Frederick Stearns Building

Last updated
Frederick Stearns Building
Frederick Stearns Building Detroit MI.jpg
Location6533 E. Jefferson Ave.,
Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates 42°20′45″N83°0′24″W / 42.34583°N 83.00667°W / 42.34583; -83.00667 Coordinates: 42°20′45″N83°0′24″W / 42.34583°N 83.00667°W / 42.34583; -83.00667
Built1899; ca. 1910 (addition)
Architect William B. Stratton; Albert Kahn
NRHP reference No. 80001927 [1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 14, 1980
Designated MSHSJanuary 8, 1981 [2]

The Frederick Stearns Building is a manufacturing plant located at 6533 East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1981. [1] [2] It has been converted to condominiums. [3]

Contents

History

Frederick Stearns Building, c. 1910 FrederickStearnsBuildingc1915.jpg
Frederick Stearns Building, c. 1910

Frederick Stearns & Company, established in 1855, [4] was a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer in 19th century Detroit. In the late 1890s, Frederick K. Stearns (son of the firm's founder, Frederick A. Stearns) commissioned William B. Stratton to design this building [3] (Stratton also designed Stearns's personal home, the Frederick K. Stearns House, a few years later). [2] Construction was completed in 1899 at a cost of $85,000. [4] It originally contained Stearns's production facilities, as well as warehouses and white-collar offices. [3]

The building was converted into condominiums in 1989, [3] and is now known as the Lofts at Rivertown. [5]

Description

The building was originally three stories in height; a fourth floor was added later. The original building, with its upper story addition, is constructed from brick. [3] The façade is symmetric, with projecting pavilions at each end and another in the center; [3] this front section, which housed the company offices, is 13 bays wide and five bays deep. [5] The center pavilion contains an arched stone entryway and a clock on the third floor. Each window in the Jefferson façade is trimmed with limestone. [3] Fourth-floor gables above the end pavilions add to the appeal of the building. [3]

A taller concrete addition, the top of which can be seen from Jefferson, [3] was built around 1910. [6] This addition was designed by Albert Kahn. [5]

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References

  1. 1 2 "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 Stearns, Frederick K., House Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine from the state of Michigan
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Frederick Stearns & Company Building from Detroit1701.org
  4. 1 2 The Lofts at Rivertown history page
  5. 1 2 3 Fredrick Stearns & Company Building Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine from the city of Detroit
  6. Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture . Wayne State University Press. ISBN   0-8143-3120-3. P. 244.