Remarks
This 56-room, English-style mansion, located on the University of Michigan-Dearborn campus, made of rough-hewn Ohio limestone with a crenellated roofline and turret, set the opulent standard for "auto baron" dwellings. Built for automobile magnate Henry Ford and his wife, Clara, in 1915, the house is decorated with roseleaf mahogany panelling, silver chandeliers and hand-carved woodwork. A tunnel containing some 35mi of pipes connects the house to a six-story powerhouse contrived by Ford and his friend Thomas Edison (1847-1931) to make Fair Lane self-sufficient for electricity and heat. The 72-acre estate grounds, designed by renowned architect Jens Jensen (1861-1953), contain some of the finest examples of landscape art in America.