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Dexter Rotary featured an 8-by-7-foot model of the
Gordon Hall in the 2006 Playhouse Raffle.
Material was donated by
Carpenter Hardware & Lumber Company,
Hackney Ace Hardware,
Fingerle Lumber and
Dexter Builders
Ticket sale was graciously facilitated by
local merchants (Dexter Flowers, Dexter Pharmacy I
and II, Hackney Hardware, the AAA office and Robin's
Barbershop)
Want to know more about Gordon Hall?
See more in
Ann Arbor News |
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The Playhouse was modeled after
historic Gordon Hall Commissioned by Judge
Samuel W. Dexter, Gordon Hall (named for his
mother's family) was built between 1841 and 1843.
The house was designed by Judge Dexter and his
builder Calvin T. Fillmore, brother of U.S.
President Millard Fillmore. The main mass of the
house is a rectangular two-story block 50' wide by
38' deep with attic and basement. An ell extension
once connected to the northwest wing contained
kitchen, servants' quarters, pantry, laundry
and a large open carriage shed. The main body of the
house originally featured a central hall pattern
with two rooms on either side, each with fireplace
on the outside walls. On the right as one entered
was the room Judge Dexter used as a library, and
behind to the west of this was the dining room with
the kitchen located in the wing. On the other side
of the central hall were double parlors with a
pocket door that could be opened to form a grand
ballroom. In the hall, a grand walnut staircase
reached straight up to the second floor and then the
attic. On the second floor the same plan allowed for
four large bedrooms, each with fireplace and closet.
The main facade features a two-story hexastyle
Doric porch. With its forward facing gable, and
columns supporting an entablature and pediment, it
gives the appearance of a Greek temple. Smaller
scale porches shelter the other three sides of the
house. The wood construction of the house was built
"built against the ages" of hand-hewn white oak,
with eleven inch deep supporting joists, anchored at
the ends with wooden pegs. The construction is
visible in the attic. At the time the house was
documented by the Historic Buildings Survey in 1934,
it was at its largest size with all wings and tower.
More...
Gill Campbell, president of the Dexter Area
Historical Society |