THE WHITNEY HOUSE INVESTIGATION
THE DAVID WHITNEY HOUSE WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1890-1894 FOR LUMBER BARON DAVID WHITNEY,
JR., ONE OF MICHIGAN'S WEALTHIEST CITIZENS. THE ROMANESQUE REVIVAL STYLE HOUSE WAS
DESIGNED BY ARCHITECT GORDON W. LLOYD. CONSTRUCTION OF THE MANSION TOOK FOUR YEARS AT AN
ACCUMULATED COST OF $400,000. BUILT OF JASPER BROUGHT FROM SOUTH DAKOTA, THE MANSION HAS
52 ROOMS AND INCLUDES 10 BATHROOMS, 20 FIREPLACES, 218 STAINED AND LEAD GLASS WINDOWS
INSTALLED BY TIFFANY'S, AND A WORKING ELEVATOR.
AT THE TIME CONSTRUCTION OF THE HOUSE WAS COMPLETED, THE DETROIT FREE PRESS CALLED IT
"AN AMERICAN PALACE ENJOYING THE DISTINCTION OF BEING ONE OF THE MOST PRETENTIOUS
MODERN HOMES IN THE STATE AND ONE OF THE MOST ELABORATE HOUSES IN THE WEST."
DAVID WHITNEY DIED IN 1900, BUT THE WHITNEY FAMILY LIVED IN THE HOUSE UNTIL THE EARLY
1920'S. IN THE LATE 1920'S, THE HOUSE WAS USED AS THE HEADQUARTERS FOR THE WAYNE COUNTY
MEDICAL SOCIETY, AND IN 1957 THE MEDICAL SOCIETY SOLD THE HOUSE TO THE VISITING NURSE
ASSOCIATION. IN 1979 THE HOUSE WAS PURCHASED BY RICHARD KUGHN WHO, WITH HIS PARTNERS JOHN
MCCARTHY AND RON FOX, RESTORED THE HOUSE TO ITS ORIGINAL SPLENDOR AND IN 1986 OPENED
"THE WHITNEY, AN AMERICAN RESTAURANT IN AN AMERICAN PALACE".
THE WHITNEY RESTAURANT IS LOCATED AT 4421 WOODWARD AVENUE IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN