For the first time in 47 years, Scripps Mansion will be open to the public on July 26-27 for the Art, Autos and Architecture event. The home was built in 1926 as a country home for William E. Scripps, whose family founded WWJ talk radio and Detroit Newspapers.
The 67-room mansion is currently owned and operated by Guest House Inc., providing rehabilitation services Catholic nuns dealing with problems with alcohol.
“William E. Scripps was really very much the English country gentleman,” said Guest House President and CEO Daniel Kidd. “He died in 1952, and the land was sold off to a developer, who offered the home for sale.”
Guest House founder Austin Ripley purchased the $2.5 million mansion for $185,000 in 1955, and opened it as a rehabilitation center for priests. Guest House currently owns the mansion and 102 acres of surrounding land.
“It was a heck of a deal,” Kidd said. “It was almost a miracle how it happened.”
Ripley, a recovering alcoholic himself, had started a program for priests in Wisconsin and ran into trouble, according to Kidd.
“People thought it was a scandalous thing,” he said. “He was befriended by Cardinal Mooney, the Arch Bishop of Detroit, and he convinced Ripley to come out here.”
The program opened for priests in the Scripps Mansion in 1956, and by 1958 there was a waiting list.
“It was so busy, but also known to be so successful,” Kidd said. “The program was working.”
By the 1960s, a two-year waiting list had developed, and in 1967, Ripley decided to build another home in Rochester, Minnesota.
“That opened in 1969…both were still filled up for many years, then things began to trail off,” said Kidd. “In 1992 the (Scripps Mansion) was closed, and everyone was moved to Minnesota.”
In 1994, Guest House reopened the Scripps Mansion as a program center to treat Catholic nuns.
“It had been Ripley’s dream to open a home to treat alcoholic nuns, and it was expanded for programs for nuns who are overeaters and compulsive gamblers,” Kidd said.
About a dozen sisters currently live in the home, and Kidd said they will be attending a retreat when the Art, Autos and Architecture event takes over the grounds.
“In 2001, Guest House bought a house in Orion for priests needing more time for recovery…there are four rooms for them there,” said Kidd. “It takes a lot of money to keep (Scripps Mansion) up…we’ve done well raising money for the treatment.”
Kidd said the program survives on donations and fees.
“The grounds weren’t maintained well for a long time…that’s what our donators have been giving us money for,” he said. “No money has come in to make sure the house is in good condition.”
So the idea for Art, Autos and Architecture was born. Tickets are $2 each, or $5 for a family of four pass. Parking is $5, and will be provided at the GM Orion Plant at Silverbell and Giddings, Gate 2, with shuttle service to the mansion.
Sixty artists will display juried artwork for sale across the grounds, and at least 50 vintage cars will be on display throughout, including the car owned by Mrs. Singer of the Singer Sewing Company.
“She had the most expensive car made in 1941,” said Pat Zawadzki, Guest House Vice President of Development and Public Relations. “We have story after story about the cars…we will also have activities for the kids, entertainment and refreshments.”
Tours of the mansion will be offered for $10. The Orion Art Center is presenting the art show.
“We needed to find a whole other group of people (for donations),” Kidd said. “We thought, let’s see if we can’t get people to come out and spend a few bucks to help keep up this beautiful house.”
Scripps Mansion and the event was recently filmed by Channel 7 News for a “Spotlight on Detroit” feature.
“No one knew what this was, and we’re finally going to open it to the public,” Zawadzki said. “It was like working for the CIA…when it opened in the 1950s, no one could talk about where they worked.”
Arts, Autos and Architecture will kick off the celebration with a “Gatsby Garden Party” on July 25. Tickets are available for a minimum donation of $200, with RSVP by July 18.
“There will be two classic Scripps/Booth cars there,” Zawadzki said. “Tom Booth and his mother will be there with one of the few cars in existence…She attended a lot of the parties here in her day.”
The event will also offer tours of the mansion with some art and automobiles on display. For more information on the garden party, call Guest House at 1-800-626-6910.
“The Orion Historical Society is helping with the tours, and we’ll also have key people tell us about different aspects of what happened in the mansion,” Zawadzki said.
The hours for Art, Autos and Architecture are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. on July 26 and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on July 27. for more information, contact Guest House.