Charles Lang Freer House

According to a prominent midwestern architectural historian, the finest example in Michigan of the shingle style of architecture is the Charles Lang Freer House. The mansion displays a sensitivity to line and texture that marked it as one of the most distinguished houses of the period in Detroit. Freer had amassed a huge fortune through part ownership in the Peninsular Car Works, operating the Detroit steam forge, and controlling a large car works at Adrian. A great devotee, he dedicated much of his life to his collections of James McNeill Whistler and other contemporary artists, and his collection of Oriental art of all types became one of the finest outside Japan.

He acquired the celebrated Peacock Room, the dining room of a London residence designed by Whistler. It was paneled in Spanish leather and honeycombed with walnut shelves to hold an assortment of porcelain. It was dismantled and installed in Freer's home. In 1906 a formal deed of gift was executed bequeathing Freer's entire art collection to the nation upon completion of the building to house it at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Charles Freer died September 25, 1919. The Freer Gallery was opened to the public shortly thereafter. Today the house serves an entirely different purpose. Since 1921 the building has been the property of the Merrill-Palmer Institute of Human Development and Family Life.

The Institute is one of the most advanced schools in the country and its influence is worldwide. The school is dedicated to 'the study and better understanding of man from infancy to old age.'

The Freer House reflects both the Queen Anne style and the influence of Henry Hobson Richardson, an eastern architect with a strong preference for stained shingles and rough stone. Wilson Eyre, Jr., of Philadelphia, a recognized master of the style, was contracted by Freer to design the house. A spirited composition, it is an excellent example of the architect's individual design. It was erected in 1887.

The exterior of the two-and-a-half story shingle style building displays work of stone on the lower story; Freer imported the stone from New York State. The upper stories are faced with closely spaced and stained shingles, starting at the top of the first story mullion and transept windows and ending with graceful eaves. The house is a general pyramidal composition with emphasized horizontal lines. It has a front gable and high end chimneys which are constructed of the same stone as the first story, lending a striking contrast of texture between the stone and the shingles.

A carriage house-stable combination was connected to the main house by a roofed passageway. Enlargement of the carriage house provided room for Whistler's famous Peacock Room, brought here from London, England. Twelve fireplaces are situated throughout the twenty-two rooms, with an elevator from the basement to carry wood. The rooms are oriented toward the surrounding grounds.

Balconies, bay windows, enclosed porches, and skylights are featured throughout the house. The lofty foyer with the two-story stairhall features an arcaded gallery and an interior bay window on the second floor. The enlarged stairwell removed the customary barrier between floors and enhanced the beams, arches, and basketweave railing of the stairway. Many other original features of the house, innovative at the time, are total electric wiring, natural wood paneling, storage built-ins, entire walls of bookshelves, and cedar-lined drawers.

The paneled walls and the ceiling beams of the house were supposedly stained by a process devised by Freer, using vinegar to rust iron and then applying the residue. Today, the enclosed porches are used for offices, and the covered area joining the main house with the carriage house is a study area for the students of the institute. The famed Peacock Room is still referred to as such, though the original decor has been moved to the Freer Art Gallery in Washington, D.C. The skylighted art gallery in the house is now the Hoobler Lounge, reading room of the Kresge Historical Library.

The house has been preserved and has been altered only enough to facilitate the function of the Merrill-Palmer Institute.