Grosse Pointe Yacht Club
Burgee | |
Short name | GPYC |
---|---|
Founded | 1914; 110 years ago (1914) |
Location | Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan, U.S. |
Commodore | Jason Grobbel |
Website | Official website |
The Grosse Pointe Yacht Club (GPYC) is a private yacht club located on the shore of Lake St. Clair in Grosse Pointe Shores, Michigan.[1] The club is a member of the Detroit Regional Yacht-racing Association (DRYA).[citation needed] The clubhouse is prominently visible and a well-known landmark along the shoreline of the lake north of Detroit.
History
Grosse Pointe Yacht Club | |
42°26′06″N 82°52′19″W / 42.43488°N 82.87205°W / 42.43488; -82.87205 | |
Area | 25 acres (10 ha) |
---|---|
Built | 1928-1929 |
Built by | Corrick Brothers |
Architect | Ralph Coolidge Henry and Henry P. Richmond Guy Lowell (concept) |
Architectural style | Mediterranean Revival |
NRHP reference No. | 14001124 |
Added to NRHP | January 7, 2015; 9 years ago (January 7, 2015) |
The club was initially founded as the Grosse Pointe Ice Boat Club in 1910 by Frank Verheyden. However, in 1918, the club was converted into the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club.
The Mediterranean Revival clubhouse was conceptualized by Boston architect Guy Lowell, who was commissioned in the 1920s to design the building. Lowell died at sea before his plans were fully developed, but his concept of the clubhouse was posthumously adopted for the club.
After several budgeting cutbacks and cost overruns, the clubhouse officially opened on July 4, 1929. The original clubhouse included a ball room and several dining rooms, with the largest being able to seat 250. However, increasing budget overruns left the clubhouse in debt during the Great Depression, causing it to foreclose despite attempts from the club to solicit more members. Several optimistic members purchased the club back from creditors during the beginning of World War II, as they predicted an increase in household spending power.
In 1984, the board hired Charles Terrence McCafferty & Associates for $1,000,000 to redesign the dining and social facilities of the clubhouse. After a successful proposal, Edward V. Monahan, Inc. was contracted to build the expansions.[2]
In 1997 the GPYC was named the “Number One Yacht Club in America” and is still considered among the best, earning "Club of Excellence" and "Distinguished Club" awards in consecutive years since 2019. The GPYC provides all the traditional amenities of a classic yacht club, including an Olympic-sized swimming pool, tennis and bowling facilities, as well as elegant dining rooms and a ballroom. Boating members enjoy the GPYC’s central location on Lake St. Clair and the club maintains a spacious deep-water marina with a private gas dock.
The GPYC maintains membership in the Detroit Regional Yachting Association and holds two annual DRYA-sanctioned sailing regattas each year in addition to numerous other sailing-related events and programs.
The bell tower serves as a navigational aid for boaters on the lake.[1]
Clubhouse
Upon entering the club a 50-foot foyer leads to a rotunda which leads to points throughout the club.[citation needed] A bronze sculpture of Wheeler Williams, entitled "Rhythm of the Waves", is a prominent feature.[citation needed] Amenities of the club, besides the marina itself, include a bowling alley that is open year round, an Olympic-size pool, several clay tennis courts, two lighted paddle tennis courts, pickle ball courts and a sailing center.[citation needed]
The club includes 3 dining rooms, a main ballroom, six bars, a pool deck and two wine cellars.[citation needed] The club facilities have been updated and modernized several times.[citation needed] The harbor has been enlarged and improved as membership quadrupled.[citation needed] However, the architectural integrity of Lowell's original design and the views of Lake St. Clair have been maintained.[citation needed] A view of the club is shown as a background to the rolling credits at the end of the movie Gran Torino (2008) starring Clint Eastwood.[citation needed] as well as an aerial view of the club's tower panning to encompass Lakeshore Dr. in a scene in the 1997 John Cusak film Grosse Pointe Blank.
See also
Notes
- ^ a b Socia & Berschback 2001.
- ^ Gallagher, James P. "A Beacon of Tradition: The Building of the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club" (PDF). Grosse Point Historical Society. Kelvin Publishing. Retrieved April 25, 2022.
