JOIN US AND...
- Celebrate the history and legacy of music at Cranbrook!
- Enjoy a 1950s-themed Garden Gala at Thornlea House!
- Support Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, including Cranbrook Archives!
2024 HOUSE PARTY CO-CHAIRS
Carolynn and Aaron Frankel
ABOUT HOUSE PARTY
Get ready for a celebration like none other: A House Party at Cranbrook! This year, the Cranbrook Center’s annual fundraiser will celebrate the legacy of music at Cranbrook in the 1950s on the beautiful grounds of Thornlea House.
Our muse for the evening will be Henry Scripps Booth, the youngest son of Cranbrook co-founders George and Ellen Booth and architect of Thornlea. As the mantle of leadership passed from father to son, it was Henry that began to reimagine the way the world would interact with Cranbrook—with music taking center stage.
Whether it was a concert with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, the creation of the Cranbrook Music Guild, or late-night parties at Thornlea with celebrities like jazz pianist Don Shirley or the maestro himself, Leonard Bernstein, Henry Booth opened the doors of Cranbrook for a new generation to experience and enjoy music.
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research serves as the gateway to Cranbrook’s rich history and legacy. Your support of this year’s House Party will ensure that future generations continue to have access to the diverse art, architecture, landscapes, design, and archival resources that collectively tell the Cranbrook story.
Henry Scripps Booth (right) and Carl Milles (left) at Founder's Day Tea at Cranbrook House on May 21, 1950.
ABOUT THORNLEA HOUSE
Come along as we open the doors to one of Cranbrook’s hidden treasures, Thornlea House. The home of Henry Scripps Booth and Carolyn Farr Booth for more than sixty years, Thornlea is full of architectural charm and artistic inspiration!
Henry Booth, an architecture student of Eliel Saarinen at the University of Michigan, designed the building for his growing family, who moved into the house in 1927. While Thornlea’s design shows many European influences, the home’s architecture is decidedly unique. According to Henry Booth, it was “like a series of buildings built over the years along an English street—all parts harmonious but slightly different.”
EVENT DETAILS
Location: Thornlea House I 700 Cranbrook Road
6:00pm
House Party Begins
Cocktail Hour and Tours of Thornlea House
Musical Entertainment
7:30pm
Welcome Remarks
Dinner in the Meadow of Thornlea House under the House Party Tent
Live Auction and Paddle Raise
Dessert, Dancing, and Musical Merriment
11:00pm
House Party Concludes
Click below to learn more about this year’s sponsorship opportunities and benefits.
Individual tickets for the House Party are now on sale and spots are limited. Click below to buy your tickets today!
Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research gratefully acknowledges our most generous patrons of A House Party at Cranbrook.
We will be updating the Donor Wall weekly and hope to include your name soon!
View the Center's unique selection of one-of-a-kind experiences and "only through the Center" objects, carefully curated for the House Party Live Auction.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
For more information about the Center’s 2024 fundraiser, A House Party at Cranbrook: Celebrate the Legacy of Music, please contact Amy Klein, Director of Development, at aklein@cranbrook.edu or 248.645.3215.
PHOTO CREDITS:
Unless otherwise noted, all color photography was photographed by Tryst Mallette at Thornlea House in November of 2021.
Unless otherwise noted, all black and white photographs are from the Collection of Cranbrook Archives, Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.
THEME AND GRAPHICS:
Designed by Ed Ryan, CAA '22.