Kingsley Apartments, 1929

809 East Kingsley Street

Kingsley Apartments, 1929
Creator: Gerganoff, Ralph Stevens, d. 1966.

"One of the largest of the many which sprang up in Ann Arbor last summer. It overlooks -- from the rear -- the Michigan Central tracks. It is on Kingsley Street near St. Joseph's Hospital." So wrote the Michigan Alumnus in December of 1929 when this Mediterranean Revival apartment building was built. With Moorish overtones in the multi-colored stone entry reminding one of the Alhambra, and long tapering window recesses topped by Islamic arches, the building resembles many built in Detroit in the Palmer Park area at this time. Only a few apartment buildings were built in this style in Ann Arbor (see Planada Apartments, Wil-Dean and Duncan Manor Apartments and Anberay Apartments).

The building was designed by Ypsilanti architect R. S. Gerganoff who later designed many of Ypsilanti's public buildings, primarily schools, as well as the Washtenaw County Courthouse built in 1954. Gerganoff's use here of orange brick, terra cotta panels, diamond-shaped accents in green-and blue-glazed tile, tapestry brick panels, and black wrought-iron railings, epitomizes the Spanish influences characteristic of this style.

This 37-unit building has always housed many nurses and medical students due to its proximity to the nearby hospitals and continues to afford its tenants magnificent views of the Huron River Valley.