MLive says: “On the shore of Lake St. Clair is as lovely of an estate as you'll likely ever find. The Edsel & Eleanor Ford House is full of elegant design features. The structure itself is stunning, as is the art and antiques you'll find inside. The grounds of the house are also impeccable with gardens, trees, open spaces and deliberate landscaping plans. The destination is popular with couples getting married. Tours of the house and grounds are available for various prices, depending on what you want to see. More info is available at the Ford House website.”
July 23, 2021
Well, folks, this was a weird one. Macomb is my home county: where I was born and spent the first seventeen years of my life. It felt weird to be back in my hometown of St. Clair Shores. That being said, I had never been to the Ford House, so this was a very new experience for me, even being back in my original stomping grounds.
I rolled in to SCS on a Friday evening with my virtual ticket to tour the Ford House. I wasn’t super excited to be there, but I tried to make the most of it. I pulled up to the Visitor Center, grabbed a map, and set out on my own to explore. First stop: Bird Island! The Ford Estate includes a small island with a walking trail, where it’s claimed there have been 200+ species of birds spotted. I was pretty excited for the walk, but it was hot and humid and the mosquitoes were brutal. I took the shorter loop and admired Lake St. Clair from the shoreline.
After Bird Island, I walked over to the Ford House itself. I had high hopes for the house: it had been built up for years as a beautiful event venue and historical location. I’m not going to lie, though, I wasn’t that impressed. For being such a wealthy American family with a public historical estate, the Fords didn’t have great taste…the house didn’t have a cohesive design throughout whatsoever, the ceilings upstairs were weirdly low, the kitchen was bordering on being a commercial operation instead of a home kitchen, and the beds were all twin sized? Did no one in the entire family co-sleep? It was also extremely dark throughout the entire home. I found the whole place kind of odd and underwhelming.
There was an absurd amount of staff/volunteers milling around the house to guide visitors, and it honestly made me feel very watched and uncomfortable. I exited the home no more than 20 minutes after entering to check out the rest of the grounds. I found a rose garden, a native plant garden, and enjoyed the huge trees across the estate.
I rounded out my visit with a meander through the “meadow” (actually just a large grass lawn) while heading back to my car. I finished my Friday night by meeting my friend Eric at DYNO in Detroit, a huge and awesome climbing gym in the Eastern Market - it was far more fun and exciting than the Ford Estate by far.
Maybe I’m a little jaded after growing up in Macomb County, but I would be fine never going back to the Ford Estate, and can’t think of many other places in Macomb County that really jump out as “beautiful.” I love Lake St. Clair endlessly, but don’t harbor much love for the suburbs of Detroit. Onto better adventures!