As joyful as their home life in Detroit was,
Ellen and George Booth longed to establish themselves in the country, where
they could play out their dreams of developing a fine estate on a far larger
scale than was possible in the city. Accordingly, in 1904, they purchased a
run-down 174-acre farm in Bloomfield Hills, named it Cranbrook after the
English town the Booth family hailed from, and immediately began improving the
property by laying roads, grading hillsides, creating lakes, erecting farm
buildings and initiating a massive planting campaign to cover the barren
rolling terrain.
Ground was broken for Cranbrook House in January of 1907 and the Booths took up
residency in their new home in June of 1908.
The Booths were the first family of
means to live year-round in Bloomfield Hills.
Almost from the time they purchased the property the
Booths felt strongly that they should devote their energy and wealth to a
higher purpose, something that would be of service to the community. They
decided to make Cranbrook a center of art, education, science and religion, and
established Christ Church Cranbrook, Cranbrook Schools, Cranbrook Academy of
Art and Art Museum, and Cranbrook Institute of Science.