Charles Lang Freer House
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Charles Lang Freer House
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| Location | 71 East Ferry Street Detroit, Michigan |
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| Coordinates | 42°21′43″N 83°3′57″W / 42.36194°N 83.06583°WCoordinates: 42°21′43″N 83°3′57″W / 42.36194°N 83.06583°W |
| Built | 1892 |
| Architect | Wilson Eyre |
| Architectural style | Shingle style |
| Part of | East Ferry Avenue Historic District (#80001921) |
| NRHP Reference # | 71000426 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | April 16, 1971 |
| Designated CP | March 10, 1980 |
| Designated MSHS | November 6, 1970 |
The Charles Lang Freer House is located at 71 East Ferry Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, USA. The house was originally built for the industrialist and art collector Charles Lang Freer, whose gift of the Freer Gallery of Art began the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. The structure currently hosts the Merrill Palmer Skillman Institute of Child & Family Development of Wayne State University. It was designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1970 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
Charles Lang Freer, in partnership with Col. Frank J. Hecker, made his fortune from the Peninsular Car Company. Freer travelled widely, with one of his favorite spots being Newport, Rhode Island. There, he was favorably impressed by the shingle style summer cottages built by the wealthy. Desiring a similar home, in 1890 Freer contracted with Wilson Eyre to design a home in Detroit. The house, on Ferry Street next door to Hecker's home, was completed in 1892.
For the exterior, Eyre used coursed hard blue limestone (now discolored) from New York for the first floor. Dark, closely spaced shingles of Michigan oak cover most of the rest of the façade. On the third story, a triangular gable and various dormers interrupt the roofline. Chimneys dominate the east and west ends of the home, underneath which are porches. These porches were originally open-air, but are currently closed stucco.
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