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Old 08-20-2019, 11:46 AM   #1
Gary Karr
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Default Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

I just got back from the MARC Meet in Dearborn and started to think about the wonderful homes in and around that area. There was a thread here on Ford Barn back in 2012 about the Walter O. Briggs mansion in the Boston Edison area and how it had fallen into disrepair and was for sale. Here is a listing on the home from 2017. Someone certainly did a wonderful restoration on this magnificent home.

https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/7/19...hedge-for-sale

Last edited by Gary Karr; 08-20-2019 at 11:51 AM.
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Old 08-20-2019, 12:59 PM   #2
Mike Peters
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

Judging by the size of this house, Henry Ford's body supplier made money right along with Ford. I'm assuming that Walter Briggs built fordor bodies and truck cabs for Ford.
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Old 08-20-2019, 02:48 PM   #3
Dan Partain
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

What a great job they did on the restoration of that mansion!
Thanks for the update Gary.
-DAN
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Old 08-20-2019, 03:27 PM   #4
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

Briggs was a subcontractor way back into the Model T days and he and his investors did make money from the shear volume of stuff they cranked out. Briggs was one of the first of the coach builders to have labor problems in Detroit too. The hours were long and the pay was low for the employees. The subcontractors made the bodies for the lower volume sales applications like the fordors but they built a lot of them. They may have been involved in commercial truck products too but the stampings from them mostly came from Budd. I don't know how far Budd went with cab and van assembly but they certainly helped Ford develop a lot of that type of product and their specialty was stamping out steel products for a lot of manufacturers. I think Briggs built mostly the open cabs for commercial trucks.

Walter Briggs had worked with Fords chief financial advisor James Couzins at the Michigan Central Railroad in earlier years and it helps to know the right people sometimes. It certainly perked up Briggs' new company when they contracted to fabricate interiors for Ford in 1910. Briggs Manufacturing subcontracted with other companies as well.

Last edited by rotorwrench; 08-20-2019 at 03:39 PM.
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Old 08-20-2019, 10:33 PM   #5
Pete W.
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

Hey Gary! Thanks for the post. I feel like moving...wana be my neighbor? A big
CONGRATULATIONS on your win in Detroit!!! Pete
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Old 08-20-2019, 10:52 PM   #6
gz
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

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Thanks for posting this article. In most other places in the US, a mansion like this would be 5 million or more. I have friends that live in this neighborhood and they watched it being restored. I have seen it a few times, it is truly spectacular. Restoring a mansion in Detroit is no different that restoring a really rough Model A-you will never get your money back. Kudos to the owners that brought this significant piece of history back to life. I doubt the final selling price of this home will cover the restoration costs.
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Old 08-21-2019, 03:21 AM   #7
Dodge
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

In the San Francisco Bay Area in 2017 that Million would buy you a house less than 1,000 square feet. The Briggs house would be at least 10 Million here.......
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Old 08-21-2019, 09:27 AM   #8
rotorwrench
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

Walter Briggs was also the owner of the Detroit Tigers. His friend James Couzins at Ford in those early years ended up a Senator for the state of Michigan. Walter was a wealthy man for sure.

Detroit fell on some pretty hard times with folks moving out and all so real estate got to be way too affordable. There were a lot of wealthy industrialists in Detroit back in the hay day of automobile manufacturing.
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Old 08-21-2019, 09:59 AM   #9
rogerkb1936
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

some diggin's
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Old 08-21-2019, 10:38 AM   #10
Jeff/Illinois
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dodge View Post
In the San Francisco Bay Area in 2017 that Million would buy you a house less than 1,000 square feet. The Briggs house would be at least 10 Million here.......
????? YOW

No wonder the news shows thousands of people living on the streets I'd be there with them I couldn't afford a one car garage to live in.

Nice pictures and story about that Briggs mansion that was neat, neat to see it! Quality stuff used throughout the house. Too bad they couldn't move it out of the Detroit area somewhere else. Detroit is dead and dying.

Did this guy have a connection to Briggs of Briggs and Stratton engines I just thought of that?
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Old 08-21-2019, 12:48 PM   #11
rotorwrench
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

Stephen Foster Briggs isn't directly related to Walter Briggs but their may a be a way back connection.
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Old 08-21-2019, 01:29 PM   #12
J Franklin
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

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Originally Posted by Jeff/Illinois View Post
????? YOW

Detroit is dead and dying.
Detroit died in 2008-2009 but it is steaming back. some of the homeless could get back on their feet if they went there and took advantage (NO BUMS PLEASE)!
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Old 08-21-2019, 06:24 PM   #13
rotorwrench
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Default Re: Walter O. Briggs Mansion update

Detroit has always been a good location for moving large quantities of stuff around. It's a crossroads for rail road and ship traffic. It fell on hard times sure but it still has a lot going for it. It's too cold for me. I've been in Texas too long.
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