The original Cabbage Patch summer cottages were not quite what they sounded like: cozy little cabin type getaways to spend several weeks in during the hot Detroit summer.

Erected in spring 1903 by manufacturer/real estate mogul, Hugo Scherer and his partner, Frederick E. Wadsworth, these were very large, lovely homes that were intended as high-end summer rentals, although several people bought their favorites outright. The homes were designed by the great architect Louis Kamper (Book Tower/Building; Broderick Tower; Book-Cadillac Hotel; Col. Frank J. Hecker House; and many Indian Village beauties.)

Kamper designed lake fronting residences for the project to fit his intended clientele. Most were three stories high with multiple large bedrooms and bathrooms; dining, sitting, and reception rooms; butler pantry; ample linen and clothes closets; libraries; kitchen; the latest luxury amenities; and full servants’ accommodations. The styles ran the architectural gamut but were made for high society types to entertain in grand style just as they would in their Detroit winter homes. Large sketches and details of the rentals were teased by the Detroit Free Press March and April of 1903 creating huge interest. They cost between $10,000 – $15,000 (over $530,000 in 2024 dollars) for Scherer to build, and rental pricing advertisements in the Free Press are listed at $1,500 annually (approximately $54,000 in 2024 dollars.)

Louis Kamper’s Cabbage Patch drawings in the Detroit Free Press from May 1903.

Located directly adjacent to “The Moorings” lower gardens and bowling green, the Cabbage Patch, as Mrs. Henry Bourne Joy would dub the collection, were behind the (still small) Grosse Pointe Memorial Church and adjoining the original Country Club of Detroit.

Photo courtesy of Heritage Images/Getty Images

The cottages were accessed by the church driveway heading down to the lakefront, the addresses being on Berkshire Place. Fred Wadsworth’s mansion was also on the property, which was purchased by Hugo Scherer for him. In 1911, actress Mary Mannering moved in with Fred after his scandalous divorce and their quick marriage, rocking Grosse Pointe society. By 1916, the Wadsworth’s were out of their Farms’ home and on their way to upstate New York, where he died in 1927.

In late fall 1918, shortly after Lockmoor’s clubhouse burned down, the former Wadsworth mansion at 8 Berkshire Place burned to the ground taking four others with it. Huge fires also swept the Scherer / Wadsworth business buildings the following year, and again in 1922.

In early 1924, the old Country Club was torn down, and Memorial Church was being rebuilt and expanded as seen today. The Country Club property was acquired by Anna Dodge for her “Rose Terrace” estate. The location plans for the new Country Club of Detroit were not on the waterfront, something which many older members were not pleased with. They splintered off and formed their own entity, the Grosse Pointe Club (aka “the Little Club”), with a target opening date of 1924 for “the ultra-smart set of Detroit and Grosse Pointe” as the Detroit Free Press was advised.

As time wore on and residents moved out of the old Cabbage Patch, the Grosse Pointe Club slowly acquired more property for parking and amenities. The few aging cottages that were left were sometimes rented out for use by Club members. By summer of 1950, only two cottages remained, and one was in the process of being demolished. For several more years the last Scherer/Wadsworth house left standing was the Jefferson-fronting Seabourne Livingston home next to Memorial Church at 20 Lake Shore Road, and it too is now long gone.

Some Major Cabbage to Rent

The Original “Swifties”

Gone to the Fair