References
- Socia, Madeleine; Berschback, Suzie (2001), Grosse Pointe: 1890 - 1930 (Images of America), Arcadia, ISBN 0-7385-0840-3
Further reading
- Fisher, Dale (2003), Building Michigan: A Tribute to Michigan's Construction Industry, Grass Lake, MI: Eyry of the Eagle Publishing, ISBN 1-891143-24-7
External links
- Media related to Grosse Pointe Yacht Club at Wikimedia Commons
- Official website
- v
- t
- e
- Annapolis Park Historic District
- Arden Park–East Boston Historic District
- Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church
- Belle Isle Park
- Beverly Road Historic District
- Boston–Edison Historic District
- Broadway Avenue Historic District
- Brush Park Historic District
- Capitol Park Historic District
- Cass–Davenport Historic District
- Cass Park Historic District
- Cherry Hill Historic District
- Church of the Transfiguration Historic District
- Corktown Historic District
- Cultural Center Historic District
- Detroit Financial District
- Eastern Market Historic District
- East Ferry Avenue Historic District
- East Grand Boulevard Historic District
- East River Road Historic District
- Eastside Historic Cemetery District
- Fort Wayne
- Grand Circus Park Historic District
- Greektown Historic District
- Grosse Pointe Academy
- Grosse Pointe South High School
- Helen Newberry Nurses Home
- Highland Heights–Stevens' Subdivision Historic District
- Indian Village Historic District
- Jefferson–Chalmers Historic Business District
- Jefferson Intermediate School
- John and Edna Truesdell Fischer Farmstead
- Jos. Campau Historic District
- Louis G. Redstone Residential Historic District
- Lower Woodward Avenue Historic District
- Medbury's–Grove Lawn Subdivisions Historic District
- Midtown Woodward Historic District
- Michigan Avenue Historic Commercial District
- Monroe Avenue Commercial Buildings
- New Amsterdam Historic District
- New Center Commercial Historic District
- Northville Historic District
- Norwayne Historic District
- Palmer Park Apartment Building Historic District
- Palmer Park Boulevard Apartments District
- Palmer Woods Historic District
- Park Avenue Historic District
- Piquette Avenue Industrial Historic District
- Randolph Street Commercial Buildings Historic District
- Rosedale Gardens Historic District
- Rosedale Park Historic District
- St. Charles Borromeo Roman Catholic Parish Complex
- St. Florian Church
- Springwells Park Historic District
- Sugar Hill Historic District
- Virginia Park Historic District
- Warren–Prentis Historic District
- Washington Boulevard Historic District
- Wayne State University Buildings
- West Canfield Historic District
- West Vernor–Junction Historic District
- West Vernor–Lawndale Historic District
- West Vernor–Springwells Historic District
- West Village Historic District
- Willis–Selden Historic District
- Woodbridge Historic District
- Woodward East Historic District
- Albert Kahn House
- Alden Park Towers
- Alexander Chapoton House
- Alexander Chene House
- Alger Theater
- Alpha House
- Amity Lodge No. 335 Temple — Spiritual Israel Church and Its Army Temple
- Antietam Street–Grand Trunk Railroad Bridge
- Architects Building
- Arthur M. Parker House
- Bagley Memorial Fountain
- Barlum Tower
- Belcrest Apartments
- Benjamin and Mary Ann Bradford House
- Bernard Ginsburg House
- Birwood Wall
- Carl E. and Alice Candler Schmidt House
- Carlton D. Wall House
- Cary Building
- Cass Avenue Methodist Episcopal Church
- Cass Motor Sales
- Cathedral Church of St. Paul Complex
- Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament
- Central United Methodist Church
- Central Woodward Christian Church
- Chapel of St. Theresa–the Little Flower
- Chatsworth Apartments
- Century Building and Little Theatre
- Charles G. Curtiss Sr. House
- Charles J. and Ingrid V. (Frendberg) Koebel House
- Charles Lang Freer House
- Charles Trombly House
- Charles Trowbridge House
- Checker Cab Taxi Garage and Office Building
- Chestnut Street–Grand Trunk Railroad Bridge
- Christ Church Chapel
- Christ Church, Detroit
- Col. Frank J. Hecker House
- Commandant's Quarters
- Coronado Apartments
