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Meadow Brook Hall

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Meadow Brook Hall is a Tudor revival style mansion located at 350 Estate Drive in Rochester Hills, Michigan. It was built between 1926 and 1929 by the heiress to the Dodge automaker fortune, Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband, lumber baron, Alfred Wilson. Covering 88,000 square feet (8,200 m2) with 110 rooms,[3][4] the structure is the fourth largest historic mansion museum in the United States, and is classified as one of America's Castles.[5] In 1957, the mansion and the surrounding property and buildings were donated to the state of Michigan in order to fund Michigan State University–Oakland, now known as Oakland University. The structure was named a National Historic Landmark in 2012.[2][6]

Meadow Brook Farms
Estate of Matilda Dodge Wilson
Location within the state of Michigan
Location within the state of Michigan
Location within the state of Michigan
Location within the state of Michigan
Location within the state of Michigan
Meadow Brook Hall (the United States)
Location350 Estate Drive
Rochester Hills, Michigan
Coordinates42°40′19″N 83°12′04″W / 42.67194°N 83.20111°W / 42.67194; -83.20111
Built1926–1929
ArchitectWilliam E. Kapp
Smith, Hinchman & Grylls
Architectural styleTudor Revival
NRHP reference No.79001166[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 17, 1979
Designated NHLMarch 2, 2012[2]
Designated MSHSNovember 3, 1976

History

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Meadow Brook Farms originally belonged to Matilda's first husband, automotive tycoon John F. Dodge. He purchased the property along with the large white farmhouse off Adams Road as a holiday retreat for his family. The mansion is located on a 1,443-acre (5.84 km2) estate off South Adams Road; Dodge added a nine-hole golf course, some of the holes of which still follow the current Katke-Cousins 18-hole course on the property. Meadow Brook Hall was constructed between 1926 and 1929 by Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband, Alfred Wilson at a cost of $4 million.[7] Throughout her lifetime, Matilda resided in the hall for nearly forty years. Some of the family's time was spent vacationing at their summer home in Bar Harbor, Maine and winter home in Scottsdale, Arizona. The hall was also partially closed for a brief time during the depth of the Depression.[8]

Covering 88,000 square feet (8,200 m2) and with 110 rooms,[3][4] the mansion is the fourth largest historic house museum in the United States.[5] It was designed by William Kapp of the firm Smith, Hinchman & Grylls in a Tudor-revival style.[9][10] The building features stonework and a plaster dining room ceiling created by Corrado Parducci.[5] Much of the original artwork collected by the Wilsons is still found at Meadow Brook including paintings by Anthony van Dyck, Rosa Bonheur, Joshua Reynolds, John Constable and Thomas Gainsborough, as well as Tiffany glass, Stickley furniture, Meissen porcelain, and Rookwood pottery.[11] The estate was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979 and National Historic Landmark in 2012.[12][5]

 
The Living Room of Meadow Brook Hall

In 1957, Alfred and Matilda Dodge Wilson donated the 1,500 acre estate to Michigan State University, along with $2 million to create a branch college campus, now known as Oakland University.[5] The Wilsons moved out of Meadow Brook Hall in 1953 into their newly built retirement home, Sunset Terrace nearby, and lived there until Alfred's death in 1962. Mrs. Wilson moved back into Meadow Brook Hall within months of her husband's death, and lived there until her death in 1967.[5]

Additional buildings which were also designed by William Kapp on the estate included:

  • Knole Cottage (1926), a six-room miniature playhouse on the Meadow Brook estate.[10]
  • Sunset Terrace, a retirement home for Matilda and Alfred Wilson on Meadow Brook, which in 1963 became the Oakland University president's home.[10]

Concours d'Elegance

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The Meadow Brook Concours d'Elegance was held annually during August on the grounds of Meadow Brook Hall from 1979 until 2010.[13] This week-long event was one of the largest collector car shows in the world, and a social event in the tradition of the first Concours in 1920s Paris which was an exhibition of automotive design, craftsmanship, history and a tool for automobile manufacturers to market products.[13] Over the years, the event also served as a fundraiser for the preservation of Meadow Brook Hall.[14]

On July 20, 2010, promoters announced that the Concours d'Elegance would leave Meadow Brook Hall after that year for the Inn at St. John's in Plymouth, Michigan.[15] The event is now known at the Concours d'Elegance of America at St. John's.[16]

See also

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References

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Inline
  1. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. ^ a b "National Register of Historic Places Listings". www.nps.gov.
  3. ^ a b "Welcome Mat: Meadow Brook Hall's Holiday Walk". The Detroit News. November 17, 2016.
  4. ^ a b "Meadow Brook Hall History - Rochester, MI". meadowbrookhall.org.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Moutzalias, Tanya (October 28, 2015). "Inside Meadow Brook Hall, the historic estate of one of the world's wealthiest women of her time". MLive. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  6. ^ "National Historic Landmarks: 13 New Sites Designated". Huffington Post. March 7, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2012.
  7. ^ Lavey, Kathleen (January 7, 2016). "Check out these 5 Michigan castles". Times Herald. Port Huron, Michigan. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  8. ^ Colman, Justin (March 6, 2012). "Meadow Brook Hall receives national landmark recognition". The Oakland Post. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  9. ^ Tate, Robert (June 16, 2017). "Meadow Brook Hall Looks Back to Automotive Elegance". Motor Cities. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  10. ^ a b c Witsil, Frank (June 15, 2021). "Downton Abbey fame leads to Meadow Brook Hall architect getting credit he deserves". Detroit Free Press.
  11. ^ Pollack, Susan (September 1, 2015). "Historic Auto Baron Home Tours to Check Out". Experience Michigan Magazine. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  12. ^ "Meadow Brook Hall". The Historical Marker Database. Retrieved August 24, 2018.
  13. ^ a b "Concours". ConcoursUSA. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  14. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". Meadow Brook Hall Concours d'Elegance. 2003. Archived from the original on March 21, 2012. Retrieved March 18, 2011.
  15. ^ Edsall, Larry (July 30, 2010). "Detroit's Concours d'Élégance of America to Leave Meadow Brook". The New York Times. Retrieved October 25, 2010.
  16. ^ Hart, Roger (August 22, 2011). "Elegance Endures". AutoWeek. 61 (17): 38. ISSN 0192-9674.
General
  • A&E with Richard Guy Wilson, Ph.D.,(2000). America's Castles: The Auto Baron Estates, A&E Television Network.
  • Kvaran, Einar Einarsson, Shadowing Parducci, unpublished manuscript.
  • Wilson, Matilda Rausch Dodge, Debbie Patrick, ed., (1998). A Place in the Country: Matilda Wilson's Personal Guidebook to Meadow Brook Hall, Rochester, MI: Oakland University Press.
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