We've been cooped up inside way too much lately with local COVID cases rising and temperatures falling. With it being a sunny autumn day this family absolutely needed to get outside! So we took a short trek over to the historic Cranbrook estate to walk around the mansion grounds and hike along the surrounding nature trails.
Built in a time when newspapers were king and their publishers were American royalty, Cranbrook was the castle for the Booth family who lived there from 1908 to 1944. The English Arts & Crafts style mansion was designed by famed architect Albert Kahn who is known for creating some of Detroit's most iconic buildings. Known for its architectural splendor and beautiful gardens the Cranbrook House is now maintained by a non-profit trust. Cranbrook House is recognized as a National Historic Landmark.
While activities within the Cranbrook House have been suspended due to the pandemic and its gardens have been turned over for the cold weather season, the grounds of the estate are open to the public to enjoy. From November through March you can walk, hike or jog around the exterior of the mansion or its 40 acres of nature trails free of charge.
Even without its fabulous gardens being in bloom, the Cranbrook House surroundings are full of architecture, artwork and natural splendor. It is a great spot to spend some outdoor time and escape from the stresses of life for awhile. The grounds are open to the public from 7am to 7pm during the off season.
We had a great afternoon stretching our legs and breathing in some fresh air. It is always fun to take pictures with the estate's architecture and landscapes as a backdrop. We've taken some wonderful pictures ranging from a Beauty and the Beast themed photo shoot for this dad's blog to family pictures for our Christmas cards at the Cranbrook House & Gardens. Plus we've had lots of great moments here putting tech away and enjoying relaxing strolls along the nature trails. My family always has a good time visiting the Cranbrook House.
This historic manor is located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan at 380 Lone Pine Road. There is a designated parking lot for visitors a short walk away from the Cranbrook House. While entry to the mansion is handicap accessible please note the gardens, grounds and nature trails incorporate some significant use of steps for access. there are some steep slopes and the trails tend to be gravel or dirt based. This may not be the place to explore for those with mobility difficulties.
We got into the holiday spirit with a visit to the historic Cranbrook House in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan to see it decorated for Christmas. Designed by noted Detroit architect Albert Kahn this English Tudor-style was built in 1908 for the family of a newspaper mogul. It is the oldest surviving manor home in Metro Detroit. The mansion is now a centerpiece of the Cranbrook Educational Community which includes an art museum, science center and college preparatory academies.
Annually in December, the Cranbrook House is opened to the public for one weekend to showcase it decorated for Christmas. Visitors to this ticketed can take self-guided tours of the historic home enjoying its ambience decked out with Christmas trees, garland, and wreaths. Plus there is a chance to get a family photograph with Santa Claus. This year's Holiday Splendor event took place December 6 - 8. Proceeds from tickets to this fundraiser support the preservation of this National Historic Landmark.
Based upon the jolly good time we had at the Cranbrook House Holiday Splendor event, I highly recommend making it part of your holiday festivities next year. Visit housegardens.cranbrook.edu or call 248-645-3149 in November to get specific Holiday Splendor dates and times to mark on your calendar. Especially, if you have young children at home because Cranbrook House provides an exceptional Santa Claus Sighting experience.
Mrs. Claus greets families as they wait to see Santa and get kids to fill out wish lists helping parents get some clues for present ideas and encouraging the children to chat about the gifts they want. If you don't have your holiday shopping all done yet this can be very helpful!
Situated in the picturesque library of the Cranbrook House, not only does this event provide a grand backdrop for photographs with Santa but he also provides a lot of interaction and personal attention to the kids that visit. A very nice opportunity to get a wonderful picture for your family's Christmas card or a memorable photo for a child's scrapbook.
During our visit Santa really chatted us up and expressed a genuine interest in each of the children that visited him. Only one family is brought into the grand room where he is located at a time so it feels like a private moment and there is no sense of rush because of a crowd surrounding you like is often the case during a visit with a Mall Santa. A bunch of digital pictures are taken and mailed to you so there is no pressure to purchase an expensive photo package to capture the occasion. Also they don't mind if you pull out your own camera to take a few shots of your own. With hat in mind, the Santa Sighting tickets during the Holiday Splendor event are a real bargain.
After taking some posed pictures and talking with children about what gifts they would like for Christmas, Santa then has the kids sign a book pledging to stay on the Nice List for another year. I thought that was a nice touch! The only regret I have from the experience is that we didn't bring my son and daughter when they were younger and probably would have been more into the moment. Don't miss out on this experience if you have young children looking forward to meeting Santa at Christmastime!
As we left Santa handed each of us some special glasses to wear. Donning these lenses transforms the lights on Christmas trees and other holiday decorations into shiny gingerbread men. Not only was it fun to explore the Cranbrook House seeing the special effects of these glasses throughout it but they also worked at home on our own Christmas decorations. We enjoyed relaxing in our family room after our Cranbrook House visit, sipping eggnog and enjoying the view of our Christmas tree twinkling with gingerbread men.
After spending some time with Santa Claus, we enjoyed walking around the Cranbrook House taking in the festive atmosphere. Entering this historic home is like stepping into a Charles Dickens novel. The holiday decorations compliment the antiques, artwork and architecture of the Cranbrook House providing a festive vibe to the place. In addition to the library, visitors can also explore a variety of rooms on the first floor of the manor house.
Visitors can wander through a Reception Hall paved in Moravian tiles that was originally used for entertaining guests and imagine being at a holiday gathering when the place was home to a vibrant family. The home office has a stately fireplace and display of artwork picked up by the Booth family during a South American expedition. The Sunset Room was laid out for a tea party. Two of our favorite rooms though were the Dining Room and Oak Room.
The Dining Room was decorated with a Chronicles of Narnia theme. A bust of Aslan guards the room's fireplace. A frosty looking Christmas Tree represents the Witch from the first book in the C.S. Lewis series of novels. Turkish delight was even placed upon the dining room table.
The Oak Room was filled with a ceramic Christmas Village circled by a model train. This isn't any ordinary toy train though. It is a classic Lionel Train from the 1930s covered in 18-karat gold plating. Toy enthusiasts and train hobbyists as well as kids of all ages will be delighted to get a close up look at this amazing locomotive. Beyond seeing Santa, watching this toy train race around the tracks laid out in the Oak Room was a highlight of our self-guided tour of the Cranbrook House.
Marvel in the architectural details of this magnificent estate, enjoy cheerful holiday decorations and have yourself a Merry Christmas by partaking in the Holiday Splendor of the historic Cranbrook House. This holiday fundraiser to help maintain and preserve this splendid place absolutely gets a Geek Daddy nod of approval. To learn more about this places or other events taking place here throughout the year, go to housegardens.cranbrook.edu
We spent a recent summer morning taking a stroll through the gardens that surround the historic Cranbrook House located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Thanks to the financial donations of PNC Bank, All Seasons, and Roberts Restaurant Group the grounds surrounding the Cranbrook House are open daily from 9 am to 5 pm this year from May through October for the public to come out and explore. The 40-acre Cranbrook House Gardens feature formal, woodland and naturalistic gardens featuring fountains, statuary, lakes, streams, and extensive traditional and natural plantings.
The Cranbrook House is the oldest of metropolitan Detroit's grand early 20th century mansions. It was designed by the noted architect Albert Kahn for the family of George Booth (the wealthy owner of a Canadian iron-working business in Windsor, Ontario) and Ellen Warren Scripps (the eldest child of the founder of the Detroit News). Booth went to work with his father-in-law helping to build the News into Detroit's largest daily newspaper. In addition to taking on a prominent role within the Scripps-owned newspaper business which was expanding throughout the Midwest, George Booth also partnered with his brothers to establish a profitable chain of Michigan-based newspapers under the Booth Publishing Company. In 1904, George and Ellen purchased a run-down 174-acre farm and transformed it into a magnificent estate named Cranbrook after the English town the Booth family originated from. In their elder years, the Booths transformed their estate into the Cranbrook Educational Community which includes a private school, a magnificent church, an art museum, and the Cranbrook Academy of Art and Cranbrook Institute of Science. The Cranbrook House and Gardens have been preserved as a historic landmark and also provides office space for the non-profit foundation which oversees the Cranbrook Educational Community.
While strolling through the gardens is free there is a $10 charge to tour the mansion. There are discounts for seniors, students with ID, and active duty military. Admission fees are also charged for visiting the Art and Science museums on the Cranbrook campus. Still there is plenty to see wandering around the meadows, wooded trails, and gardens surrounding the Cranbrook House.
During our visit we spotted a wealth of wild life including a beaver, bunny, chipmunk, butterflies, dragonflies, fish in the ponds and a number of birds along with a variety of attractive plants and flowers as we walked throughout the landscape. The Cranbrook Gardens are also filled with fountains, sculptures and other artwork.
Make sure to download the free app available for both Android and Apple mobile devices before you visit that provide self-guided tours of the grounds complete with useful facts, vivid photographs, and video segments to enhance your experience exploring the gardens. It can come very handy not just for finding out interesting information about your surroundings but also for helping find your way around the grounds.
There are plenty of special spots that are fun for kids to discover during a trip to the Cranbrook House Gardens. Two of my kids favorites during our visit included a nook in a sunken garden that looks like something you'd find in a fairy tale and a charming bridge over the manor's driveway you'll find while taking the trail from the visitor parking lot to the Cranbrook House.
The visitor parking lot is off Lone Pine Road located on the north side of the street across from Christ Church. Park your vehicle and either walk up the Cranbrook House's original driveway or take a short hike along a wooded trail to reach the gardens. There are also restrooms located within the parking lot's check-in building. That is important to know especially when traveling with little ones because there aren't a lot of other options when you start walking around. For more information about the place visit housegardens.cranbrook.edu/ or call 248-645-3147.
During our mid-week morning visit, my kids and I had the run of the place with literally no one around other than volunteer gardeners and some construction workers doing maintenance which made it really enjoyable to explore the gardens and trails surrounding the Cranbrook House. For a relaxing stroll, adventurous trek, bird watching, gardening tips, or to take in some interesting art, if you live in or are traveling to Metro Detroit stopping by the Cranbrook House & Gardens is well worth a visit. My kids and I had a wonderful time taking in the art and scenery.
