position within the city’s upper-class social hierarchy. Rogers’ work was centered on livable yet elegant […]

Founded out of Cleveland by esteemed architects Frank Meade and James M. Hamilton, Meade & Hamilton was a prolific architectural firm in the early 20th century that gained national attention through their white stucco Mediterranean villa-style property, the Sebastian S. Kresge Mansion located at 70 W. Boston Blvd within the historic Boston Edison district (completed in […]

John P. Frazer (1884 – 1972) was a prominent designer, architect, and developer in Detroit during the city’s explosive automotive boom, a time that saw him construct a number of upscale homes under the John P. Frazer Construction Company. Practically overnight, Frazer gained a reputation as a prominent figure behind the construction of some of […]

German-born architect Louis Mendelsohn (1854 -1935) was an influential American Midwest designer whose career spanned multiple cities, including Detroit, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Grand Forks. Rising to prominence during one of the most transformational architectural eras in United States history, Mendelsohn began his career in an era that placed a high value on quality craftsmanship, […]

Syracuse, New York native George DeWitt Mason (1856-1948) was one of the prominent architects of the late 19th century and early 20th century in Detroit, whose career spanned an impressive six decades and helped shape the city’s architectural identity during its interwar period and early industrial ascent. Although born in New York, Mason relocated to […]

Founded by architects Henry F. Stanton and Charles Crombie, Crombie & Stanton was a Detroit architectural firm that had a lasting impact on the city’s most prestigious residential districts at the turn of the century. Their work was defined by high-style domestic architecture – tasteful revival designs, balanced proportions, and intricately crafted façades that indicated […]

Founded by Detroit-based architects and principal partners Alpheus W. Chittenden and Charles Kotting, Chittenden & Kotting was one of Detroit’s most sought-after residential architectural firms during the city’s early rise in the late 1890s to the 1920s.  Their designs were known for luxury, refinement, and skillful revival styling (Tudor, Renaissance, and Colonial), which conveyed taste […]

Manistee, Michigan born architect, J. H. Gustav Steffens (1884) was a respected Detroit architect who played a major role in the construction of the city’s early-20th-century residential districts at a time when Detroit was one of the fastest-growing industrial cities in the nation. His work often featured Tudor Revival and Colonial Revival aesthetic hallmarks like […]

Founded by Nova Scotia native and Boston-educated architect Aaron H. Gould, Aaron H. Gould & Son was an architectural design firm located in Detroit in the early 20th century whose body of work had a major impact on the city’s streetscape during its period of rapid economic growth and industrial ascension. Known for their versatile […]

Samuel C. Falkinburg (1841-1905) was a 20th-century Detroit architect known for his orderly façade composition, refined ornamentation, and dignified massing, particularly seen in commercial blocks, multifamily housing, and revival-style urban dwellings. Gaining prominence during the city’s east-side neighborhood growth era, Falkinburg had a major impact on Detroit’s well-crafted, middle-class apartment living scene in the 1910s-1920s.  […]

David Spicer was a 20th-century Detroit architect who specialized in Prairie School and Craftsman-influenced residential designs. Gaining prominence at the height of the city’s rise to industrial greatness, Spicer was active at a time when Detroit’s cultural center was shifting northward towards what would eventually become the Wayne State University campus.  His body of work […]

Founded by William Kessler, Philip J. Meathe, and Harry Smith in 1955, Kessler & Associates was a modernist architectural firm in Detroit from the 1950s into the 1960s, at the height of its mid-century economic boom and rise as an industrial giant. Best known for their daring residential designs that earned early AIA citations, Meathe, […]

Founded by architectural trio Martin A. Preston, J. Martin Brown, and R. Louis Walker, Preston, Brown & Walker was a prestigious architectural firm that had a major impact on Detroit’s residential development during its early industrial expansion at the turn of the century. Though not as prolific as some of the city’s larger firms, their […]

Founded by architects Keith W. Smith, Thomas W. Moss, and Alfred H. Mitschke, Smith, Moss & Mitschke was a prominent architectural partnership located in Detroit at the turn of the century. The practice exemplified prestige and the careful craftsmanship and quiet elegance expected by the early elite families settling into neighborhoods like Indian Village.  Their […]