Meadow Brook Hall

Funded by one of Detroit's great automotive fortunes, the Meadow Brook Estate reflects the opulent taste of some of Michigan's most affluent nouveau riche. Meadow Brook Hall, the central feature of the 123.5 acre property, rests on part of the original 120 acre farm purchased by John Dodge in 1908. Architecturally a lavish example of the Jacobethan Revival Style, the Hall contains many finely crafted examples of American workmanship. Historically, the Estate played a significant role in the lives of two families important to Michigan's development: John and Matilda Dodge, who, along with Horace Dodge, were the prime movers behind the Dodge automobile industry, and Alfred and Matilda Dodge Wilson, builders of Meadow Brook Hall and benefactors of what is now Oakland University.

In 1907 John Dodge married his secretary, Matilda Rausch, and the new Mrs. Dodge became business manager for the Dodge Brothers' firm. The death of John Dodge in 1920 left his widow with five children and a $194 million bequest which helped to finance a 1925 European honeymoon with her second husband, Wisconsin lumberman Alfred G. Wilson.

Taking with them architect William Kapp, the Wilsons toured England's famous palaces and manor houses in search of ideas for an authentic Tudor and Elizabethan mansion to be built on the original Dodge farm property in the rolling hills near Rochester. A member of the Detroit firm of Smith, Hinchman and Grylls, Kapp obtained measured drawings of his clients' favorite estates from the Victoria and Albert Museum and later incorporated certain elements into the design of Meadow Brook Hall. Although Kapp was the Hall's principal designer, other Smith, Hinchman and Grylls associates assisted on the project, among them Amedee Leone and Fred Graether, experts in period detail. Landscape architects included Charles W.

Leavitt and Sons of New York City from 1926 to 1928, and the Arthur E. Davidson Company of Detroit after 1928. Grandville D. Jones, a member of the latter firm, directed the project in 1929 after Davidson became ill.

Bryant and Detwiler of Detroit served as general contractors. Built over a three year period at a cost of close to $3.5 million, the mansion was occupied shortly after the stock market crash of 1929.

The Meadow Brook Estate encompasses 123.5 acres, some 20 assorted structures, and a portion of the Oakland University Katke-cousins Golf Course. The centerpiece of the property is Meadow Brook Hall (#1), a great sprawling Jacobethan Revival mansion inspired in part by the sixteenth-century Warwickshire manor house, Compton Wynyates. The Hall's English Tudor influence is particularly evident in the mingling of stone, brick, and half timber work on the exterior walls, and in the 36 individually designed chimneys which extend from the gabled tile roof. Although basically L-shaped in plan, the profusion of projecting gables, oriels, dormers, bays, and embattlements tend to obscure the building's essential outline.

Stone carvings of the Dodge and Wilson family crests, the seasons, and native small animals accent the main Tudor arch entrance which is enclosed with wrought iron grill gates, Tiffany glass windows, decoratively bonded brickwork, and specially designed leaded eaves troughs also highlight the facades. The interior of the mansion contains approximately 110 rooms, many of which replicate the decor of famous English Tudor and Elizabethan estates. The linen fold paneling of the Great Hall, for example, was used extensively in the Cardinal Wolsey Room at Hampton Court, and C. J.

Parducci's carved plaster dining room ceiling was inspired by the Grinling Gibbons carvings at Milton Mowbry House in Lincolnshire. Other decorative elements include a burl oak frieze depicting the life of the original owner, Alfred Wilson, an elaborately carved grand staircase, a secret staircase, gold plated bathroom fixtures, Tiffany lamps, and door latch motifs in themes appropriate to each room's purpose. Mullioned windows provide vistas of the surrounding grounds which feature a circular entrance drive, a nine car carriage house (#3), a gazebo, a rock garden, a formal garden, a fountain, and a flagstone walkway. Nestled in the woods two hundred yards north of the Hall is Knole Cottage (#2), a two-thirds scale brick playhouse modeled after the English country house, Knole Park; the five room cottage possesses oak paneling, diamond paned windows, and a living room fireplace, all designed to scale.

The complex of buildings located among the rolling meadows to the north and east of the Hall are described below and keyed to the sketch map: Riding Ring and Stables (#4): 1929, four interconnected wooden structures bounded by a white wooden fence. Sunset Terrace (#5): 1952-1953, a two story flat roofed brick and aluminum sided building with a one story enclosed porch and a circular dining room.