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Historic Photo from NRHP Filing
The Vinton Building 600 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan Photographer: Robert V. Meehan Date: August, 1982 Negative: R. V. Meehan and Associates 20177 Briarcliff Detroit, MI 48221 View: Camera facing East Photo #: 1 of 4
The Vinton Building is significant for its historic association with one of Detroit's oldest and most important building firms, founded in 1858 by Warren A. Vinton. Built for Robert K. Vinton, grandson of the firm's founder, the Vinton Building has architectural significance as the work of noted architect Albert Kahn, and as a notable example of the eclectic, steel-frame office buildings of the early twentieth century. Warren A. Vinton established a carpentry business on Detroit's lower east side in 1858. Since Detroit remained a city of wooden buildings until late in the century, Vinton's first commissions were residences and frame business blocks. Beginning in 1868, however, Vinton's firm began receiving commissions for larger institutional structures: the Detroit Opera House (1869), the City Hall (1871), and religious structures such as the Woodward Avenue Baptist Church and the First Congregational Church (both now listed in the National Register). In 1895 the elder Vinton turned over active management of the firm to his son Guy Jay Vinton. Vinton expanded the firm's operations to general contracting, equipping the company to handle even the biggest jobs. Vinton's company comprised eleven complete departments, permitting the firm to undertake the entire work of any contract, from turning the first sod to the decorating and furnishing of the completed structure. The Vinton Company factory, located at Woodridge and Beaubien streets, occupied an entire block and by 1910 had a work force numbering nearly fifteen hundred employees. Albert Kahn began his association with Vinton when the firm built his Palms Apartment Building in 1902 and the Belle Isle Horticultural and Aquarium structures two years later. Between 1905 and 1915, Vinton served as the principal building contractor both for Kahn's early factory commissions (the Packard, Hudson, Hupp and Chalmers motor car factories) and for several of Kahn's downtown Detroit structures: the Grinnell Brothers Music Building, the Detroit Free Press Building, Detroit Trust Building, and the Detroit Athletic Club. While Kahn pioneered in the use of reinforced concrete in his automobile plants, he sensed that concrete was an expensive and inappropriate building material for high-rise commercial structures. Beginning with the 1908 Grinnell Building, Kahn began experimentation with architectural terra cotta on his commercial designs, using it for spandrels and other trim items. In 1916 Robert K. Vinton commissioned Kahn to plan a high-rise commercial structure on Woodward Avenue at Congress. When completed in April, 1917, the Vinton Building was then downtown Detroit's tallest office structure.
600 Woodward - Vinton Building - Steel-frame twelve-story building faced in light grey glazed brick with terra cotta details (1917). Albert Kahn, Inc., architect. George A. Fuller Co., contractor. Already listed in the National Register. The building stands at the northwest corner of Woodward and Congress and fills out its lot. The two street-facing facades are treated alike, with narrow vertical piers separating banks of single double-hung windows that fill most of those facades. The facades display an Arts-and-Crafts-influenced Commercial Style feeling, but with a modicum of Romanesque-inspired detailing. Terra-cotta spandrel panels contain foliage ornament set in a central lozenge outlined by triangles. The upper row of windows has arched heads. Attenuated twisted columns outlining the façade’s edges run up to a shallow gabled treatment with an arcaded cornice above a rosette-decorated frieze. The Vinton name is displayed at the gable-shaped parapet. The roof is flat with the exception of an elevator penthouse and separate equipment storage shed. The alley facade is faced in common brick. The storefront was recently refurbished to something closer to its historic appearance than the former enameled metal panel one. Robert K. Vinton, secretary-treasurer of the Vinton Company, general contractors, commissioned the building. The Vinton Company was then Detroit’s oldest building firm, founded in 1858 by Walter A. Vinton, Robert’s grandfather. The Vinton Company initially had its offices on the eleventh floor of the office building. The Guaranty Trust Company bought the building by 1925 and by the end of the decade occupied the first and second stories. The bank was a casualty of the 1933 bank holiday (Vinton Building historic district study committee report).
