Beverly Road Historic District

Beverly Road, subdivided by Henry B. Joy circa 1910, is significant as one of the earliest well-to-do subdivisions in the Grosse Pointes. It is indicative of the transformation of the Grosse Pointes from a summer recreational colony and farming community to a year-round suburban community. Patterns of home ownership and residency on Beverly Road reflect a social history typical in the Grosse Pointes during and immediately following that change - that of close ancestral ties and the mobility of the wealthy. The buildings on Beverly housed socially prominent company executives, such as William P. Hamilton, William Cornelius Crowley and Edwin R. Stroh; lawyers such as Sidney T. Miller and William Van Dyke, and investors such as Edwin B. Henry. Beverly Road features substantial residential structures designed by some of the finest architects of the early twentieth century in the Detroit area, including Robert O. Derrick, Raymond Carey, and Marcus Burrowes, in period revival styles. The entrance gates on Lake Shore Road were designed by Albert Kahn. Beverly Road remains one of a few private roads in Grosse Pointe Farms, owned and maintained by its residents.

The Beverly Road Historic District is comprised of primary, moderate to large scale single-family period revival style residential buildings situated along a straight line paved roadway between Lake Shore Road and Grosse Pointe Boulevard. Crested iron gates and fencing between limestone piers along Lake Shore Road mark the entrance to the private road. The piers flanking the gates bear small bronze plaques with the name 'Beverly Road.' The west side of Beverly backs up to a masonry wall separating it from Fisher Road, an important access road inland. The east side abuts the rear yards of similar type homes on McKinley Road. To the north, across Grosse Pointe Boulevard, is Grosse Pointe South High School (NR). To the south across Lake Shore is a modern subdivision on the former location of Mrs. Horace Dodge's estate, Rose Terrace, and, further east, Grosse Pointe Memorial Church (NR). Most houses in the district are large in scale and have complementary garages. The character of the streetscape is that of a streetcar suburb; houses tend to out-scale the size of the lots and rear yards are generally small. The contributing buildings display a variety of colors, materials and stylistic decoration, and a high quality of workmanship and design. The district is well-maintained and possesses much of its original character. All of the contributing buildings in the Beverly Road Historic District were built between the years 1911 and 1936. Period revival styles represented amongst the fifteen houses range from the Georgian Revival, Mission Revival, Colonial Revival, English Cottage style, and Renaissance Revival. Garages contributing to the district, although smaller in scale, generally mimic the style of the main house.