Former Dearborn Heights horse track? [Dahlinger Estate]

**reddog289** · March-17-10, 01:30 AM

Thanks for the info, I can't imagine owning 150 acres, Much less 26,000 acres.

**jackie5275** · March-17-10, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

Intriguing find - street view show Williamsburg ending abruptly, as if it was intended to be continued.

Curoisity got me to drive to that street to see if I could spot the ruins. Williamsburg deads ends at what looks like a driveway to someone's house.

**agirlintheD** · March-17-10, 10:14 AM

Know exactly where Dahlinger's house is located...been chased out by their goons on too many occasions to count. I remember when the house closest to Dahlinger's was being built. It was a monstrosity in an area of modest ranches....if I'm not mistaken, the ranch in the pic was my cousin's ex's house. Thinking back, I seem to recall Williamsburg NEVER went past that corner house [[it may have been posted...NO TRESPASSING...as if that mattered to kids back then). LeoB, I also remember hearing all the stories about the boats late at night [[such mystery, such forbidden romance).....

**jackie5275** · March-17-10, 10:25 AM

Originally Posted by agirlintheD

Know exactly where Dahlinger's house is located...been chased out by their goons on too many occasions to count. I remember when the house closest to Dahlinger's was being built. It was a monstrosity in an area of modest ranches....if I'm not mistaken, the ranch in the pic was my cousin's ex's house. Thinking back, I seem to recall Williamsburg NEVER went past that corner house [[it may have been posted...NO TRESPASSING...as if that mattered to kids back then). LeoB, I also remember hearing all the stories about the boats late at night [[such mystery, such forbidden romance).....

How long ago was that? If you zoom in all the way at this aerial photo it looks like it's started to get overgrown with vegetation. http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&s...355,-83.239417 I may walk to check it out when the weather gets better-don't really feel like going through mud today.

**agirlintheD** · March-17-10, 11:46 AM

We hung out in the area in the 70's. I was probably the late 80's early 90's when the house was built next to the ranch on Williamsburg. I want to say the address of my cousin's ex was 20655, but that's going on memory and well....that's a bit fuzzy lately.

**jackie5275** · March-17-10, 05:16 PM

Originally Posted by agirlintheD

We hung out in the area in the 70's. I was probably the late 80's early 90's when the house was built next to the ranch on Williamsburg. I want to say the address of my cousin's ex was 20655, but that's going on memory and well....that's a bit fuzzy lately.

I did see the house with that same house number, 20655. Next to it where the road dead ends is a gated dirt driveway that had a couple of vehicles parked in it. The gate was held up by a small brick wall that had the address number of 20681. I looked it up on Google maps, but it shows it pointing to a field on the other side of a bunch of trees next to the old estate.

**Lowell** · March-18-10, 09:32 PM

Since I had to stop by Henry Ford CC to pick up a painting, I decided to swing by Dahlinger estate. At the end of a dead end street a broken concrete drive leads in. A couple of cars were parked on it near the street but since the property was not posted for no trespassing, I walked in.

The property is strewn with old machines, cars, a boat and other items.

The back opens out onto 50 acre grassy plain. A rusting Ford tractor joins the flotsam of abandoned items.

The compound sprawls along the side of a ridge above the Rouge flood plain.

Click Here to see ^this larger. It is a truly stunning property with amazing vistas. It is puzzling that sits so neglected, almost thrown away, like the objects about it.

Detail.

Detail

The front view shows its below-the-ridge hillside setting.

**gazhekwe** · March-18-10, 09:42 PM

Oh, my that is so fine! What a great day it was to wander around over there, too.

**Lowell** · March-18-10, 09:46 PM

The Ford tractor.

**MikeM** · March-18-10, 10:31 PM

Thanks Lowell. I had the feeling it might be another "Gar Wood" mansion and suffer the same fate. Any idea who owns it?

**agirlintheD** · March-18-10, 10:33 PM

Lowell, thank you. Sad to see the state its current state. A far cry from 100 years ago when we used to "let ourselves in". Thanks again for your work!

**Lowell** · March-18-10, 10:44 PM

Thank you for finding it. I don't know who owns it Mike and I didn't want to start asking thinking I might be asked to leave. ["Shoot first ask questions later." - I was just happy it wasn't posted.] However, there is a newer large house, I would guess 6-7 bedrooms, at the end of the street, next to where the drive lies. Between the two houses there is some operable construction equipment. In back there are several palettes of decorative bricks that only look a couple of year old.

