Ford, Henry, Square House

The Henry Ford Square House is significant for its associations with a little known chapter in the life of the great industrialist. Henry Ford I (1863-1947), engineer and pioneer auto maker, built the Square House within thirteen months of his marriage to Clara Bryant in 1888. Because of its coincidence with the early months of their marriage, it is sometimes known as the Honeymoon House. The building was a joint venture of the young couple since Clara drew the plans and Henry constructed the building himself with timber cut on the property and finished in the sawmill he operated. In many ways, this little known building, one of the few surviving structures closely associated with Ford from his pre-automobile period, has some of the most intimate associations with him and his lifelong spouse, Clara.

The Henry Ford "Square House" is located on a small lot in a twentieth century residential area in suburban Garden City, outside of Detroit. Retail land uses have intruded upon the dwelling in recent years with the construction of a discount store and shopping center to the rear and side of the house. The house is basically a thirty-one-foot-square, one-and-a-half-story, mansard roofed, clapboarded box. There is a small kitchen addition forming a rear ell with a side porch. The three-bay, center-entrance facade is distinguished only by a bracketed window cap on the gabled, central dormer. The plain door porch with square posts is a 1952 replacement for the original tuscan-columned veranda that extended around the front and right side. This was removed when the house was relocated in 1952. The fenestration consists of one-over-one, double-hung sash. The house is clad in narrow, beveled, novelty siding. The interior of the house has not been altered since its construction. It is divided into four rooms on the first floor with a kitchen in the ell. The front door opens into the living room with a parlor to the left. Behind the living room is a dining room with a lavatory and bedroom to the left of it behind the parlor. Behind the dining room is the kitchen ell. The second floor is reached by means of an enclosed stairway located between the living room and the dining room. There are three dormer-lit bedrooms and a bath on this floor with ample storage space around the perimeter under the slope of the mansard roof. The interior throughout is simply finished with five-panel doors, reeded baseboards and door casings, and plastered walls. The dining room, which served as the kitchen for a short time until the ell was built, has a dado of vertical tongue-and-groove boarding. There are no fireplaces in the house since it was originally equipped with a forced hot air heating system fired by a wood-burning furnace in the basement. The system was converted to oil in 1936. The historic appearance of the interior is enhanced by the old wallpaper and the period furnishings, including a number of pieces that belonged to the Fords during the early years of their marriage.