Chrysler House

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title: "Chrysler House" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["skyscraper-office-buildings-in-detroit", "downtown-detroit", "office-buildings-completed-in-1912", "office-buildings-on-the-national-register-of-historic-places-in-michigan", "national-register-of-historic-places-in-detroit", "historic-district-contributing-properties-in-michigan", "rock-ventures", "1912-establishments-in-michigan", "1910s-architecture-in-the-united-states"] description: "Skyscraper in Detroit" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_House" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Skyscraper in Detroit ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox building"]

Field	Value
name	Chrysler House
image	DimeBuildingDetroit.jpg
location	719 Griswold Street
Detroit, Michigan
alternate_names	Griswold Place
Dime Savings Bank Building
Commonwealth Building
coordinates
completion_date	1912
renovation_date	2002
building_type	Commercial offices
roof	325 ft
floor_count	23
floor_area
owner	Bedrock Detroit
architect	Daniel Burnham
ren_architect	Barton Malow
nrhp	{{Infobox NRHP
embed	yes
nrhp_type	cp
nocat	yes
partof	Detroit Financial District
partof_refnum	09001067
locmapin	Michigan
architecture	Neo-Classical
designated_nrhp_type	December 14, 2009
references
::

| name = Chrysler House | image = DimeBuildingDetroit.jpg | location = 719 Griswold Street Detroit, Michigan | alternate_names = Griswold Place Dime Savings Bank Building Commonwealth Building | coordinates = | completion_date = 1912 | renovation_date = 2002 | building_type = Commercial offices | roof = 325 ft | top_floor = | floor_count = 23 | elevator_count = | cost = | floor_area = | structural_engineer = | main_contractor = | developer = | owner = Bedrock Detroit | management = | architect = Daniel Burnham | ren_architect = Barton Malow | nrhp = {{Infobox NRHP | embed = yes | nrhp_type = cp | nocat = yes | partof = Detroit Financial District | partof_refnum = 09001067 | locmapin = Michigan | architecture = Neo-Classical | designated_nrhp_type= December 14, 2009 | references = Chrysler House is a 23-story, 325 ft office building located at 719 Griswold Street in Downtown Detroit, Michigan. The building is adjacent to the Penobscot Building in the heart of the U.S. designated Detroit Financial District. It is used as an office building, with retail space on the street level. It was originally known as the Dime Building but has carried numerous names over the years.

History

The building was constructed between 1910 and 1912 and known for many years as the Dime Building. When completed, the tower was named the Dime Savings Bank Building for its primary tenant. It was later renamed the Commonwealth Building, briefly known as Griswold Place. It became the Dime Building again in 2002, before being renamed in 2012.

The original Lincoln Highway Association national headquarters occupied office 2115 on the 21st floor from 1913 to 1928.

For several years through 1983, the building housed the headquarters of Bank of the Commonwealth until that bank merged with Comerica. In 2002, a $40-million renovation was completed.

In August 2011, Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert purchased the building along with the nearby Qube, First National Building and Wright-Kay Building.[[File:Chrysler House Doors.jpg|thumb|Doors inside the Chrysler House|241x241px]]On April 30, 2012, Gilbert and Chrysler Group LLC chairman Sergio Marchionne announced that Chrysler will move its Great Lakes Business Center and some executive offices, with approximately 70 employees, into the two top floors of the building. As part of the lease, the building was renamed for the company.

Architecture

The tower was designed in the Neoclassical architectural style by Daniel Burnham. The steel-framed structure is faced with white glazed brick and terra cotta trim. The most distinctive feature is the central light court which begins on the third floor and creates a U-shaped floor plan on the upper office floors. This feature can be seen in an earlier version on Burnham's Miner's National Bank Building, now Citizens Bank financial Center, completed one year earlier in downtown Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Miner's National Bank is a similar, but smaller-scale design with the main banking hall in the space below the light court and featuring a large skylight. A later expansion of the building altered the U-shape of the upper floors.

In a subsequent renovation, the lower two floors were refaced with gray granite and a pediment above the central entrance and cornice were removed.

Gallery

File:Dime Building construction.jpg|Construction of the Dime Building. August 31, 1912 File:Dime Building, 1912.jpg|Exterior. December 31, 1912 File:Dime Interior.jpg|Interior, File:Dime Savings Bank Building Detroit MI.jpg File:Penobscot.jpg|Penobscot Building left, with the Chrysler House

References

References

1. "Chrysler House". [[Emporis]].
2. "Chrysler House".
3. "Dime Building".
4. [http://historicdetroit.org/building/dime-building/ "Dime Building"]. ''Historic Detroit''. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
5. [http://detroithistorical.org/learn/encyclopedia-of-detroit/dime-building "Dime Building"]. ''Detroit Historical Society''. Retrieved April 21, 2016.
6. Michael Wayland. (27 December 2011). "Dan Gilbert scoops up three more downtown Detroit buildings, fourth on the way". [[Grand Rapids Press]].
7. Kiley, David. (30 April 2012). "Chrysler's Dime Building Move A Strong Symbol Of Detroit Commitment". [[Huffington Post]].
8. (2003). "AIA Detroit: The American Institute of Architects Guide to Detroit Architecture". Wayne State University Press.
9. Sharoff, Robert. (2005). "American City: Detroit Architecture, 1845–2005". Wayne State University Press.
10. "Citizens Bank Financial Center".

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