horus dodge the co-founder of the dodge motor company died unexpectedly after contracting the
spanish flu in 1920. his widow anna was left the entirety of his 146 million dollar fortune
or the modern day equivalent of over 2 billion dollars which made her the wealthiest woman in
the world hi everyone ken here welcome to this house today we are exploring rose terrace in gross
point michigan make sure to hit that subscribe button so you never miss an exciting episode of
this house anna had humble beginnings as a child she grew up in a two-room tenement and lacked any
sense of luxury when she met horace dodge he was just a mechanic tinkering in his father's shop
no one thought he would ever become noteworthy the two married and horace's tinkering paid off
securing patents working for ford motors and then starting his own motor company with his brother
the now successful couple were considered crude and unrefined and were not accepted
by detroit's elite when the dodge motor company became extremely successful there would be no
denying their influence the dodgers built a red sandstone house in grosse pointe michigan
it had an understated elegance about it with a beautiful view of lake sinclair
as their wealth grew the couple began purchasing steamboats and yachts each larger than the last
they had developed a habit of spending money so it was no surprise that when horus passed away
that anna would continue to spend not even a year had passed since horace's death when anna decided
to head down to florida to find a vacation home her realtor hugh dillman was a very charming man
and also half her age they had a blast sailing around the world looking at homes together
the house that caught her eye was playa riante the largest home in palm beach it did not take much
convincing from hugh to have anna buy it but that wasn't the only thing she wanted she had become
smitten with a young charismatic realtor and the two were quick to tie the knot for their honeymoon
they set sail for europe where they toured lavish palaces from the 17th century it was here that
anna fell head over heels for 18th century french art and began acquiring paintings and antiques the
couple returned to michigan and anna found her former home to be drab and lacking compared to
what she had seen in europe in 1931 she purchased the adjoining property and had it torn down along
with a house that she and horus had built she wanted a grand palace to take its place she
hired horus trumbauer to design her dream home trumbauer had recently completed white marsh hall
and linwood hall a couple of the largest homes in the united states he met with anna and decided
to assign his assistant julian abel to the task julian was one of the first black architects to
practice in the united states he was well-versed in european architecture and had fresh ideas to
incorporate 1930s modern technology into old world designs he drafted a planned and anna swooned over
the drawings construction started but did not get far one day anna pulled up in her 257 foot yacht
the delphine got out on the dock and looked at the progress the proportions were all wrong she
wanted something larger than what she was seeing she demanded the house be torn down and that the
crew start over with larger rooms the construction of the palace required a massive crew to build
detroit was now seeing the worst of the great depression and factories had shut down
the unemployed factory workers were thrilled to hear that their factories were being reopened
and that they would be getting their jobs back when they so desperately needed money
anna seemed to be oblivious to anything happening outside of her gates because she imported 600
workers from europe to build in the factories because she did not trust that americans could
create the european look she was going for as soon as the foundation was set the european workers
moved into the basement of the palace where they would live until it was complete construction
would carry on for two more years and anna would travel to europe to await its completion she began
purchasing art antiques furniture tapestries and everything needed to decorate her house
she employed joseph devine to help her secure quality pieces
with the hopes of putting together the most notable 18th century french collection
devine knew that anna was uncultured and took full advantage he made sure she only bought valuable
antiques but when they would uncover something extremely rare he would convince her that the item
was worthless purchase it for himself and auction it off in the united states she never did catch
on to him but it is important to note for later that anna was in fact clueless about such things
by 1934 the palace which would be donned rose terrace was now complete it had cost a whopping
seven million dollars or the modern-day equivalent of over 121 million dollars for the construction
alone the property was entered through a pair of iron gates and the drive wound through the
gardens before reaching the house the mansion included 75 rooms with 18 and a half foot ceilings
you entered the home through a vestibule and continued through to the 32 by 62 foot music
room which doubled as a ballroom from here you could see panoramic views of the lake
to one end a pipe organ was housed in a void which allowed music to echo throughout the entire house
one wing of the palace housed the dining room with wall paneling crafted in france from mellow
cypress and imported to be installed in the room in the opposite wing of the palace was the library
each oak panel had been hand carved anna loved this room and would use it for receiving guests
instead of the formal reception room the stair hall was heavily ornamented with floating stairs
rotating about a central void to the top floor the red carpet runner was one of anna's prized
possessions and she insisted that nobody walk on it she would instruct her family and
guest to instead walk on the marble to the sides of the runner if they had to use the stairs the
men's drawing room contained a bar and was rather rustic with the floorboards having been imported
from a french inn the second floor housed anna's lavish bedroom decorated in turquoise
the bathtub in her ensuite was cut from a single block of green belgian marble
the rest of the second floor was filled with guest rooms each with their own private bathrooms the
entirety of the third floor was set aside for the servants with 20 rooms for the staff the basement
housed a kitchen which was large enough to prepare a three-course meal for 100 dinner guests also in
the basement were rooms for cutting fresh flowers a gymnasium and despite prohibition a wine cellar
anna now had a palace with a professionally trained staff to call home but she wasn't happy in
her relationship in 1940 anna and hugh officially separated her daughter passed away shortly after
anna began to withdraw herself from society officially divorcing hugh in 1947 she became
increasingly reclusive not leaving her bedroom she would sit in bed watching tv throughout the
day and night her friends and family would come to visit but would only be admitted during commercial
breaks she wasted away in her bed until her passing in 1970. rose terrace was willed to
her grandchildren but they were unable to afford its upkeep the palace consumed 55 000 gallons of
oil per year to heat and hundreds of thousands of dollars to maintain they listed the house for
the bargain price of 1.25 million dollars or the modern day equivalent of about 10 million dollars
but no buyers could be found her artwork antiques and entire rooms were auctioned off
the palace was stripped of its ornamentation and demolition ensued by 1976 there was not a trace
of rose terrace left to be found thank you all for watching i really hope that you enjoyed this video
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