Detroit Architects: John P. Frazer (1884 – 1972)

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 Detroit’s most prestigious residential landscapes – districts defined by their refined brick and stonework and rising industrial and professional elite residents. 

From there, Frazer skyrocketed even further, joining forces with Frank Couzens (the son of former U.S. Senator and Detroit mayor James Couzens) to create the Frazer-Couzens Company, one of the most acclaimed residential development firms in Detroit during the 1920s. 

In 1924, the Detroit Free Press even ran a report documenting Frazer-Couzens Company’s major acquisition in the historic Palmer Woods district, which saw Frazer-Couzens purchasing “an entire section comprising a great number of the choicest lots,” with nearly $2 million invested in new construction – an astonishing amount for the age that helped establish Palmer Woods’ identity as one of Detroit’s premier enclaves for wealthy residents.

You can also see proof of their quality work within the Boston-Edison Historic District, where Frazer’s most notable verified commission, the William A. Fisher House at 670 W. Boston Blvd (constructed in 1916), commissioned for William Andrew Fisher of the famed Fisher Body brother dynasty, stands as  a cornerstone of Boston-Edison’s identity — sophisticated, private, and central to Detroit’s bustling Woodward Avenue corridor. 

Collectively, these structures reveal just how deeply Frazer’s contributions to Detroit’s architectural scene shaped its early residential prestige and character, having a lasting impact well into the modern age.