Saint Paul Manor Apartments

The St. Paul Manor is a representative example of the eclectic design apartment buildings which sprang up along Detroit's major thoroughfares during the 1920s. The building reflects not only the architectural tastes of the day in apartment building design. It also exemplifies and symbolizes the social history of the exuberant period of major population growth in Detroit in the late 1910s and 1920s that was reflected in the rapidly growing number of middle-class apartment buildings in fashionable parts of the city such as East Grand Boulevard. St. Paul Manor is a well-preserved example of the Detroit apartment houses of the 1920s that were built during that time of great prosperity. Following World War I, as a result of the success of the automobile industry, Detroit experienced a period of unprecedented building activity which was said to place third in the nation behind New York and Chicago. The Detroit Free Press reported on March 3, 1929 that Detroit was the 'fastest growing city in the U.S.' This period of overexpansion during the 1920s saw the flourishing of the fashionable apartment house. Apartment buildings were being designed in several sections of the city by prominent architects. St. Paul Manor is significant because it provides an exceptional and unique grouping of examples of diverse historic architectural styles on the single block of East Grand Boulevard.

The St. Paul Manor Apartments is a four-and-one-half-story Art Deco-influenced building with thirty-six apartment units. A commercial space with a separate street entrance is located in the basement with a short access stair at the corner of the building. The building is located at the corner of East Grand Boulevard and St. Paul Avenue and contains a primary, front-facing facade with a main entrance on East Grand Boulevard and a facade facing St. Paul Avenue that features an exterior courtyard, around which two residential wings are situated. The building is U-shaped with the open section around the courtyard facing St. Paul Avenue. Both of these primary facades are of brick masonry with a Flemish double stretcher bond pattern that provides a sense of verticality. The less visible south side and rear facades are finished in common brick masonry in a standard running bond pattern with no special ornamental treatments. The primary facades feature four-and-one-half-story tall precast concrete and/or stone masonry panels topped off by half round arches with low relief steps. This flatter arch and the notched or stepped arch is representative of an attempt by architects of that era to develop a more modern style, consistent with the Art Deco movement. These panels surround the window openings, and incorporate ornamental medallions and various relief trim panel styles. The vertical panels rise from a heavy precast base that rises approximately seven feet from the ground level. The front entrance is in a projecting one-story vestibule located in the center of the facade. The original entrance doors have been replaced with a security-type door. New aluminum double-hung windows with storms replaced the original double-hung windows in a 1984 remodeling project: Four original basement-level windows along St. Paul Avenue were infilled with concrete block. There have been deterioration problems associated with the precast panels and along the St. Paul facade two of the half round arches were removed and replaced with brick masonry. Other masonry repairs and tuckpointing measures have affected the appearance of the brick masonry at the parapets. Other than these actions, the building remains largely as originally built and maintains its historical appearance and character. Proposed rehabilitation work will include significant rebuilding of facade elements including stone panels and parapets, in which we will seek to restore the original quality of appearance of the facades and main entrance.