Birmingham Michigan Real Estate

Four Beautiful Seasons
Doug and Kathie Whitehouse
Covering Southeast Michigan

The Detroit Metro Area

Detroit is located on the Detroit River, the waterway that provides a passage from Lake Superior, Lake Huron, and Lake Michigan, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. The city, originally settled by fur traders in the 17th century because of its strategic position astride the Great Lakes, is rich in history. Northern Michigan, a few hours away by car, is a skiing and snowmobiling paradise in the winter and a water sport enthusiast's heaven in the summer. Golf is also a popular summer pastime statewide.

Separated from Detroit by the Detroit River, Canada is just a short tunnel or bridge trip away. It offers everything from bargain shopping for English china and Irish crystal to leisurely exploration of the byways and charm of a bygone era in southern Essex County.

Detroit is a center of activity for the residents of its suburban areas. There is plenty to see and do for everyone!

Area Attractions

Children's Museum
Located in the heart of Detroit's University Cultural Center. An educational unit of the Detroit Public Schools. Scenes from American history are displayed in miniature along with thousands of items on ethnic crafts, natural history specimens, flags, models historical artifacts, prehistory materials. musical instruments, dolls and toys from other countries and art reproductions. A planetarium is used for learning about the sky, space exploration,. geography.

Cranbrook House and Gardens

Located on the campus of Cranbrook Schools. this is the home of George and Ellen Scripps Booth, founders of Cranbrook. The House was designed by Albert Kahn and built in 1908. The English manor features leaded-glass windows, tapestries and art objects. Open for tours. the home is also used for concerts and special events. Cranbrook Gardens are open daily to the public from May until September. These include fieldstone terraces, pine walks and an Oriental garden.

Cranbrook House and Gardens Online

Detroit Zoological Park
Features acres of exhibits of animals in outdoor habitats. Gardens, reptile and bird houses. Located in northwest suburbs.

Detroit Zoological Park Online

Eastern Market
Detroit landmark with both indoor and outdoor vending facilities. Farmers market, cheese, fish, meat and specialty food shops. Site of the popular "Flower Days" on Sundays in May and June and "Landscape Nursery Day" in September - events at which more than a million bedding plants are sold by growers from throughout the region.

Edsel & Eleanor Ford House
Tours at scheduled times. This family home is representative of those of other Detroit "Auto Barons." It is located in the Eastside suburb of Grosse Pointe Shores and built in the style of the Cotswolds in Worchestershire, England.

Edsel & Eleanor Ford House Online

Fisher Mansion
Built by a founder of the Fisher Body Company and Cadillac Motors, this is a lavish home on the Detroit riverfront. The Mansion has original works of art from Asia and India and is a blend of Italian Renaissance and Vintage Hollywood architecture. It is open for viewing as part of the Auto Baron Homes Tour and is also operated as the Bhaktivedanta Cultural Center. Govinda's restaurant serves a vegetarian cuisine and has boat docking facilities.

Greektown
As far back as World War I, a thriving Greek community prospered in a one block section of Monroe Street in Detroit. Today it is a ethnic neighborhood of restaurants, bars, markets, bakeries and coffee houses. The area includes St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church, built in 1865 to serve the immigrants. In 1985 Trappers Alley Festival Marketplace debuted with five levels of restaurants, specialty shops and nightspots in the former fur pelting processing factory. Fishbones's Rythm Kitchen Cafe specializes in Cajun food. The district now has its own hotel and a conference center.

Hart Plaza
A stretch of park on the Detroit River in the very heart of downtown with amenities and facilities which make it a favorite for summer outdoor river-front festivals and concerts, riverboat watching and winter ice-skating. The site hosts annual ethnic and Blues Festivals and the Montreaux-Detroit Jazz Festival.

Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village
Twelve-acre museum with major collections in transportation, power and ship machinery. agriculture, lighting and communications, home arts, furniture, glass and ceramics. Green field Village, adjacent to the Museum, is a 240 acre outdoor museum with a collection of historic homes, workplaces and community buildings from different places and times in America.

Visit Henry Ford Museum & Greenfield Village Online

Meadowbrook Hall
Auto Baron, John Dodge, had this 100 room mansion built in 1926 though it took 3 years to complete. Most of the construction is of native materials and all woodwork, carvings and fixtures were done by American artists. Knole Cottage is a small house on the premises built on a 2/3 scale for 12-year old Frances Dodge. It was the first all-electric home in metro Detroit. Each August, the Concours d' Elegance is held on the grounds with a show of over 250 classic automobiles. The Hall is open for tours year round but is well attended during the annual Christmas Walk when florists and designers decorate the Hall for the holidays.

Meadowbrook Hall Online

Detroit Institute of Arts
One of the nation's top comprehensive fine arts collections housed in a European-style museum designed by French architect Paul Philippe Cret. Holdings include works by Diego Rivera, Van Gogh, Rembrandt, Picasso and Matisse. Home of the Detroit Film Theatre showing avant garde and foreign productions.

Detroit Institute of Arts Online

Detroit Symphony Orchestra
Detroit Symphony Orchestra Hall hosts a Classical Season which runs from September through May, a successful Pops Series, Christmas Festival, Ameritech Jazz Series, Young People's Concert Series, Tiny Tots Series, plus Special Events like an evening with Ray Charles and a gala concert with ltzhak Perlman. In the summer months the DSO plays under the stars in several suburban venues. The General Motors "Mark of Excellence" series presents broadcasts of live DSO concerts, which are now heard by over 1 million listeners weekly in North America and in every major urban market.

Detroit Symphony Orchestra Online

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