When we think of famous Arts and Crafts homes in the U.S., we usually think of Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms in Morris Plains, New Jersey, or Greene and Greene’s Gamble House in Pasadena, California. Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie Style homes also come to mind, in particular the Robie House in Chicago, IL. Well, Michigan also has an Arts and Crafts treasure in Cranbrook House.

Gustav Stickley’s Craftsman Farms

Greene and Greene’s Gamble House

Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House

Cranbrook House in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, is a grand manor home in the English Tudor Revival style that was the home of wealthy newspaperman and philanthropist George Gough Booth and his wife, Ellen Scripps Booth. Built in 1908, the house was the nucleus for the renowned Cranbrook Educational Community that still exists today. The house was designed by Albert Kahn as a Tudor style country house in the English Arts and Crafts tradition. Today, the entire Cranbrook complex is a National Historic Landmark.

At first glance, for U.S. visitors especially, Cranbrook House would not appear to belong in the Arts and Crafts category. Tudor Revival is not generally considered part of the American Arts and Crafts experience. In Detroit, however, there is a substantial link between Tudor Revival architecture and the Arts and Crafts movement. The Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts (DSAC) was established in 1906, and both the owner and the architect of Cranbrook House were founding members. Along with Albert Kahn, the other architect/founders of the DSAC designed buildings in the Tudor Revival style (for example, take a look at the Pewabic Pottery designed by Buck Stratton). And Mr. Booth, who was actually the first president of the Society, was an ardent anglophile and a William Morris admirer.

Some believe that the work of England’s Norman Shaw was the inspiration for Detroit’s Arts and Crafts style. According to Thomas Holleman, “Arts and Crafts architecture in Detroit was actually based more specifically on the work of English architect R. Norman Shaw who agreed with Morris’ tenet of making useful things beautiful…”* Shaw was influenced by Morris’s Red House by Philip Webb, and several of his buildings could easily have served as inspiration for Cranbrook House, such as Banstead Wood from 1884. Certainly, as members of the DSAC, Booth, Kahn and the other architects were familiar with Shaw’s work.

Cranbrook House sits on the crest of a hill, and the grounds around the home have been terraced down into a series of gardens to a lake, providing wonderful vistas on the north side of the building. However, this is not readily seen as one approaches the entrance from Lone Pine Road. One enters the property through massive wrought iron gates designed by master Philadelphia Arts and Crafts metalworker Samuel Yellin.

Inside, the home is opulently appointed with the use of rich materials. Here, especially, it is evident that the Booths were Arts and Crafts enthusiasts because the handcraftsmanship is exquisite. Many of the rooms feature hand-carved wood paneled walls. The artists and artisans are virtually a Who’s Who of the Arts and Crafts movement in the eastern United States.

Most of the wood carving for the paneling and trim was supervised by Johannes Kirchmayer, who was a founder of the Boston Society of Arts and Crafts and is mostly known for his ecclesiastical work. Many of ceilings were finished in beautiful molded plaster, often designed or adapted by Albert Kahn. The chandeliers were by Edward F. Caldwell & Company of New York. There are tiles by Moravian Tile and Pottery from Pennsylvania as well as Detroit’s own renowned Pewabic Pottery and Rookwood Pottery of Cincinnati. Samuel Yellin of Philadelphia contributed wrought iron. There is a handmade tapestry, made to George Booth’s own design, by Herter Looms of New York. In addition, many decorative objects on display in the house were created by prominent Arts and Crafts artists, such as Elizabeth Copeland, Arthur J. Stone, Georg Jensen of Denmark, and ceramist Adelaide Robineau to name a few. Many of these artists exhibited at the Detroit Society of Arts and Crafts during the early 1900’s.

Public Interest in Cranbrook House
The Princeton exhibition in 1972 entitled “The Arts and Crafts Movement in America 1876-1916” started a revival of interest in the Arts and Crafts movement, which is still going strong today. It seems that Cranbrook House has been largely ignored by this community of enthusiasts. Unlike either the Gamble House or the Robie House, Cranbrook House is essentially considered to be in a historic style. Although the Tudor Revival in England was a daring rejection of contemporary Victorian style in the late 1800’s, here in the U.S., it was considered historicist. In the Gamble House and the Robie House, by contrast, the architects have shrugged off historic forms and produced daring, innovative designs that are truly American. Perhaps this is why these buildings are celebrated as Arts and Crafts treasures to a greater extent than Cranbrook House.

In the broader scheme, however, Arts and Crafts is more a philosophy than a particular style. The use of natural materials, hand crafting, organic themes, quality craftsmanship – these are the hallmarks of Arts and Crafts style. Cranbrook is abundant with these. If you haven’t had the good fortune to tour this exquisite property, take some time to do it today. You won’t be disappointed.

The Cranbrook Archives has placed many historic photographs on their website. Click here to view more pictures of Cranbrook House.

For more information about touring Cranbrook House click here.

*Joy Hakanson Colby, et al, Arts & Crafts in Detroit 1906-1976, the Movement, the Society, the School (Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of Arts, 1976) 37.