Judy Rose

Special to the Detroit Free Press

This opulent Tudor mansion, built in 1924 by a scion of Michigan’s prominent Newberry family, has just come through a massive restoration that took more than two years.

In its day it was an especially grand house, even for the Grosse Pointes.

Built by Phelps Newberry, a banker and grandson of American industrialist and politician John Stoughton Newberry, the home's nearly 10,000 square feet form a long-legged U and enclose the central courtyard, which now holds a terrace and pool. It is so full of masterly crafts work that it’s like a museum of wood carving.

This was obvious to buyer Jared Fleisher when he came to see the house for sale. Yes, it had been so severely neglected for about two decades that only one of its 10 bathrooms had water.

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But almost the first thing he saw was the carved trim over the front entry peak. It comes to a point with two carved swans. Then it curls its way toward the ground, filled with roses, corn ears and acanthus leaves.

“Right away it strikes you that this house is a masterwork,” Fleisher said. “No opportunity for detail was left unattended. I fell in love with it.”

Lavish wood carvings run through the house. Over doors, arches and fireplaces, original carved designs are all different. They weave in mythical faces, part man part animal, mythical creatures, part elephant part bird, with grapes, flowers, leaves and flourishes. One carving includes “N” for Newberry.

The living room and dining room are splendid examples, and these also have carved plaster ceilings. Restoring those was a heck of a project, Fleisher said.

With the utilities turned off for long stretches, pipes had frozen and burst. Water wrecked both ceilings, especially the living room, under the owner’s suite. It opened up a hole from the bedroom floor through the living room ceiling.

“For Halloween I had a mummy hanging through it,” he said. “For New Year's a disco ball.”

This massive restoration had three parts.

The first was bringing back its aesthetic glory. “You could tell it was built as a work of art,” he said.

The list was long and included the decorative brickwork and five imposing chimneys. They were all different — “works of art,” he repeated — but crumbling. Extensive masonry rebuilt all this.

The second part was replacing infrastructure. That includes a new high-efficiency boiler system, new AC, new plumbing and pipes, new chandeliers and sconces to replace those a former owner took. All windows have new interior storms.

The third was adding modern amenities. Since pipe replacement broke up their walls, all 10 bathrooms are new. A large new owner’s bath has a fireplace and a shower that can wash or steam you and a friend in a half-dozen ways.

A large new dressing room has built-ins for suits, slacks, long dresses, short dresses, shoes. Its center island has a hidden ironing board.

The bluestone terrace around the pool is new. The decorative gutters and downspouts are old — the original copper, now deep verdigris.

One asset of the house is its long U shape. That means all major rooms have windows on two sides — for abundant natural light and views as well as cooling cross breezes.

The second floor has a 16-foot-deep walk-in linen room with glass fronts on all doors and more than 100 shelves. “It’s awe inspiring,” Fleisher said. “Every towel can have its own shelf.”

The dining and living rooms are where wood and plaster carving reach their peak. The dining room ceiling is carved quadrants, each with a different center flower. The walls have carved faux pillars and carving within the pillars.

The living room is wrapped at face level with panels in the familiar linen-fold design. It has four different doors or arches with the inventive carved plaques over them.

“Every time you walk into the room,” said Fleisher, “you find new detail.”

Phelps Newberry mansion

Where: 110 Cloverly Road, Grosse Pointe Farms

How much: $1,729,000

Bedrooms: 7 plus 2 in the staff quarters

Baths: 8 full, 2 half

Square feet: 9,567

Key features: Large, lavish vintage house has had a massive restoration including aesthetics, mechanical systems and modern amenities. Full of masterly carved wood and plaster. U shape gives extra light, views and cross current breezes. Pool and terrace.

Contact: Alex Lucido, Lucido Real Estate, 313-268-2000.