Henry Ford Estate
Home of Clara and Henry Ford, Est. 1915
Follow the Project:
For Clara and Henry Ford, their estate, Fair Lane, was more than just a home. It was a place where they took simple ideas and turned them into actions that opened the highway to all mankind. More than 100 years later, we are bringing back Fair Lane to be a place of discovery, exploration and inspiration.
While Fair Lane, Home of Clara & Henry Ford, is closed for restoration, the grounds are accessible to visitors on weekdays, and you can follow along on our blog to learn about the work going on inside.
Take this virtual tour to explore the work going on inside Fair Lane, Home of Clara & Henry Ford. Just click inside a room to get an up close look and learn about some of the projects going on inside.
Our team of artisans, conservators, historians and craftspeople are working to bring Fair Lane back to the look and feel of 1919, the time when the Fords had started to settle in to their new home.
We had to tackle some major structural and system repairs before interior work could start, including shoring up the riverbank, addressing foundational damage, fixing stonework and repairing leaky flat-tiled roofs.
Now, our attention has turned to inside Fair Lane. Our team is restoring existing finishes and recreate the furnishings, textiles and objects that adorned the rooms when Henry and Clara lived there.
History of the Estate:
Henry and Clara Ford built the 31,000-square-foot Fair Lane as their dream home on 1,300 acres, just a couple miles from where they both were born. At a time when Henry was skyrocketing to global fame after the success of Ford Motor Company and the Model T, Fair Lane was their sanctuary.
It was their 15th and final home – where they enjoyed entertaining their grandchildren and many friends, including frequent visitor Thomas Edison, for whom they reserved a suite of rooms.
The house is a unique blend of Midwestern Prairie School and English country manor styles.
The estate along the Rouge River included a hydro-electric powerhouse and dam, a greenhouse, a working farm built to scale for their grandchildren, an indoor pool, skating house, staff cottages, bowling alley, and a pony barn, as well as a private garage and laboratory for Henry. The vast gardens and landscape were designed by famed architect Jens Jensen.
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