Smith, Samuel L., House

The Samuel L. Smith House is significant for three reasons. First, it was the residence of William C. Williams (1889-90) and Samuel L. Smith (1890-1917). Williams was a Detroit businessman involved in the retail drug industry. In 1885, he was among a group of private citizens who organized the Detroit College of Medicine. The College over the following decades eventually passed into the hands of Wayne State University. Samuel Smith occupied the house for twenty-seven years. Smith played a major role in the growth of the Michigan economy. In the mid-19th century, he participated in the development of the northern Michigan copper and lumbering industries, and he gave a hand to the promotion of railways and Great Lakes shipping. Investments in the Calumet and Hecla Copper Mining Company made Smith a multimillionaire. In the late 1890s, Smith became the financier to the struggling automobile company owned by Ransom E. Olds of Lansing. Smith's role in the establishment of the early automobile industry was crucial. Due to Smith, Olds in 1899 organized the Olds Motor Works in Detroit, the city's first automobile factory. The second principal reason why the Smith House is important is that it was designed by the architectural firm of Rogers and MacFarlane. The team designed numerous buildings in Detroit, including the National Register residence of Rufus Goodall (223 E. Ferry). Built only a year after the Smith House, the Goodall residence was similarly a Queen Anne structure with Romanesque Revival elements. The Smith House is important, thirdly, because it is an ideal example of the transformation of an upper-class residence of the late 19th century to cultural and educational uses starting around 1920. The different functions of the Smith House reveal the broad social changes that underlay the history of the University-Cultural Center.

Built in 1889 by the firm of Rogers and MacFarlane, this three-story, cross-gabled Queen Anne structure has both Romanesque and Colonial Revival stylistic elements. The house is basically square in shape, made of brick of relatively even texture, and its original red brick has since been painted light grey. The Smith House has a typical Queen Anne round corner tower, a Romanesque front entry arch, and Colonial motifs on the four end gables that partly overhang the body of the house and are supported by carved modillion brackets. Gable ends are decorated with windows, fanlights, and various designs. The interior features oak wainscotting and moldings, and numerous fireplaces on each of the three floors. Circa 1920, a two-story rear addition was constructed that connected the main house to a two-story, red brick, and cross-gabled carriage house. The plainly utilitarian style of the addition does not detract from the design of the main house.