The Farwell Apartments (Detroit, Michigan)

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Eight story, 96,000 sq. ft., commercial building. The architect, Harrie Bonnah, used glass extensively on the front of this building that faces Capitol Park. He contrasted horizontal and vertical lines in an appealing fashion. There are two major horizontal belt courses to emphasize the width of the building. At the second level, there is a frieze decorated with triglyphs and metopes. Classical embellishments appear at the ground floor level, including ionic pilasters and some detailed iron grill work that was done by Detroit’s Russell Wheel and Foundry. It takes some imagination to appreciate these fine details since the building is in disrepair. A terra cotta cornice once lined the top of the Farwell Building but this was removed when the structure was rebuilt in 1956.

The building's interior was once elegant. The lobby featured a Tiffany glass mosaic ceiling. The elevator doors were in brass surrounded by Grecian marble. This building was constructed when electrical lighting systems were less effective than at present, so getting interior light was a high priority. Apparently, there is a five-story light well. Perhaps, today’s architects would call this an atrium.

Although renovated in 1956, demand for office space in downtown Detroit declined rapidly in the years following World War II. By the 1970s, the building was mostly vacant except, perhaps, for some stores at street level. Since 1984, it has been completely vacant and, as you would expect, has deteriorated.

In 2012, the building was converted by Karp & Associates to apartments.

karpandassociates.com/projects/the-farwell/
historicdetroit.org/building/farwell-building/
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