I went to CCS and lived on East Palmer for quite a few years, I walked by the chained off parking lot on John R and Ferry nearly everyday. I have never been able to figure out when the original building got demolished. The Gilbert W. Lee residence on the NE corner of John R and Ferry. It was designed by George Mason in 1888. Albert Kahn actually had a hand in designing it as well, he said the carved Gothic details above the doors and windows "looked like a disease." Funny, I think they are beautiful. [[from Legacy of Albert Kahn by W. Hawkins Ferry). You can see the Rufus Goodell House [[1890) which is apartments now, next to it in the one photo.

While I'm at it, I can seem to peg the N.W. corner of John R and Ferry that well either...where Merrill Palmer is now. I see the Watson Freer home was on Ferry...was it built right next to his father's home? I've found some photos of the Watson Freer home and it looks like a shingle style home was next to it...but that seems like a huge plot for that size of a house. It's not huge like Hecker or C.L. Freer.


I've looked at the Historic American Buildings Survey, HABS MI-311 that was done on the East Ferry Historic District in 1984...the Watson Freer home [[I figured as such because of the style of the Merrill Palmer Inst.) and the Gilbert Lee homes were already gone.


Any info would be a help for my curious brain.