E. C. White Fine Furniture
26717 Little Mack

Built about 1870 for farmer Frederick Schroeder and his family, the building was a home until the 1930s, when it became the “Jefferson Social Club”, a restaurant and club. From 1953-1986 the building housed a furniture store. Since 2008, the building has hosted shops and other businesses.

Frederick Schroeder and his wife Sophia emigrated from Mecklenburg, Germany in the early 1850s to what was then Erin Township (now St. Clair Shores).  In 1865 they purchased 320 acres of property to farm. Their first home was a log house, but about 1870 Schroeder built a new home of brick.  Accounts vary, but anywhere from 100,000 to 300,000 bricks were said to have been used in the three-story Victorian style building with the current address of 26717 Little Mack.

Frederick Schroeder died in 1895; his wife inherited the house and farm. The Schroeder family lived in the house until the 1920s, when it was rented, and then converted into a road house by Renny Tesoriere. Guests could dance to bands and meals cost 50 or 75 cents.  A ballroom was added to the building in 1937. 

Ruth and Danny DiSanti acquired the building in 1953 and once again changed its use.  It became E. C. White’s Old House, a furniture store.  E. C. White was Ruth’s father, who in 1912 had founded the Gardner-White Furniture Company.  Some of the surrounding land continued to be farmed in the 1950s.

Sold again in 1986, the building was re-named Victoria Place by its new owners, Ray Domke and Larry Berdasono. The Schroeder house became home to an assortment of shops and a café.  Since 2008, the building has been known as Ardmore Park Place, hosting a café, salon, yoga studio, and other enterprises.

Recognizing its history, the St. Clair Shores Historical Commission granted approval of the request for a marker recognizing the history of the building. The marker was dedicated on October 27, 2012.

Now: Ardmore Park Place
Opened: 2008

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