Wilhelm Boeing Mansion, LEGO Model
Wilhelm Boeing (1848 - 1890) moved to the United States in 1868 and soon made a fortune in lumbering and mining. In 1875 he had an extravagant French Second Empire style house with Baroque detailing built at 1189** Woodward Avenue in Detroit just south of the Christopher R. Mabley mansion. After he died, his wife continued to own the house for a few years until she sold it in 1898. As early as 1903, Wilhelm's son William moved to Seattle and started a lumber company. In 1909 he saw an airplane and was inspired; by 1916 William founded the Boeing Aircraft Company.
In 1905 the house was sold again and was converted into the Davis Apartments. The house may have lasted until 1935 when many old houses and buildings were torn down to make way for the widening of Woodward Avenue. Today the site of the Boeing and Mabley mansions is a parking lot. The Boeing mansion was one of over 100 mansions making up a "millionaire's row" along Woodward Avenue at the end of the 19th Century; today only about five of the mansions remain.
The LEGO model is built in minifig scale, but appears quite large as the wealthy back then built tall to show off their wealth. Some of the ceilings on the main floors of these Woodward mansions were 10, 12 or even 14 feet high (3.05, 3.66, or 4.27 meters). The model uses many thousands of LEGO parts including more than 1,000 light bluish-gray tiles alone and probably weighs 20-30 pounds (9-13.6 Kg). The yard is 9 standard LEGO base plates giving dimensions of 30x30 inches (76.2 x 76.2 cm). I may add another row of base plates in the back so I can add the carriage house.
After completing this model, I had to revamp my Christopher Mabley mansion LEGO model, to maintain the same scale. I could not figure out how to reduce the size of the Boeing mansion model without losing detail and proportion.
The two horsepower carriage is similar to one photographed in front of the mansion in 1881. For a look at that photo and others as well as more details on the history of the house, take a look at Historic Detroit: Boeing-house
** Pre-1921 address; current address would be ~ 5501 - 5521.
Wilhelm Boeing Mansion, LEGO Model
Wilhelm Boeing (1848 - 1890) moved to the United States in 1868 and soon made a fortune in lumbering and mining. In 1875 he had an extravagant French Second Empire style house with Baroque detailing built at 1189** Woodward Avenue in Detroit just south of the Christopher R. Mabley mansion. After he died, his wife continued to own the house for a few years until she sold it in 1898. As early as 1903, Wilhelm's son William moved to Seattle and started a lumber company. In 1909 he saw an airplane and was inspired; by 1916 William founded the Boeing Aircraft Company.
In 1905 the house was sold again and was converted into the Davis Apartments. The house may have lasted until 1935 when many old houses and buildings were torn down to make way for the widening of Woodward Avenue. Today the site of the Boeing and Mabley mansions is a parking lot. The Boeing mansion was one of over 100 mansions making up a "millionaire's row" along Woodward Avenue at the end of the 19th Century; today only about five of the mansions remain.
The LEGO model is built in minifig scale, but appears quite large as the wealthy back then built tall to show off their wealth. Some of the ceilings on the main floors of these Woodward mansions were 10, 12 or even 14 feet high (3.05, 3.66, or 4.27 meters). The model uses many thousands of LEGO parts including more than 1,000 light bluish-gray tiles alone and probably weighs 20-30 pounds (9-13.6 Kg). The yard is 9 standard LEGO base plates giving dimensions of 30x30 inches (76.2 x 76.2 cm). I may add another row of base plates in the back so I can add the carriage house.
After completing this model, I had to revamp my Christopher Mabley mansion LEGO model, to maintain the same scale. I could not figure out how to reduce the size of the Boeing mansion model without losing detail and proportion.
The two horsepower carriage is similar to one photographed in front of the mansion in 1881. For a look at that photo and others as well as more details on the history of the house, take a look at Historic Detroit: Boeing-house
** Pre-1921 address; current address would be ~ 5501 - 5521.