Frederick Stearns Building

The Frederick Stearns Building is a manufacturing plant located at 6533 East Jefferson Avenue in Detroit, Michigan. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and designated a Michigan State Historic Site in 1981.[1][2] It has been converted to condominiums.[3]

Frederick Stearns Building
Location6533 E. Jefferson Ave.,
Detroit, Michigan
Coordinates42°20′45″N 83°0′24″W
Built1899; ca. 1910 (addition)
ArchitectWilliam B. Stratton; Albert Kahn
NRHP reference No.80001927[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPOctober 14, 1980
Designated MSHSJanuary 8, 1981[2]

History
Frederick Stearns Building, c. 1910

Frederick Stearns & Company, established in 1855,[4] was a leading pharmaceutical manufacturer in 19th century Detroit. In the late 1890s, Frederick K. Stearns (son of the firm's founder, Frederick A. Stearns) commissioned William B. Stratton to design this building[3] (Stratton also designed Stearns's personal home, the Frederick K. Stearns House, a few years later).[2] Construction was completed in 1899 at a cost of $85,000.[4] It originally contained Stearns's production facilities, as well as warehouses and white-collar offices.[3]

The building was converted into condominiums in 1989,[3] and is now known as the Lofts at Rivertown.[5]

Description

The building was originally three stories in height; a fourth floor was added later. The original building, with its upper story addition, is constructed from brick.[3] The façade is symmetric, with projecting pavilions at each end and another in the center;[3] this front section, which housed the company offices, is 13 bays wide and five bays deep.[5] The center pavilion contains an arched stone entryway and a clock on the third floor. Each window in the Jefferson façade is trimmed with limestone.[3] Fourth-floor gables above the end pavilions add to the appeal of the building.[3]

A taller concrete addition, the top of which can be seen from Jefferson,[3] was built around 1910.[6] This addition was designed by Albert Kahn.[5]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
  2. Stearns, Frederick K., House Archived 2011-06-06 at the Wayback Machine from the state of Michigan
  3. Frederick Stearns & Company Building from Detroit1701.org
  4. The Lofts at Rivertown history page
  5. Fredrick Stearns & Company Building Archived 2007-10-11 at the Wayback Machine from the city of Detroit
  6. Hill, Eric J. and John Gallagher (2002). AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-3120-3. P. 244.
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