- Croul–Palms House
- Crescent Brass and Pin Company Building
- David and Elizabeth Bell Boldman House
- David Whitney House
- Dearborn City Hall Complex
- Dearborn Inn and Colonial Homes
- Defer Elementary School
- Detroit Club
- Detroit–Columbia Central Office Building
- Detroit Cornice and Slate Company Building
- Detroit Edison Company Willis Avenue Station
- Detroit–Leland Hotel
- Detroit Masonic Temple
- Detroit Naval Armory
- Detroit News Complex
- Detroit Savings Bank Southwest Branch
- Detroit Yacht Club
- Dry Dock Engine Works–Detroit Dry Dock Company Complex
- Duane Doty School
- Dunbar Hospital
- East River Road–North Hickory Canal Bridge
- Eddystone Hotel
- Edmund Atkinson School
- Edwin Denby High School
- Edwin S. George Building
- Edson, Moore and Company Building
- Eighth Precinct Police Station
- Elisha Taylor House
- El Tovar Apartments
- Elwood Bar
- Elizabeth Cleveland Intermediate School
- Engine House No. 11
- Engine House No. 18
- Ephraim and Emma Woodworth Truesdell House
- Farwell Building
- Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Detroit Branch Building
- Ferry Street–Thorofare Canal Bridge
- Fisher and New Center Buildings
- First Baptist Church of Detroit
- First Congregational Church
- First Federal Building
- First Presbyterian Church
- First Unitarian Church of Detroit
- First United Methodist Church
- Ford–Bacon House
- Ford Valve Plant
- Fort Street Presbyterian Church
- Fort Shelby Hotel
- Fort Street–Pleasant Street and Norfolk & Western Railroad Viaduct
- Francis Palms Building & State Theater
- Franklin H. Walker House
- Frederick K. Stearns House
- Frederick Stearns Building
- Frederic M. Sibley Lumber Company Office Building
- Garden Bowl
- Garden Court Apartments
- General Motors Research Laboratory
- George and Mary Pine Smith House
- George P. MacNichol House
- George W. Loomer House
- Gethsemane Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Gibraltar Road–Waterway Canal Bridge
- Globe Tobacco Building
- Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
- Grand Army of the Republic Building
- Grande Ballroom
- Graybar Electric Company Building
- Great Lakes Manor
- Greenfield Union School
- Greenmead Farms
- Griswold Building
- Grosse Pointe Memorial Church
- Grosse Pointe Central Library
- Grosse Pointe War Memorial
- Grosse Pointe Yacht Club
- Hamtramck Stadium
- Harmonie Centre (formerly the Breitmeyer–Tobin Building)
- Henry Ford Hospital
- Henry Ford Square House
- Henry W. Baker House
- Herman Strasburg House
- Hibbard Apartment Building
- Highland Park General Hospital
- Highland Park Presbyterian Church
- Hook and Ladder House No. 5–Detroit Fire Department Repair Shop
- Hotel Stevenson
- Hudson–Evans House
- Hunter House
- Hurlbut Memorial Gate
- Hull's Trace North Huron River Corduroy Segment
- James A. Garfield School
- Jefferson Avenue–Huron River and Harbin Drive–Silver Creek Canal Bridges
- Jefferson Hall
- Jerome H. Remick and Company Building
- John and Eliza Barr Patterson House
- John and Emma Lacey Eberts House
- John Harvey House
- John N. Bagley House
- John T. Woodhouse House
- Joseph Campau House
- Kingston Arms Apartments
- Lancaster and Waumbek Apartments
- Lawyers Building
- L. B. King and Company Building
- League of Catholic Women Building
- Lee Plaza Hotel
- Lewis Cass Technical High School
- Lilley Road–Lower Rouge River Bridge
- Lincoln Park Post Office
- Maccabees Building
- Majestic Theater
- Manchester Apartments
- Mariners' Church
- Marwood Apartments
- Marx House
- McKinley Elementary School
- Mellus Newspapers Building
- Merchants Building
- Metropolitan United Methodist Church
- Michigan Bell and Western Electric Warehouse
- Michigan Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument
- Michigan State Fair Riding Coliseum, Dairy Cattle Building, and Agricultural Building
- Moross House
- Mulford T. Hunter House
- Nacirema Club
- Nellie Leland School
- New Bethel Baptist Church
- North Woodward Congregational Church
- Orchestra Hall
- Orrin and Roxanne Fairman Kinyon House
- Orson Everitt House
- Ossian H. Sweet House
- Park Avenue House
