David Whitney House
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David Whitney House
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The David Whitney House
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| Location | 4421 Woodward Avenue Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
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| Coordinates | 42°21′9.57″N 83°3′43.55″W / 42.3526583°N 83.0620972°WCoordinates: 42°21′9.57″N 83°3′43.55″W / 42.3526583°N 83.0620972°W |
| Built | 1894 |
| Architect | Gordon W. Lloyd |
| Architectural style | Romanesque Revival |
| NRHP Reference # | 72000671 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | August 21, 1972 |
| Designated MSHS | December 10, 1971 |
The David Whitney House is located at 4421 Woodward Avenue in Midtown Detroit, Michigan. The building was constructed as a private residence. It was restored in 1986 and is now a restaurant. The Whitney Mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.
The David Whitney House was built between 1890 and 1894 by the famous lumber baron David Whitney Jr., who was considered not only one of Detroit's wealthiest personalities, but also one of Michigan's wealthiest citizens. The house is estimated to cost $400,000 (approximately $10,500,000 in today's economy) and was featured in several newspapers of that time. The exterior is constructed using pink jasper from South Dakota. It is measured to be 21,000-square-foot (2,000 m2) and has 52 rooms (including 10 bathrooms), 218 windows, 20 fireplaces, and a secret vault in the dining room, an elevator, and numerous Tiffany glass windows. The Tiffany glass windows have been estimated to be worth more than the house itself. The window designs often feature themes oriented around the purpose of the rooms they are located in. For example, the music room's windows are themed towards elements of music as well as images of Saint Cecilia, the patron saint of music. The grand staircase features a massive stained glass window portraying a knight, paying homage to the various members of the Whitney family who were knighted, as well as their lineage to Royal blood line in England. The house was the first residential home in Detroit to have a functioning elevator for personal use.
David Whitney Jr. was born in 1830 in Watertown, Massachusetts. Whitney made his millions in Massachusetts as a lumber baron. He moved to Detroit from Lowell (where he had established himself as a lumber baron) in 1857, at the young age of twenty-seven. Starting a joint venture with his brother Charles, he continued to expand his vastly successful lumber business into Ohio, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.
Upon arriving in Detroit, he surrounded himself by the community's wealthiest and most respectable families. Whitney soon earned the nickname of "Mr. Woodward Avenue", due to his keen interest in real estate around the Detroit area. He soon began investing in numerous buildings; in 1915 he built the David Whitney Building, in what is today the Grand Circus Park Historic District.
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