I had the feeling [pure speculation] that the owner of the newer house may either own or somehow have rights to the property and perhaps have some construction enterprise. Otherwise why would he with his sumptuous house allow such a mess next to him?

It has the feel of a pack rat's paradise, almost a scrapyard -- most of the stuff was rotting away and useless.

It is truly puzzling because it is a spectacular house with an incredible sunset view across a fields and forest, smack in the middle of the metro.

**lalynch** · March-18-10, 10:48 PM

Awesome photos Lowell. Thanks!

**reddog289** · March-18-10, 11:57 PM

Great Photos Lowell, Hell even in a 10 yrs stupor could or would I let such a fine place go to waste.

**MikeM** · March-19-10, 12:32 AM

Ray Dahlinger's son John claimed to be Henry's illegitimate son. A quick Google search produced a couple of newspaper articles, one about him auctioning the estate in 1978 while his mother was in a nursing home, and his obituary in 1984.

The Dearborn Heights property assessment site lists the property as owner occupied, the SEV as $406k, the lot is 5 acres, the floor area as 4300 sq ft, the year built as 1933, and taxes are current.

**Lowell** · March-19-10, 07:41 AM

Interesting finding Mike. It didn't have the appearance of being occupied but then I once had a pack rat neighbor that gave his house the appearance of abandonment too. With your findings I am now guessing that the neighbor to the east may have planted that line of pine trees, that can be seen in the Bing aerials above, to conceal the mess.

**jackie5275** · March-19-10, 09:01 AM

Well Lowell you beat me to it. I wanted to do this on Wednesday, but I wasn't dressed to encounter any mud I might come across. Thanks for the photos. I may wander in there myself in the near future.

**stromberg2** · March-19-10, 12:38 PM

How do you basically get there?

Stromberg2

**milt721** · March-19-10, 02:41 PM

Hey Lowell, you missed the ruins of a garage and two other structures west of the property in the woods toward the river. You can see the runis of garage and greenhouse if you use Bing maps bird's eye view. They are west and slightly north of the main house. I've been exploring at these ruins - very interesting.

**jackie5275** · March-19-10, 08:29 PM

Originally Posted by milt721

Hey Lowell, you missed the ruins of a garage and two other structures west of the property in the woods toward the river. You can see the runis of garage and greenhouse if you use Bing maps bird's eye view. They are west and slightly north of the main house. I've been exploring at these ruins - very interesting.

Got any photos to post?

**RickBeall** · March-19-10, 09:08 PM

What an amazing time capsule with some scandal thrown in! FASCINATING reading and sleuth work guys.

**Patrick** · March-19-10, 09:19 PM

Amazing pics Lowell! I believe Dahlinger's son wrote an interesting book about being Henry Ford's "son" back in the 80s. The pictures display it well....everyone knew. How many people have mansions built for their secret lovers? Tiger Woods sure didn't lol.

We all know that Albert Kahn was Ford’s main designer when it came to buildings, but HF also used a young Leonard Willeke to create plans for a large development called Fordson Village, It never got off the ground. That Tudor is not one of Willeke’s designs; however, Willeke did design additions to Charlie Sorensen’s palatial home on the Rouge nearby. The City of Detroit later bought the estate to make Rouge Park. The house was demolished in 1984.

**Patrick** · March-19-10, 09:34 PM

The estate had 150 acres just downriver from Fairlane. The mansion has nine fireplaces, eight bathrooms, servants' quarters, and a fur storage vault. It has a gatehouse, several barns, blacksmith shop, a lake, skating house, quarter mile and half mile racetracks, gardener's house, greenhouse, boathouse and it came with its very own engineer!

The above was mentioned in the amazing book The People's Tycoon by Steven Watts. 2005

**BravaGirl** · March-20-10, 07:51 AM

I grew up in River Oaks subdivision adjacent to the Dahlinger Estate. Once, as kids we were playing baseball on the diamond behind River Oaks Elementary School. Kids started mindlessly digging behind homeplate and uncovered what turned out to be a horse's skeleton. We sent a delegation of kids to Mrs. Dahlinger's estate, and found out she remembered burying a horse there. The River Oaks community center was her former horse stable, but we used it for dance and gymnastic lessons. On a few Halloweens, her workers set up a hot chocolate outside the estate, much to our delight. Mrs. Dahlinger used to drive around in a Jeep. We grew up familiar with the legend that she was Henry Ford's mistress, and were not surprised by her son's book claming it.
Behind the baseball diamond was the fence entrance leading to the woods surrounding her estate and down to the river. There was a caretaker's cottage right there that was destroyed by fire circa 1970, and I remember exploring the ruins.