Lake Erie Cruise: Kelley's Island to Grosse Point Yacht Club

The Grosse Point Yacht Club was founded in 1914 and is a stunning facility of Italian Renaissance design.  Its architect, Bostonian Guy Lowell, unfortunately died before his plans were completed, but the club members were so taken with his vision that they ensured its completion.  The Club was selected in 1997 as the number one yacht club in America and has held that distinction ever since.

A highlight of the visit to Grosse Pointe was a tour of the Edsel and Eleanor Ford home.  Edsel was the only child of Henry Ford and Clare Bryant.  The sprawling home, designed by Albert Kahn to resemble a cluster of Cotswold village cottages, houses an impressive collection of artwork, antiques, and furnishings.  The gardens and expansive grounds were designed by Jens Jensen and provide a graceful natural complement to the main house and related out-buildings, including a Tudor-style playhouse built to 2/3 scale for the couples' daughter, Josephine, on her seventh birthday. 

                                                                          Main House

Entry Gate

 

One of the Antique Cars on Display

                                                                          Playhouse

The home was completed in 1929, but the Fords later engaged architect Walter Teague to redesign four rooms in a more modern style, with exotic hardwoods and recessed lighting.  These rooms were intended to be used primarily by the four Ford children. 

The Gross Pointe Yacht Club has excellent amenities, including exceptional restaurants.  We enjoyed a cocktail reception in the Tower, with beautiful views of the marina and Detroit River, including the rare and stunning view of a double sunset.  An evening of bowling and cocktails in the Club's compact bowling alley followed.  Some of our companions drank and bowled.  Others just drank.  Maybe some just bowled, but I doubt it. 

Rainbows Spanning the Marina