House

The Fords traveled to England with Albert Kahn for the concept's ideas, where they were attracted to the vernacular architecture of the Cotswolds. They asked Kahn to design a house that would resemble the closely assembled village cottages typical of that rural region. Kahn's design included sandstone exterior walls, a traditional slate roof with the stone shingles decreasing in size as they reach its peak, and moss with ivy grown across the house's exterior. Construction on the house began in 1926.^[5]

While construction of the house itself took only one year, two years were spent fitting it with antique wood paneling and fireplaces brought from English Manor houses; interior fittings were in the hands of Charles Roberson, an expert in adapting old European paneling and fittings to American interiors.^[6] The Gallery, the largest room in the house, is panelled with sixteenth-century oak linenfold relief carved wood panelling. Its hooded chimneypiece is from Wollaston Hall in Worcestershire, England; the timber-framed house had been demolished in 1925 and its dismantled elements and fittings were in the process of being dispersed. A staircase came from Lyveden Manor House, also known as Lyveden Old Bield, second home of Sir Thomas Tresham. Fourteenth century stained-glass window medallions were added to the house in the late 1930s.^[7] Roberson's barrel-vaulted ceiling for the Gallery was modeled on one at Boughton Malherbe, Kent, England. Paneling and doors in the Dining Room, entirely devoid of electricity, came from 'New Place', a victim of early twentieth-century expansion in Upminster, a new suburb of London.^[8] The Library's paneling and its stone chimneypiece came from the Brudenell seat, Deene Park, Northamptonshire, England. Harris suggests that this already once removed paneling had come from another 'Brudenell seat.' The Study has a wooden overmantel with the date 1585, from Heronden Hall, in Tenterden, Kent.^[9]

Other interesting design elements include kitchen counters made of sterling silver, a "secret" photographic darkroom behind a panel of Edsel Ford's office, and Art Deco style rooms designed by Walter Dorwin Teague, a leading industrial designer of the 1930s. Teague's first floor "Modern Room" features 'the new' indirect lighting method, taupe colored leather wall panels, and a curved niche with eighteen vertical mirrored sections.^[10] He also designed bedrooms and sitting rooms for all three of Edsel and Eleanor's sons. Teague's design for son Henry Ford II’s bathroom includes grey glass walls made of the same structural glass as its shower stall.^[11]

Furnishings

The house featured an extensive art collection, reflecting Edsel and Eleanor's status as serious museum benefactors. After Eleanor Ford's death, many important paintings were donated to the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA).^[12] Reproductions were hung in their place. The classical French-style Drawing Room features two original Paul Cézanne paintings and reproductions of Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Edgar Degas works.^[13] A reproduction of Vincent van Gogh's The Postman Roulin hangs in the Morning Room.^[14] An original Diego Rivera painting, Cactus on the Plains, hangs in the Modern Room.^[15]

Gardens

Gardens near the pool

The estate's gardens were designed by landscape architect Jens Jensen with his traditional 'long view,' giving visitors a glimpse of the residence down the long meadow after the passing the entry gates, then brief partial views along the long drive, and only at the end revealing the entire house and another view back up the long meadow.^[16]

Mrs. Ford wanted to have a rose garden installed but Jensen originally disapproved of this claiming that it would ruin the landscape which was designed to look completely natural. Jensen had previously quit on Henry Ford and Clara Ford, when Clara wanted to install a rose garden directly in the center of the backyard meadow at the Henry Ford Estate. Eleanor and Jensen eventually came to a compromise and the rose garden was placed behind some native bushes which was out of sight of the meadow that is the focal piece of the front lawn. Jensen's son was contracted later on to install the new garden area which has a reflecting pool and does not have the natural stylizing of the rest of the grounds. Instead he opted for finely trimmed bushes and square grassy areas.

The grounds of the estate include a power house and a gate house along affluent Lake Shore Drive, often mistaken for the actual house. The gate house includes apartments formerly used by staff and an eight-car garage with a turntable to rotate cars so they don't need to back out.^[17] The Recreation House beyond the man-made lagoon and swimming pool contains changing rooms and a squash court with spectator's gallery.^[17] Closer to the gate house is Josephine Ford's child-sized playhouse, built for her by her grandmother Clara, in 1930. It features working electricity and plumbing and an exterior decorated with characters from nursery rhymes.^[18]

For William on his 21st birthday the family enlisted a company which built a full size replica pirate ship on the lagoon as a party showpiece. The party was held outside just off the Apple Patio and featured live acts including Frank Sinatra.