Marcus Burrowes

Marcus R. Burrowes (1874-1953) was a noted Detroit architect. One-time president of the Michigan Society of Architects and a fellow of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), he was widely known in southeast Michigan especially during the second and third decades of the twentieth century for his clever recreation of English Revival style buildings.

Born in Tonawanda, N.Y., near Buffalo, Burrowes attended the Denver Art Academy, where he attended lectures and received instruction by architects of note, as well as serving an apprenticeship to a leading architectural firm in Denver. In the 1890s Burrowes work took him to Canada, where he was employed in the chief architects' office of the Dominion at Ottawa, specializing in post office buildings. From Canada he crossed the Detroit River to Detroit which thanks to wealth generated through mass production of the automobile, was ripe for an entrepreneurial architect like Burrowes.

Initially Burrowes worked in the offices of Albert Kahn. In 1907 he joined the firm of Stratton and Baldwin for two years, which put him into contact with leading figures in the Arts and Crafts movement in Detroit including Albert Kahn, William B. Stratton, Frank C. Baldwin, and George Booth. Through Stratton's connections with Mary Chase Perry Stratton of Pewabic Pottery, Burrowes gained exposure to this important Detroit-based firm as well.

Seeing his future in independent practice however, Burrowes formed the firm of Burrowes and Wells with Dalton R. Wells. By 1914 Burrowes was operating under his own name. In 1920 he joined with Frank Eurich, who had received training in the architecture program from Cornell University. Together Burrowes and Eurich would design many of the finest homes in Grosse Pointe and Detroit, as well as several libraries and municipal buildings.

During his lifetime Burrowes was recognized by his fellow architects. He served as president of the Detroit Chapter of the American Institute of Architects in 1916-1917; vice-president of the Detroit Chapter in 1923, and secretary from 1911-1915. He served as president of the Michigan Society of Architects in 1923-1924. In 1940 he was made a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects and became Emeritus in 1952. He was a member of the Episcopal Church and the Detroit Athletic Club. And for forty years he practiced independently, with offices in the Architect's Building at 415 Brainard Street in Detroit.

Burrowes died at the age of 79 at his home in London, Ontario, which he had retired to eight months previous. His obitary in the Detroit Free Press in 1953, simply stated how "he designed more than 1,000 structures in and near Detroit during his long career."

Residences

• Hiram Walker and Sons, Customs Office Building, Walkerville, Ontario, 1910 (Burrowes and Wells)
• Cranbrook Service Quarters, Garages, Bloomfield Hills, 1911
• H.R. Dingwell Home, Devonshire Road, Walkerville, 1912
• Hiram Walker Home, Devonshire Road, Walkerville, 1912
• Greek Theatre, Cranbrook, Bloomfield Hills, 1915-1916
• Warren Booth Home, Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills
• Grace Booth Wallace Home
• Brookside School, Evergreen Road, Bloomfield Hills (with Henry Scripps Booth)
• W.G. Morley House, Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills
• David A. Brown House, East Boston Boulevard, Detroit
• C.B. Tuttle House, Hamilton Drive, Detroit
• Victor F. Dewey House, Hamilton Drive, Detroit
• A.L. McCarthy House, Hamilton Drive, Detroit
• William Locke House, Hamilton Drive, Detroit
• Percy A. Barnard House, Fairway Drive, Detroit
• Warren Booth Home, 2950 Iroquois, Detroit, 1922
• Henry L. Pierson, Sr., House, 2530 Iroquois, Detroit, 1915
• Mrs. Walter Jennings' Home, 2455 Iroquois, Detroit
• 2243 Iroquois, Detroit, 1917
• Newton Annis Home, 2168 Burns, Detroit
• 1432 Burns, Detroit
• Miss Jeannette McMillan Liggett Home, Burns, Detroit
• S. Kemp Pittman, Sr., Home, 1782 Seminole, Detroit, 1912
• 2454 Seminole, Detroit
• Paul Gray House, 1710 Seminole, Detroit, 1910
• Ralph Harmon Booth Home, 315 Washington, Grosse Pointe, 1924
• Berrien C. Eaton Home, Bishop Road, Grosse Pointe
• Edward S. Caulkins Home, Hendrie Lane, Grosse Pointe
• H. Robert Stoepel Home, Grosse Pointe
• L.T. Bulkley Home, Edgemont Park, Grosse Pointe
• Charles B. Crouse Home, Cadieux and Maumee, Grosse Pointe
• Edward G. Burlage Home, Harvard Road, Grosse Pointe
• Henry T. Cole Home, Lakeland, Grosse Pointe
• Addition to Palmer Sherman House, Farmington Road, Farmington
• "Burbrook", residence of Marcus R. Burrowes, 24300 Locust Drive, Farmington
• David Gray House, in present-day Heritage Park, Farmington
• "Windy Hill", Kirby White House, Eleven Mile Road, Farmington
• "Biddestone", 1937

Libraries

• Parkman Library
• Gabriel Richard Library, Stoepel and Grand River, Detroit
• Redford Village Hall (Redford Library), Six Mile and Grand River, 1928
• Duffield Branch of the Detroit Public Library, West Grand Boulevard and Lunedin
• McGregor Library, Woodward Avenue, Highland Park (contributing architect)
• Francis Parkman Branch of the Detroit Public Library, 1726 Oakman, Blvd, Detroit, 1931

Schools and Civic Complexes

• Wayne County Training School, near Northville
• Barber School, Highland Park
• Highland Park Athletic Fieldhouse, Highland Park
• Grosse Pointe High School, Grosse Pointe
• Grosse Pointe Cottage School, Grosse Pointe
• Grosse Pointe Hunt Club Clubhouse, Grosse Pointe
• Grosse Pointe Golf Clubhouse, Grosse Pointe
• Peoples' State Bank, Detroit
• Remodeling of Greenmeade, Eight Mile Road, Livonia
• Grand Lawn Cemetery entrance, Grand River just east of Telegraph Road
• Methodist Children's Village, McNichols Road, Detroit
• YMCA, Highland Park
• YWCA, Highland Park
• Grosse Pointe Municipal Building
• Springwells Town Hall, later Dearborn City Hall
• Birmingham Civic Complex, Birmingham, 1921-1922

Starr Commonwealth, outside Albion, Michigan
Design of 11 buildings and campus landscape plan

• Newton Hall, Starr Commonwealth, 1915
• Emily Jewell Clark Building, Starr Commonwealth, 1917
• Wilcox Cottage, Starr Commonwealth
• Hillside, later Payne Family Cottage, Starr Commonwealth, 1920
• Webster Hall, Starr Commonwealth, 1934
• Inglis-Medelssohn Cottage, Starr Commonwealth
• Chapel in the Woods, Starr Commonwealth, 1949
• Breuckner Museum and Art Gallery, Starr Commonwealth, 1952
• Designs for Candler Hall, Kresge Cottage, Norton Family Cottage, Starr Commonwealth - all built after Burrowes death

Fox, Jean M. "Marcus Burrowes, English Revival Architect", Monograph #2, Farmington Hills Historical Commission, 1992.

Preserve Detroit, [www.preservedetroit.com]