Historic buildings, Ann Arbor, Michigan / by Marjorie Reade and Susan Wineberg.

809 East Kingsley Street
Kingsley Apartments

1929

"One of the largest of the many which sprang up in Ann Arbor last summer.
It overlooks - from the rear - the Michigan Central tracks. It is on Kingsley
Street near St. Joseph's Hospital." So wrote the Michigan Alumnus in December of 1929 when this Mediterranean Revival apartment building was built.
With Moorish overtones in the multi-colored stone entry reminding one of the
Alhambra, and long tapering window recesses topped by Islamic arches, the
building resembles many built in Detroit in the Palmer Park area at this time.
Only a few apartment buildings were built in this style in Ann Arbor (see 9, 139
and 153).
The building was designed by Ypsilanti architect R. S. Gerganoff who later
designed many of Ypsilanti's public buildings, primarily schools, as well as the
Washtenaw County Courthouse built in 1954. Gerganoffs use here of orange
brick, terra cotta panels, diamond-shaped accents in green-and blue-glazed tile,
tapestry brick panels, and black wrought-iron railings, epitomizes the Spanish
influences characteristic of this style.
This 37-unit building has always housed many nurses and medical students due
to its proximity to the nearby hospitals and continues to afford its tenants magnificent views of the Huron River Valley.
OFW
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