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, […]

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 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 “the three Walters” (Walter MacFarlane, Walter Maul, and Walter Lentz), MacFarlane, Maul & Lentz was a prolific Detroit firm specializing in quality residential design during the city’s rise in prominence with wealthy families looking to put down roots in historic districts like Indian Village. Their work placed a high emphasis on prestige, high-quality […]

Founded in 1890 by William G. Malcomson and William E. Higginbotham, Malcomson & Higginbotham was a prominent architectural firm in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that had a major impact on the city’s residential (suburban), civic, educational, and commercial expansion. Best known for constructing many of Detroit’s public-school buildings (for example, Central High […]

Louis Keil (October 6, 1861 – September 5, 1918) was a German-born architect who had a major influence on Detroit’s architectural fingerprint in the early 1900s, thanks to his ecclesiastical and community architecture, which brings to mind the unique luxury of early 20th-century Great Lakes steamships.  Though best known for his churches and parish structures, Keil […]

Mason & Rice was one of the city of Detroit’s most prominent architectural firms during the city’s early 20th-century formative years, founded by designers George D. Mason & Zachariah Rice in 1878, two individuals who would go on to have a major role in shaping the architectural rhythm of the city’s earliest elite enclaves through commissions […]

C. Howard Crane (1885-1952) was a respected Detroit architect in the early 20th century and one of the most influential theater architects to ever live. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Crane relocated to Detroit in the early 1900s, and it was there that he became the architect of choice for theater mogul John A. Kunsky.  From […]

Cincinnati native Leonard B. Willeke (1885-1970) was a gifted and versatile early 20th-century Detroit architect best known for his quiet excellence and flawless residential designs, which saw him shape some of the city’s most distinguished neighborhoods, from Grosse Pointe and Indian Village to Palmer Woods. A master of Arts & Crafts detailing and European craftsmanship […]

Irving Tobocman (1933-2017) was born in Cleveland and moved to Detroit, where he developed an early interest in architecture at Cass Technical High School before going on to earn his Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Michigan in 1956. After graduating, his first major commission was an apartment complex in northwest Detroit paid for […]

Harry W. Chamberlin (1861) was a respected Detroit architect in the early 1900s, a time when the city’s newfound industrial wealth increased the demand for stylish, architect-commissioned homes in prestigious neighborhoods like Indian Village. Within Indian Village, you’ll find Chamberlin’s “George H. Harms House” commission at 991 Burns (one of Detroit’s most architecturally rich boulevards), […]

Frazer-Couzens Building Company was a prominent Detroit-based luxury residential development firm founded by home designer John P. Frazer and Frank Couzens (the son of former U.S. Senator and Detroit Mayor James Couzens) at the turn of the century.  Together, Frazer and Couzens specialized in designing high-style homes for some of the era’s most influential families, […]

Gardiner C. Vose (1902-1991) was a 20th-century University of Michigan-trained Detroit architect best known for designing the residence of Maurice A. Enggass, Vice President and Treasurer of the Enggass Jewelry Company (Detroit’s oldest and largest jeweler) in 1937, located at 19365 Cumberland Way in Palmer Woods. Considered a Palmer Woods cultural landmark, the Enggass residence […]

Mason & Kahn was the 20th-century design and architecture firm of designers George D. Mason and Albert Kahn, two emerging greats in the city’s rapidly developing suburban landscape at that time. The firm’s residential work blended architectural elegance with quality stone and brick work, making them a natural fit for prestigious historic neighborhoods like Indian Village, […]