Palatial Estate Built, Abandoned & Now With Second Owner

The whiskey heir who built 211 Vendome, a grand estate that remains today, never lived there and moved to Pasedena, CA, after its completion. 

Designed by notable architect Robert O. Derrick, who lived with his family at 407 Lincoln Road in Grosse Pointe. Derrick was born in 1890. He graduated from Columbia University with an architecture degree in 1917 and was a member of the American Institute of Architects.  

I stumbled upon an interesting correspondence dated Feb 19, 1927.  He writes to the Institute asking for  a letter of introduction to the Royal Institute British Architects saying, “I am taking a trip to England with a client this spring and if such an affiliation could be worked out for the purpose of studying English Domestic Architecture it would be of great value to me.”

Although there was no official affiliation between the institutes , the executive secretary of the AIA wrote a letter of introduction for Derrick so that it might help him, and in Derrick’s own words gain him “entrées to many more houses and other interesting buildings than would otherwise be possible.”

The letter of introduction was short and to the point. The importance of this correspondence remains to be known—and whether or not it successfully allowed Derrick to preview homes in England is uncertain.  The timing of this correspondence is worth noting.

Derrick was traveling to England in the spring of 1927—this would have been just a year before he built 211 Vendome and 2 years before he was commissioned by Henry Ford to design the museum in Dearborn. So this begs the question: who was the client traveling with Derrick?  Was it Walker  or could it have been Ford?  After checking some records it turns out that Derrick and his wife met the Fords exactly one year later on the steam liner Majestic on another springtime trip to Europe. 

But it is entirely possible that his travels to England influence the design of 211 Vendome. Many of England’s stately homes and country houses have elements that are found in many of Derrick's designs.

For instance Farnborough Hall in Warwickshire and Wimpole Estate in Cambridgeshire, England both have balustrade rooflines and long Palladian
facades complete with horizontal transoms dividing the levels —which are unique
architectural elements in the front of 211 Vendome.   

The term 'Palladian' comes from the Venetian architect Andre Palladio, who died in 1580 and is considered one of the most influential architects of the western
world. 

These classic Greek and Roman elements and came in and out of style several times in the 17th and 18th centuries In England.  In American Colonial Revival, these elements were popular in the 1920s and 1930s when Derrick was at the peak of his career. 

Some of Derrick’s other Grosse Pointe gems that have these same architectural features include 70 Vendome in Grosse Pointe Farms, and the Grosse Pointe Farms Water Filtration and Pumping Station.

Back to the Bank

By the mid-1930s it was evident that Walker was going to sell the house or lose it to the bank, and real estate agents were among the few that had information.

What was to happen to 211 Vendome?  Grosse Pointers were abuzz.

The first record is from Nov. 1935, “matters in the Trust company re: this property still unsettled so no use in showing [the] house until ironed out.  I believe no further check-up should be made with Walker without ascertaining from Trust Company whether necessary to deal thru him.  If not, will write Walker a letter explaining that we are going to deal direct.”

It was almost as plain as day.  Walker had no more control over this property, and real estate agents knew the best bet to get the real dish on the property was to deal directly through the bank, in this case, Guardian Deposit Trust Corporation.

Complicating the matter was a second mortgage owned by Union Guardian.  By Jan. 1936, it was still uncertain who precisely owned the home.  Real
estate documents state, “Property not foreclosed but probability is that Caldwell Walker would sign off to be relieved of obligations.  This property offers great bargain possibilities to one who wants it.  Of course there is nothing definite about all of this.”

Perhaps that is how rumors get started--documenting a guess!

In May 1938 a hand-written entry in the real estate record say it clearly:  "Rumor that this property has been sold for $80,000.  Rumor—sold to Dean Robinson.”

Indeed it was a rumor. But the records didn’t stop there.  In an entry dated on a different record from March of 1938, “Hearsay.  It is sold. This home has been sold to Wendell Anderson by Lucien Moore.”

Finally, some hearsay that was true.

It was in March of 1938 when Anderson purchased 211 Vendome and the surrounding property.  The total sale price was $125,000.   The house was
purchased with $85,000 cash and the rest in trade.

The Anderson Family

How does a young many in his mid 30s afford a palatial estate? Anderson’s name was not on the company that made him his fortune: Bundy Tubing. Those of you involved in the auto industry should know that name very well.

According to the company website, “The Bundy Corporation was
founded as Harry Bundy and Company in Detroit, Michigan, in 1922 by Harry
Warren Bundy, a former mechanic with Detroit Steel Products.”

By 1926 the Bundy’s health was in decline, and so he sold a 3-year option in the company to the then 28-year-old Anderson, and recent Yale graduate. 

“In February 1929, Anderson assumed control of the company (renamed Bundy Tubing Company) and its patents and retained Harry Bundy as the company's advisor.” 

But the success for Bundy was just beginning, “Later that year, Bundy's engineers invented the "Bundyweld" tube, a double-walled steel automotive tube that used brazed copper rather than solder to join the tubes' seams. The result was enhanced torsion and bending qualities, increased resistance to corrosion, and improved fatigue strength. Aided by the rapid development of new automotive applications for its tubing--including hydraulic brakes--Bundy's sales took off.”

By 1929 the annual sales of Bundy Tubing reached 50 million feet.

It seemed as though Anderson’s company was just the opposite
of Walkers:  Almost completely Depression proof.  While the Walkers had been hit twice financially with two major blows--prohibition and the Depression—Anderson’s company only became more profitable, even during the worst years of the Depression.  From 1930-1934, Bundy Tubing sold well over 200 million feet of tubing and was employing over 1,000 people in the Detroit region.

The Andersons entertained in their home often, and in one case Mrs. Wendell Anderson was hostess to a fashionable party at their home toraise money for a clinic in France.  She was co-hostess this event with .

The home changed hands only once more mid-century to the Simon family who are the current owners.  The home might have had a very interesting beginning, but has had only two long-term owners who have meticulously and tirelessly cared for this property over the past 83 years.