Gate House

John Dodge house

Location
Rochester, MI
Original Construction
1928/1908
Construction Cost
$X,XXX,XXX
Size
XX,XXX sqft
Completion Date
XXXX

The Meadow Brook Gatehouse stands proudly at the historic entrance to the Meadow Brook estate, which former home of Matilda Dodge Wilson (widow of John Dodge and co-founder of Dodge Brothers Motor Cars). Built in 1928 and designed by the architecture firm Smith, Hinchman, and Grylls of Detroit, it exemplifies the Tudor Revival Style by incorporating differing building materials such as wood timbers, stone block, stucco, and clay tiles with steeply pitched gables. The intent of the building design was to add rustic details resembling those of castles and medieval cottages of the 16th and early 17th centuries such as elaborate leaded windows, intricately carved timbers, and wrought iron hardware.

The John Dodge House stands proudly as an acknowledgment of the early days of Meadow Brook Farms, John and Matilda Dodge’s weekend retreat in the countryside of Rochester. As a busy business man and cofounder of Dodge Brothers Motor Cars, John Dodge purchased the house to provide a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the city and as a place to spend time with his young family. Purchased in 1908 and undergoing significant additions over the next ten years, the house carries the details of a fine Colonial Revival country home by incorporat-ingdetails reminiscent of early Federal and Georgian architecture.

In 2009, HopkinsBurns Design Studio was hired to perform an existing conditions study of each structure along with the development of work priorities based on greatest need from building stabilization to restoration and adaptive reuse. In 2010, HopkinsBurns remained to implement priority level one for stabilizing each structure.