THE HISTORIC
HECKER-SMILEY MANSION
5510 Woodward Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202

Architect:
Louis Kamper (1861-1953) of Scott, Kamper, Scott

Style:
French Renaissance Chateauesque (inspired by Chateau de Chenonceau, Loire Valley, France).

Date of Construction:
1889 (architectural plans) - 1892

Cost:
Hecker purchased two lots on Woodward in 1887 for $27,859.00; $144,936.54 for house, stable, architect fees, decorations, and carpets; $19,990.14 for furniture.

Size:
House: 20,988 sq. ft. Carriage house: 5,721 sq. ft.

Chronology of Ownership:

1889-1947
Private residence built and owned by Col. Frank Joseph Hecker (1846-1927), a prominent Detroit industrialist and civic leader.

1928-1947
Boarding house - still owned by Hecker Family, but managed by Harrison B. Anderson and his wife, Emma, as an exclusive and rather strict (curfews and other rules of conduct), boarding house for single college students.

1947-1990
Business - purchased by Paul Smiley (1900-1990) and used as the headquarters of Smiley Brothers Music Company.

1991 - 2015
Purchased and restored by the Historic Hecker Mansion Limited Partnership for the law firm of CHARFOOS & CHRISTENSEN, P.C.