Frederick Stearns Building

Frederick Stearns Building is a brick structure on East Jefferson Avenue featuring symmetrical facades and tall arched windows. The building displays its original three-story core from 1899, with later additions that expanded the structure upward and outward.

Pharmaceutical company Frederick Stearns & Company commissioned architect William B. Stratton to design this building, completed in 1899. Around 1910, architect Albert Kahn added a concrete expansion that modernized the original structure.

The name honors Frederick Stearns, the pharmacist whose company once operated here. Today you can still see the solid brick walls and tall windows that reflect its working industrial past.

The building stands on East Jefferson Avenue and now operates as residential lofts with updated interiors. The historic exterior is preserved while inside spaces have been modernized for contemporary living.

The building merges its original three-story structure with a fourth floor added later, creating a visible layering of different construction periods. This blend of old and new shows how the structure adapted to changing needs over time.

Location: Detroit

Architects: William Buck Stratton

GPS coordinates: 42.34583,-83.00667

Latest update: December 13, 2025 12:24