- Parke-Davis and Company Pharmaceutical Company Plant
- Parke Lane Road–Thorofare Canal Bridge
- Pasadena Apartments
- Paul Harvey Deming House
- Penn Central Station
- Pere Gabriel Richard Elementary School
- Perry McAdow House
- Philetus W. Norris House
- Phillip and Maria Hasselbach Dingledey House
- Pilgrim and Puritan Apartment Complex
- Ponchartrain Apartments
- Pontchartrain Club/Town House Apartments
- Prentis Building and DeRoy Auditorium Complex
- Professional Plaza Tower
- Redford Theatre Building
- Redford Township District No. 5 School
- River Terrace Apartments
- Robert M. and Matilda (Kitch) Grindley House
- Rosa L. (McCauley) and Raymond Parks Flat
- Sacred Heart Major Seminary
- Sacred Heart Church
- St. Albertus Roman Catholic Church
- Saint Andrew's Memorial Episcopal Church
- Ste. Anne Roman Catholic Church Complex
- St. Bonaventure Monastery
- St. Boniface Roman Catholic Church
- St. Catherine of Siena Roman Catholic Church
- St. James Episcopal Church
- St. John's Episcopal Church
- St. John's–St. Luke's Evangelical Church
- St. Josaphat's Roman Catholic Church
- St. Joseph's Episcopal Church (1883)
- St. Joseph's Episcopal Church (1926)
- St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church
- Saint Paul Catholic Church Complex
- Saint Paul Manor Apartments
- Saints Peter and Paul Academy
- Saints Peter and Paul Church
- Saint Rita Apartments
- St. Stanislaus Bishop and Martyr Roman Catholic Church
- St. Theresa of Avila Roman Catholic Church
- St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church
- Samuel L. Smith House
- Santa Fe Apartments
- Scarab Club
- Second Baptist Church of Detroit
- Sheldon Inn
- Shrine of the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox Christian Church
- Sibley House
- Sidney D. Miller Junior High and High School
- Somerset Apartments
- South Pointe Drive–Frenchman's Creek Bridge
- S. S. Kresge World Headquarters
- Starkweather School
- State Savings Bank
- Stuber–Stone Building
- Sweetest Heart Of Mary Roman Catholic Church
- Temple Baptist Church – King Solomon Baptist Church
- Temple Beth-El (Bonstelle Theatre)
- Temple Beth-El (Bethel Community Transformation Center)
- The Clay School
- The Harmonie Club
- The Kean
- The Palms
- The Players
- The Wardell
- Third Precinct Police Station
- Thomas and Isabella Moore Clyde House
- Thomas and Maria Blackman Bartlett House
- Thomas A. Parker House
- Thomas M. Cooley High School
- Thomas S. Sprague House
- Thompson Home
- Tiger Stadium
- Tivadar and Dorothy Balogh House
- Trinity Episcopal Church
- Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church Complex
- Trinity United Methodist Church
- Tushiyah United Hebrew School – Scott Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church
- US 12 Bridges
- U.S. Post Office, Court House, and Custom House
- United States Immigration Station
- United States Postal Service Roosevelt Park Station
- Vanity Ballroom Building
- Verona Apartments
- Vinton Building
- Waltz Road–Huron River Bridge
- Warren Motor Car Company Building
- Wayne County Building
- Weil and Company – Gabriel Richard Building
- West Jefferson Avenue–Rouge River Bridge
- West Side Dom Polski
- WGPR-TV Studio
- Whittier Hotel
- William and Margot Kessler House
- William B. and Mary Chase Stratton House
- William C. Boydell House
- William H. Wells House
- William Hawkins Ferry House
- Wilson Barn
- Wilson Theatre
- WJBK-TV Studios Building
- Women's City Club
- Woodward Avenue Presbyterian Church
- Wyandotte Odd Fellows Temple
- Detroit Industry Murals
- Edsel and Eleanor Ford House (Gaukler Pointe)
- Fair Lane
- Fisher Building
- Ford Piquette Avenue Plant
- Ford River Rouge Complex
- Fox Theatre Building
- Highland Park Ford Plant
- General Motors Building
- Guardian Building
- Mies van der Rohe Residential District, Lafayette Park
- McGregor Memorial Conference Center
- Parke-Davis Research Laboratory
- Pewabic Pottery
- The Henry Ford
- Chateau Frontenac Apartments
- Dodge Mansion
- Grand Riviera Theater
- Harper Hospital
- Lincoln Motor Company Plant
- Columbia (steamboat)
- Ste. Claire (steamboat)
- Woodward Avenue Baptist Church