Fairview Sanitarium, Detroit Michigan
In the 1930s Dr. Robert Greenidge, Detroit's first black radiologist, converted the house at 404 East Ferry Avenue into a sanitarium to treat blacks in the city. Greenidge was also a founder of Dunbar Hospital, Detroit's first black hospital. The house is a part of the East Ferry Avenue Historic District, a turn-of-the-century, upper class, residential neighborhood.
All building facades have gables and dormers. Firsthand second stories have three-sided bays with crenellated parapet walls at the top. Verge boards end in exposed, rounded rafter tails on the eaves.
Interior: The narrow, axial front to rear hall is a major alteration to the interior spaces. All rooms open onto this hall including a later addition at the rear which houses bath, utility, and toilet areas.
Flat-roofed, unornamented brick addition was built onto rear of building in 1930s when the house was converted to a sanitarium. A passage connecting 404 East Ferry Ave. to the house next door was built at the same time.
VIEW NORTHEAST SHOWING WEST ELEVATION, INCLUDING REAR WING 1984
PORCH DETAIL October 1984
