The Dearborn Inn, a historic hotel built by Henry Ford within a Ford Motor Co. complex near Detroit, has reopened after a two-year restoration project.
Built in 1931, the Dearborn Inn is a 135-room hotel managed by Marriott as part of its Autograph Collection of upper-upscale properties. Rooms start at $350 per night, and the hotel includes a “grand Presidential suite.” Ford Motor did not disclose the costs of the renovation.
The hotel restoration is the latest design project completed by Ford Land, the automotive company’s in-house property management division. Ford Land’s portfolio includes the conversion of a facility designed by architect Albert Kahn that opened in 1930 into the Ford Engineering Laboratory and the development of the 2 million-square-foot Central Campus Building, slated for completion in 2027. Both the engineering lab and central campus building are in Dearborn.
“The Dearborn Inn is part of Ford’s broader commitment to building for the future,” Executive Chairman Bill Ford said in a news release issued by Marriott.
Ford Land was also involved in the design of floors at the restored Michigan Central Station that Ford Motor uses for office space.
While warehouses, automotive plants and office buildings surround the Dearborn Inn, the hotel itself is a 23-acre island of greenery and luxury accommodations. It’s part of an area that includes buildings open to the public that cater to fans of the Ford brand and automotive history, like the Ford Experience Center and the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation.
The Dearborn Inn's renovation included the restoration of Italian marble flooring in a checkerboard pattern in the main lobby. A green marble fireplace in the lobby was also restored along with an antique clock. Original furniture made in Michigan was also restored.
“The Georgian-style inn was inspired by the New England inns that the Fords frequented and quickly became a beloved retreat for notable changemakers, inventors and creatives who came into town to collaborate with Ford such as Walt Disney, Orville Wright, Norman Rockwell, Eleanor Roosevelt and President Ronald Reagan,” Marriott said in the release.
For the record
AvroKO, Saguez & Dash, Kraemer Design Group and Quinn Evans were the architects for the restoration. Stenco Construction was the general contractor.