Botsford Inn

The Botsford Inn is of significance for its architectural value as an example of late Federal style vernacular design, for its historical value as a still functioning reminder of the stagecoach inns of nineteenth century America, and for its associations with Henry Ford. Although considerably enlarged since 1960 by the addition of large wings, the original 1836-1860 portion of the structure has been preserved much as it was in the mid-nineteenth century. Since the 1830's was, to a large extent, one of the first periods of extensive settlement in Michigan, the Botsford Inn is especially important as a surviving example of the architectural heritage the early settlers brought with them from their old homes in the East. The primary significance of the Botsford Inn is its importance as the oldest still-functioning inn in Michigan. Although it was originally built in 1836 as his residence by Orrin Weston, a farmer, in 1841 Stephen Jennings acquired the house and converted it into a tavern. Because of its distance from Detroit City Hall it became known as the Sixteen Mile House and served as a stagecoach stop on the Grand River Plank Road from Detroit to Lansing and Grand Rapids. It is likely that Jennings made several additions to the building at this time including the rear ell, the right-hand two bays of the main house and probably the porch across the front. In 1860, Milton C. Botsford purchased the inn which was subsequently known as the Botsford Tavern. During the sixty-four years of the Botsford proprietorship the tavern was a popular meeting place for farmers, drovers, local residents and travelers. The heyday of the inn coincided with the era of stagecoach travel from 1840 to 1870 when it afforded a necessary stopping place for travelers to rest and eat, and coachmen to look after their teams. By the 1920's, the inn had outlived its usefulness and was in danger of being demolished to make way for the widening of Grand River Avenue as U.S. Route 16. Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company, acquired the dilapidated structure in 1924 from the Botsford family and moved it back from its original site out of the path of the road widening. He was motivated by his nostalgic attachment to the old tavern where he had courted his future wife, Clara Bryant, decades earlier. Ford had his architects rehabilitate the old structure making various alterations including enlarging the ell, building a replica of a nineteenth century wagon shed, and installing some period woodwork and antique furniture.

The Botsford Inn is located on a large, landscaped site at the intersection of Grand River Avenue (U.S. 16) and Eight Mile Road in the town of Farmington. The building is set back from the highway about 200 feet and is shaded by mature trees. The inn is a two-story, flank-gable-roofed, clapboarded structure painted white with a double gallery with chamfered posts across the front. A long, six-bay ell extends to the rear on one side. A very large addition was added to the front about 1960, doubling the length of the structure. This addition imitates the architecture of the nineteenth-century in its clapboarding and double galleries with chamfered posts although the modern paired windows and the massive port cochere are not sympathetic to the design of the original building. The present appearance of the Botsford Inn is the result of several periods of construction. The original building encompasses the five left-hand bays between the chimneys. The centerhall is reached through a handsome Federal style doorway with sidelights opening from the front gallery. A less elaborately articulated door with sidelights directly above the main entrance opens from the upper level of the gallery to the second floor hall. Probably about 1841 a two-bay addition was constructed to the right of the original endwall chimney at the same time that the front gallery was constructed. About 1924 the rear ell was lengthened by several bays. The interior of the pre-1960 portion retains much of its original simple trim including horizontal board wainscotting, plain millwork window and door casings, and several Federal style mantels as well as some wide-board floors. In addition some excellent reproduction woodwork dating from a 1924 renovation adds interest to some of the interiors.