I started at Ford Motor Company in 1955, quickly delved into the company history and the Ford family history.. In 1956 my wife and I bought a home equidistant between the Dahlinger estate, and John and Barbara Dahlinger's home.
In 1958 I was in a car wash in Dearborn and admired a light blue '58 Continental At that time I was designing the 1961 Lincoln. The owner a vivacious blue-eyed blond introduced her self as the owner, and although I was too naive to know better she came on to me.
I was designing the 1961 Lincoln
She was Barbara Dahlinger, the car wash owner told me after she drove away, as he asked what she saw in me. Years past and I met John and he kindly autographed his book for me.
Edsel Ford
Because there was a large portrait of Edsel in our building I immediately noted the similarity of John to Edsel. It was about then that I learned my son and buddies would play on the Dahlinger. estate until Mrs. Dahlinger would roar up in a Jeep with a shotgun on her lap and run them off. Dearborn was a small town, with a large percentage of Ford employees and it was common knowledge about Henry and Evangeline.
Evangeline Cote Dahlinger and Henry Ford
While working at Ford I soon learned that four co-workers attended the Village schools in Greenfield Village with John Dahlinger. One of whom is still alive, and they all knew that John Dahlinger was Henry Ford I's illegitimate son...
It was about 1958, and on one Sunday morning a guard at Fairlane called me and said, "if you come over in about 15 minutes I'll give you a tour of Fairlane" . I was on my way as it was only a mile away.
Fairlane
What a tour that was, just the guard and myself. He even showed me Henry's boat house that housed Henry's electric skiff that he would use to go the half a mile up the Rouge River to see Evangeline.
The Dahlinger mansion had a ground level door on the South side, which opened to a stairway that led directly to Evangeline's bedroom. Interesting!
Retrokimmer and her brother JR went to visit Harry Bennett's Castle Sunday and we shot the front view. It is very lovely now. Nowhere on the property did we spy any lions or tigers...
Inspired by the reported splendor of the 11th century Mongolian summer capital, and composed after an admitted “opium induced” dream, this first line of Samuel Taylor Colerige's great romantic poem Kubla Khan has, in modern times, become a metaphor for both great power and grand opulence. Orson Welles used the stanza in setting the mood for his 1941 classic Citizen Kane, referring to his main character, Charles Foster Kane (aka William Randolph Hearst), as “America's Kubla Khan”.
High above Ann Arbor, Michigan's beautiful Huron River, stands the personal Xanadu of a man who could cynically be called Henry Ford's own Kubla Khan (or Genghis Khan, as many of those who knew him might have agreed). An opulent yet schizophrenic structure whose composition seems the result of paranoia rather than opioid, so reminiscent of the Wellesian melodrama, that on entering one may expect to hear the word “ rosebud “ reverberate throughout its halls.
The home that Ford's personal mercenary called his “Castle” exists today as one remaining monument to the controversial character that was Harry Bennett.
It was thanks to Ford historian Dr. David L. Lewis and the extreme graciousness of the Castle's current owners, Felecia and Dr. Aneel Karnani, that HFHA members were allowed a once in a lifetime tour of the Bennett sanctum. After meeting at the Henry Ford Estate, 100 members were transported about 30 miles to the Geddes Road site; traveling both by car and via the Dearborn Trolley, the latter piloted by HFE volunteer Otto Grau.
Upon arrival, the group received copies of two past Detroit Free Press articles, authored by Dr. Lewis, which profiled the castle and Dr. Lewis’ 1974 interview with Harry Bennett. The Karnani’s were presented with two volumes of Dr. Lewis’ Ford Country, a copy of his definitive biography The Public Image of Henry Ford and a reprint of Bennett’s own tome We Never Called Him Henry. After a question and answer period, in which the Karnani’s spoke of what it is like to live in such a home, tour participants were allowed to freely explore all the inner nooks and crannies of the house that Bennett built.
Harry Bennett purchased the 154-acre (now reduced to 8.6 acres) site in 1929. The man most feared for his ruthless treatment of Ford employees had reason to find refuge behind the gates of this fortress-like estate. Towers, tunnels, spiral staircases, “switch” steps, secret doors, hidden rooms and many other unique security features were incorporated into its design, all to protect the Lord of the manner from “well wishers”, union men and Detroit gangsters. Dr. Lewis has written that Henry Ford and Harry Bennett “designed the mansion with the enthusiasm of boys building a robber lair or pirate’s nest”. Since Ford was involved in the project, no expense was spared.
The architecture of the first floor seems to reflect Bennett’s artistic bent (in his youth he had studied art at the Detroit Fine Arts Academy). Arched hardwood doors, marble accents and vaulted ornamental plaster ceilings provide the perfect setting for the current owner’s collection of Indian art. Bennett’s “secret room” is now easily accessed through a normal doorway, eliminating the need to enter via the hidden fireplace door. A stunning feature is a black tiled, art deco bath complete with “porthole” window. A sweeping staircase climbs to the second floor within a castle-like tower. On the rail of a roof deck an original security spotlight rests in place.
Down in the basement, HFHA members found a bar and billiard room styled after an English Pub, an area where Bennett often conducted “Ford “ business. Another room is reminiscent of an underworld catacomb. Most unique, a tiled Roman bath carefully hidden beyond a sliding cabinet. For those members who dared, an exciting, yet somewhat claustrophobic, experience, was a stroll through the seemingly endless, and unlit, under ground tunnel. This ran from the hidden bath to the outbuilding that house Bennett’s infamous lion and tiger dens. A branch of this tunnel leads to an extremely tight spiral staircase, which ascends to the top of the home’s guntower.
