The
privately owned Henry Ford House on Edison just off Woodward
is in good condition today. The lavish homes of the Boston
Edison district faced the fate of the great houses of East
Grand Boulevard which were largely carved up into group and
nursing home. Somehow, in spite of decades of decline, the
district hung on and is now reviving nicely as steeply rising
prices attest. In fact, the late 90's boom in Detroit
has been very positive for the hundred of historic quality
homes in the region.
Boston
Edison
By
moving into the Boston Edison district of Detroit, Berry Gordy
was acting in the tradition of the Detroit's auto nouveau
riche whose fortunes built the plush houses of the district.
Most
famous of these was Henry Ford whose first big house was on
three blocks on Edison. Ford lived here from 1908 until
1915 when he move to his Fairlane
Mansion in then rural Dearborn.