For nearly a century, public attention has gravitated toward the architectural brilliance of the Albert Kahn–designed Edsel & Eleanor Ford House. Its story is often told through stone, timber and the iconic lines of Kahn’s 1929 masterpiece.
Yet the estate is far more than its house. It is also 87 acres of designed landscape and nearly one mile of Lake St. Clair shoreline, shaped with equal intention and artistry by Jens Jensen, who remains one of America’s most influential landscape architects.
Today, that landscape is undergoing one of the most significant ecological restorations in its history. The project, featured in the report below from the NOAA Fisheries’ Office of Habitat Conservation, illustrates how Ford House is reconnecting with Jensen’s original vision of a shoreline alive with native plants, migratory birds, shallow-water habitat and the natural rhythms of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
Restoring Jensen’s landscape is not simply an environmental project, it is an act of stewardship. It honors the idea that great estates are living systems and that preserving their legacy means caring for both the built environment and the natural one. At Ford House, architectural heritage and ecological awareness are inseparable.
Below is the full NOAA report detailing shoreline restoration at Ford House.