Albert Kahn (1869-1942), architect
NRHP Ref# 83000898 • Data from National Park Service • Content available under CC BY-SA 4.0
The Vinton Building 600 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan Photographer: Robert V. Meehan Date: August, 1982 Negative: R. V. Meehan and Associates 20177 Briarcliff Detroit, MI 48221 View: Camera facing East Photo #: 1 of 4
Public Domain (Michigan Filing)
The Vinton Building is a residential high-rise located at 600 Woodward Avenue (at the northeast corner of Woodward and Congress Street) in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. It stands next to the First National Building, across Woodward Avenue from Chase Tower (currently known as The Qube) and the Guardian Building, and across Congress Street from One Detroit Center. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1982 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.Vinton Building, c. 1922 The building, designed by Albert Kahn and completed in 1917, stands 12 stories tall, 172 ft. (52 m), with 2 basement levels for a total of 14 floors. Its primary uses are for offices and retail. The building was constructed in the neo-classical architectural style, and contains mainly terra cotta as its main material. It features a peaked parapet wall on the front façade, reminiscent of classical temples.The Vinton Building at bottom right, next to the First National BuildingThe Vinton underwent a reconstruction in 2006, turning the building into a loft building. The renovation included commercial space on the first two floors, and one loft on each of the additional ten floors. The renovation began in December 2005, and included a conversion of the basement into a parking level, ground floor retail, second floor commercial space, with the top ten floors being converted into multiple condominium units, one or two per floor.Renovation of Vinton by owner Vinton Building, LLC and general contractor The Garrison Company began in December 2005, and included a conversion of the basement into a parking level, ground floor retail, and second floor commercial space, with the top ten floors being converted into multiple condominium units, one or two per floor. The reconstruction stalled and did not reopen as planned in 2007. By 2010, the renovation was officially halted.Bedrock, owned by Dan Gilbert, purchased the building in 2013.In 2017, Bedrock undertook a renovation of the structure, working with Kraemer Design Group (KDG), a Detroit-based architectural firm. Known for its work in Toledo, Ohio, Charleston, North Carolina, and Detroit, KDG specializes in historic renovation projects, including historic landmarks. Redesigning not only the building’s exterior, but expanding its interior offerings, Vinton was upgraded to a luxury-style apartment building consisting of one-, two-, and three-bedroom luxury apartments. Vinton features biometric security and smart technology, in addition to upscale finishes and amenities. Another addition to the structure is the fine-dining restaurant, BESA, and a concierge service. Vinton is connected to the First National Parking Garage.• Hill, Eric J. & John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3.• Meyer, Katherine Mattingly and Martin C.P. McElroy with Introduction by W. Hawkins Ferry, Hon A.I.A. (1980). Detroit Architecture A.I.A. Guide Revised Edition. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-1651-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)• Sharoff, Robert (2005). American City: Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3270-6.• Media related to Vinton Building at Wikimedia Commons• Google Maps location of the Vinton Building• "Emporis building ID 156969". Emporis. Archived from the original on August 11, 2020.• "Vinton Building". SkyscraperPage.• Historic Detroit — Vinton BuildingSkyscrapers and complexes • 150 West Jefferson• Ally Detroit Center• Book Tower• Broderick Tower• Buhl Building• Cadillac Place• Cadillac Square Building (demolished)• Cadillac Tower• Chrysler House• David Whitney Building• Detroit Life Building• Executive Plaza Building• Federal Reserve Building• First National Building• Fisher Building• Ford Building• Fort Pontchartrain Hotel• Francis Palms Building• Guardian Building• Hudson's Detroit• Industrial Building• Lafayette Building (demolished)• Michigan Central Station• Millender Center• One Campus Martius• One Griswold Street• One Kennedy Square• One Woodward Avenue• Penobscot Building• Renaissance Center• Riverfront Condominiums Detroit• David Stott Building• Westin Book Cadillac Hotel• Meridian Health Plan Headquarters (proposed)• Detroit Statler Hotel (demolished)• Water Board Building• Wurlitzer Building, a former Wurlitzer office buildingParks • Belle Isle• Campus Martius Park• Water Works Park (closed)Public art • Bagley Memorial Fountain• Scott Fountain• Russell Alger Memorial Fountain• General Alexander Macomb• Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument• The Spirit of Detroit• Stevens T. Mason• General Thaddeus KosciuszkoOther landmarks • Comerica Park• Detroit Athletic Club• Detroit Building• Detroit City Hall (demolished)• Detroit Opera House• Detroit Public Safety Headquarters• Detroit Club (club defunct, but building still exists)• Elwood Bar• Farwell Building• The Fillmore Detroit• Ford Auditorium (demolished)• Ford Field• Fort Shelby Hotel• Fort Street Presbyterian Church• Fox Theatre• Frank Murphy Hall of Justice• Gem Theatre• Griswold Building Senior Apartments• Hollywood Casino• Huntington Place• Joe Louis Arena (demolished)• Kennedy Fountain, a/k/a Kennedy Square (demolished)• MGM Grand Detroit• Park Avenue House• Town Apartments• Veterans' Memorial Building• Wayne County Building• William Livingstone Memorial Light, only marble lighthouse in the United States, located on Belle Isle• Women's City Club• Coleman A. Young Municipal Center• University Club (demolished)• Yondotega ClubDetroit People Mover stations • Broadway• Bricktown• Cadillac Center• Financial District• Fort/Cass• Grand Circus Park• Greektown• Huntington Place• Michigan Avenue• Millender Center• Renaissance Center• Times Square• Water SquareThis list is incomplete. The Michigan State University College of Law was in Downtown Detroit prior to 1997 and was known as the "Detroit College of Law." Low rise under 10 stories selectedParks and gardens • Belle Isle• Cranbrook• Campus Martius• Grand Circus• Metroparks• Matthaei Botanical Gardens• Riverfront parks• Detroit ZooMuseums and libraries • Cranbrook Educational Community• Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History• Detroit Historical Museum• Detroit Institute of Arts• Detroit Public Library• Detroit Science Center• Edsel and Eleanor Ford House• Fair Lane• Ford Piquette Avenue Plant• The Henry Ford• Meadowbrook Hall• Pewabic Pottery• Southfield Public Library• University of Michigan Museum of ArtReligious landmarks • Religious landmarksPerformance centers • Theatres and performing arts venuesNeighborhood Historic DistrictsSee also: List of tallest buildings in Detroit
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