A tour of the grounds revealed the small house Bennett built for his mother, the remnants of the pool house, and the overgrown ruins of a miniature village built for the enjoyment of the Bennett daughters.
The Bennett Castle lives up to its reputation as one of the most bizarre mansions in Michigan. An intimate reflection of the man Dr. Lewis, has described as Henry Ford's most trusted - and toughest - lieutenant. During his day, few outsiders were made privy to its hidden features. The Henry Ford Heritage Association would again like to thank the Karnani’s for allowing us such a rare peak. One would doubt that Kubla Bennett would have been so accommodating.
Tunnel under Harry's Castle
In one of Henry Ford II first acts, he walked down to Bennett's basement office and told Bennett his services were no longer required. Tough talking Bennett got in a parting shot by telling Ford, "You're taking over a billion dollar company that you haven't contributed a thing to." That afternoon, Bennett burned all of his company records.
The bizarre and ruthless Bennett era was finally over and later, when Henry Ford II recalled the firing he said., "I went to him (Bennett) with my guard up. I was sure he was going to blow my head off. Well, now Harry is back on the streets were he started."
One of my long time readers, Mark Richards of Grand Rapids, visited the Harry Bennett Lodge and sent these photos to me! I love this stuff don't you?
Mark and chatted via phone and he told me he was stunned by how run down the Lodge is now. Well it has to be really expensive to maintain and who would for have the money for that?
Thank you MARK!! Grand Rapids folks who need a home inspection visit Mark's website. click on the logo or HERE
Harry Herbert Bennett (January 17, 1892 – January 4, 1979), a former boxer and ex-Navy sailor, was an executive at Ford Motor Company during the 1930s and 1940s. He was best known as the head of Ford’s Service Department, or Internal Security.
LOST LAKE
While working for Ford, his union busting tactics, of which the Battle of the Overpass was a prime example, made him a foe of the United Auto Workers. He was fired in 1945 by Henry Ford II, and died in Los Gatos, California, on January 4, 1979, of an undisclosed cause.
He had various residences in Michigan, including Bennett's Lodge near Farwell, a log cabin style house in East Tawas, and Bennett's Castle located on the Huron River in Ypsilanti.
Bennett had a lodge built for him in Freeman Township, Michigan, on Lost Lake. The house is constructed of brick and concrete block with concrete siding fashioned to make it look like a log cabin.
It has wooden floors and wall paneling, a 128-foot (39 m) long porch, and a stone fireplace. Chairs and sofas for the house were custom made by the finest craftsmen and upholstered using the highest grade of leather that Ford acquired for use in their most luxurious automobiles of the era.
The swimming pool beside the house provided more than the usual entertainment to Bennett and his guests: The pool was constructed with a viewing room (complete with wet bar) adjacent to the pool.
LODGE PORCH INLAY "WOODEN" TILES
A glass window looked into the pool under water, so Harry and company could enjoy watching their female guests swim. (creepy)
Since Bennett was always paranoid of being under attack, he included many security features in the lodge. The lodge was surrounded by a moat full of pointed posts.
The bridge over the moat was kept loaded with dynamite. The lodge itself has many custom features. Hidden behind a hinged bookcase in the study is a secret passageway which leads to the dock. Every step of the staircase in the passageway is a different height from the others to make tripping pursuers more likely.
Bennett would practice running down the steps so that he memorized their spacing to give him a head start if pursued. There is also a hidden room which was home to a central point in the ventilation system, where conversations from multiple rooms could be clearly overheard.
The roof of the building featured a guard station parapet at one end, complete with a fireplace to keep Bennett's men warm while on 24-hour armed watch when Bennett was at the lodge in colder months.
Bennett also had a private airfield with an airplane at the other end of Lost Lake. In the event of an attack, Bennett could take the secret passageway, emerge by the dock, take a boat across the lake, and escape by airplane. The attack never came.
The lodge and property was purchased by the Boy Scouts of America, Clinton Valley Council in 1964. Lost Lake Scout Reservation now stands on the site. The lodge is abandoned, as the reservation is now closed. Much of the furniture remains, but the pool has fallen into disrepair. Trees have been planted on the airfield. The Lodge has since been abandoned and it is 90% in ruins.
Front of Harry Bennett's"castle" on the Huron River 1984
An old friend from Jr. High was kind enough to share the interior and some of the outbuildings photos with us! Not very well decorated in the 1980s but it has been redone since then. I wish we could go inside now!
Front of "castle" 2009 with a lot of trees removed
REAR VIEW 1984
When I shot the castle last fall it has been painted a sage green color with the windows trimmed in white.
Harry had his own theater built on the property
Donna said:
Many years ago, my girlfriend and I stayed there. She lived next door and house-sat when the previous owners were out of town. Pretty cool place.
Abandoned pool
The place is pretty cool and scary. We went in the tunnels and were able to take personal tours with no one looking over our shoulders. I even stayed several nights, once left alone while my friend went to the bar, you talk about being scared, I was up all night looking over my shoulder.
Dining room
Love this back view. Donna noticed the large stairway was added to the Castle after 1984. It appears that a lot of trees were removed from this side as well. The two turrets are clearly visible in both views. There was a large hot tub on top of the roof at one point.
Large Staircase goes down to the river is gone now
The Bennett stables (above). This is where HB housed the lions and tigers he used to keep in case of an enemy attack.
Another view of the Theater
Dining room with large dining table
Stone Fireplace
Italian Stone Fireplace Close up
Music room off dining room notice dining chair
Narrow staircase to the upper level
Family Den with beautiful wing back chair and wood paneling with secret panels for hidden weapons. shown in this video
Theater above and an outbuilding below
Horrible wallpaper was in a bathroom, hopefully, gone now
