Cranbrook

The House

Cranbrook House, Bloomfield, Michigan, as we saw it yesterday. It was built in 1905.

Cranbrook House was the home of George and Ellen Booth. They were heirs to the Scripps family fortune, which mainly came from the national newspaper chain, and they actively participated in managing and enlarging the Scripps newspapers. Ellen’s family had founded the papers in the 19th century, and they remain a major force in journalism today.

The house is an Arts and Crafts-style masterpiece designed by the well-known architect Albert Kahn, and furnished and embellished with works by local Detroit artists and craftsmen, as well as by imported objects, tapestries, paintings, and sculptures.By zillionaire standards, this is a modest house, neither very large nor very opulent. Here are some photos that I took while touring the house:

The Gardens

The house stands on a large tract of land, which includes many gardens. Several institutions, especially a private school and an art school, also stand on the estate.

Cranbrook Academy and Art Museum

The complex of buildings and gardens includes an art museum and a school. On our visit yesterday, we visited only a smll part of the estate. While we didn’t go into the museum we did enjoy seeing the fountain with a set of sculptures by the sculptor Carl Milles, as I mentioned yesterday.

Photos © 2026 mae sander