Fair Lane

Henry and Clara Bryant Ford lived at Fair Lane from 1915 until their deaths in 1947 and 1950. Henry Ford named the estate after the road on which his father, William Ford, was born in County Cork, Ireland. The fifty-six room mansion, built of marblehead limestone and concrete, was completed in 1915. Thomas A. Edison, a frequent guest, laid the cornerstone in 1914 for the powerhouse that supplied power for the entire estate. Ford's popularization of the automobile propelled America into an era of accelerated urbanization and industrialization, yet this home of a controversial man with varied interests reflected a love of nature and the countryside. In 1957, the Ford Motor Company donated the property to The University of Michigan for a Dearborn campus, and its secluded acres shelter a national bird sanctuary and nature trails.

Dearborn, Michigan · United States