19th Century Meadow Brook Hall’s Then and Now Info

Matilda Dodge Wilson and her second husband Alfred Wilson lived in Meadow Brook Hall, a $4 million mansion constructed between 1926 and 1929 for the Dodge Motor Car Company heiress. In Rochester Hills, Michigan, at 350 Estate Road, is Meadow Brook Hall, a mansion in the Tudor revival style. The structure was constructed between 1926 and 1929 by Matilda Dodge Wilson, the heiress to the Dodge fortune in the automobile industry, and her second husband, timber baron Alfred Wilson.

Heritage of Meadow Brook Hall

The former residence of one of the most extraordinary members of the automobile aristocracy, Matilda Dodge Wilson, her second husband, lumber merchant Alfred Wilson, and their four children, Frances and Danny Dodge, Richard Wilson, and Barbara Wilson, is Meadow Brook Hall, a National Historic Landmark.

It exists as an indirect result of Matilda Dodge’s first husband, automotive pioneer John F. Dodge, who founded the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Corporation and immediately profited in the expanding car industry before passing away tragically in 1920, leaving Matilda among the richest women in the world. With the help of this riches, Oakland University was able to be established in addition to one of the best homes and country estates in the United States and assist a number of charitable causes in Detroit.

Interior Design and Architecture

The superb workmanship, magnificent architectural details, and grand grandeur of Meadow Brook Hall are particularly famous. In both its design and use of high-quality building materials, the architecture is a prime example of enduring quality.

American-made brick, sandstone, wood beams, and clay shingle tiles are used on the outside to create a variety of textures and designs. The home’s gorgeous roofline is distinguished by 39 distinctively constructed brick chimneys.

The home’s interior features intricate details including carved wood and stone, handcrafted hardware, ceramic art tiling, ornately molded and carved plaster ceilings, stained glass window insets, crystal and art glass lighting fixtures, and gold-plated bathroom fixtures. Additionally, the house has every contemporary convenience offered in the late 1920s, despite the rooms’ varied vintage styling. A full-sized home theater, two elevators, three kitchens, and a central heating system were all included in the entirely electric building.

Meadow Brook Hall, both inside and out

Meadow Brook Hall was constructed with a Tudor-revival facade and the majority of its inner spaces. The dining room and Matilda’s study, on the other hand, are both designed in 18th-century Neo-classical decor, while Frances’ bedroom is decorated in American Colonial style. Matilda’s room and the French bedroom are both decorated in 18th-century French Rococo.

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The “old manor houses” in England—in particular, Compton Wynyates and Hampton Court—were the source of Meadow Brook Hall’s inspiration. When the Wilsons and Kapp traveled to London for their honeymoon in 1925, they toured these and other rural homes and got measurement drawings from the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Royal Institution of British Architects. They chose English antecedents for the hall’s interior and bought antique furniture during their trip to England in 1927. According to Mrs. Wilson’s statement in Meadow Brook Hall by John B. Cameron, “To me, Meadow Brook Hall is essentially American, yet modified from the English style of Architecture” (1979).

But the building itself is made in America using American components by Americans. The principal contractors were Bryant and Detwiler of Detroit. Irving and Casson-A. H. Davenport, who are from Boston and New York, as well as Hayden, of New York City, worked on the cabinets. The dining room’s decorative plaster ceilings were made by Corrado J. Parducci and were modeled after Belton House (1688), a building in Lincolnshire, England. Also by Parducci, the stone sculptures on the sun porch, loggia, porch, and doorway.

Meadow Brook Hall Now

The Wilsons gave what would become Oakland University $2 million, their home and its collections, 1,500 acres of land, and their inheritance in 1957. Four years after Matilda’s passing, Meadow Brook Hall was made available to the public.

Nowadays, The Hall hosts more than 70,000 visitors annually for tours, educational programs, and a number of special events. The Meadow Brook Garden Club, a group of thousands of incredibly committed members and volunteers, meticulously maintains 12 gardens around this ancient home. Meadow Brook Hall, a National Historic Landmark, works to understand and conserve its architecture, scenery, great art, and decorative objects so that visitors can be delighted, informed, and inspired by history.

People also ask :

Who owned Meadowbrook mansion?

Matthew Dodge Wilson

  • The former residence of one of the most extraordinary members of the automobile aristocracy, Matilda Dodge Wilson, her second husband, lumber merchant Alfred Wilson, and their four children, Frances and Danny Dodge, Richard Wilson, and Barbara Wilson, is Meadow Brook Hall, a National Historic Landmark.

Who was the creator of Michigan’s Meadowbrook Hall?

  • One of the most outstanding women in the automotive aristocracy, Matilda Dodge Wilson, the widow of automobile pioneer John Dodge, and her second husband, timber merchant Alfred Wilson, constructed Meadow Brook Hall as their historic residence.

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