Harmonie Park Lofts/Adler Schnee Building

[Gsgeorge]

Does anyone have any more historical info on the Adler Schnee Building in Harmonie Park? I can't seem to find anything online in terms of a date of construction, old photos, etc. Kind of an overlooked building IMO.

The address is 230 E Grand River, but it also has an east entrance at 1465 Centre Street.

Lowell tells us this about it, and here is his photo too:



"Ruth Adler Schnee, whose Adler/Schnee store was a longtime fixture in Detroit’s Harmonie Park. Schnee adapted designs she created from the 1940s through the 1960s for these 61/2 -by-41/2-inch cards with matching envelopes. Schnee was the owner, with husband Edward, manager, and creative director of Adler/Schnee, which offered innovative design furnishings and other functional items for the home from 1949 to 1977."

[gazhekwe]

Oh, how I miss Adler/Schnee. I still have most of my bright red wedding china that came from there. They could be depended on to have really unusual things.

[fryar]

Uh...unrestricted public sale? Sorry, but of what? The building or something? Is Coaches Corner still in there & open?

Back in 2006, my late-night cigarette run to Greektown Casino [[God-forbid there be a 24-hour store in downtown) somehow turned into me attending some kind of an undergroundsy DEMF afterparty [[Me: Techno? What's that?) in the lofts there, which did not appear to be finished at that point in time. It extended across multiple floors and was a really cool party, even though I don't know from techno. That night was really quite exciting - downtown really seemed like a real city that night, with people doing stuff they're excited about at 2AM and whatnot.

Probably not the kind of history you're looking for, but it was a thing, and somebody somewhere knows what the whole deal with that was [[my best guess was that this was a way of advertising those lofts, but that's probably not it) and may have some noteworthy pictures.

[Gsgeorge]

Fryar, whats this about an unrestricted sale? Not following you...

Thanks for the info though.

Does anyone know this building's original purpose or construction date/architect?

[fryar]

In the image in the OP, there are banners hanging from both visible sides of the building that say "Unrestricted Public Sale."

[detroitbob]

I believe the building was built by/or owned by the Hudson family/descendents...may or may not have had a connection with the store. I may be wrong on this, but I fondly remember Ruth Schnee and the delightful store that was an oasis in downtown Detroit.

The public sale may be a promo for the fur storage business that has been in the building for as long as I can remember. Used to be a great place for value conscious person to buy unclaimed furs and have a recut or restyle done not a bad price for leather dry cleaning either.

[Gsgeorge]

I dug around some more online and ended up finding some old DYes posts that were pretty helpful. This all comes from here:

http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/6790/156450.html

But apparently the building was called the Hemmeter Building, after a John Hemmeter, cigar manufacturer.



Apparently the building was constructed in 1911 by Richard E Raseman, partnering with another architect named Fischer. Raseman is responsible for both the Harmonie Club, kitty-corner to the Hemmeter building, the Harmonie Center at Broadway & Gratiot, and the Cary Building opposite that.

This all fits in pretty nicely with Harmonie Park's history as Germantown.

Here is some info on the Hemmeters:
HEMMETER, John P., cigar manufacturer;
born, Saginaw, Mich., Aug. 13, 1862; son of John M. and Mary [[Leidlein) Hemmeter; educated in German parochial schools of Saginaw; married at Syracuse, N. Y., June 11, 1889, Caroline H. Latterner; 3 children: Herbert S., Winifred I., Clara K. Lived on farm near Saginaw until 1883; followed different lines of business until Jan. 15, 1893, when he established himself in manufacture of cigars at Saginaw, removing the business to Detroit, 1897, where he has since continued as president of The Hemmeter Cigar Co. Also president Hemmeter, Eettich & Co., of Germantown,O., tobacco packers; director and member executive committee National Grocer Co., Detroit.
Independent in politics. Lutheran. Member Detroit Board of Commerce. Member Masonic order, B. P. O. E. Clubs: Detroit Athletic, Detroit Golf, Detroit Automobile.Recreations: automobiling, traveling. Office: Hemmeter Bldg., East Grand River Ave. and
Center St. Residence: 32 E. Hancock Ave