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]
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]
