Events

Join us for a day trip to discover Cranbrook—one of the world’s leading centers of education, science, and art—located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. The historic 319-acre campus, founded in 1904, features the work of world-renowned architects such as Eliel Saarinen, Albert Kahn, Steven Holl, and Tod Williams, and sculptors Carl Milles, Marshall Fredericks, Mark di Suvero, and more. Critics have described Cranbrook, designated a National Historic Landmark in 1989, as the “most enchanting setting in America.”

Start your day at Cranbrook’s Contemporary Art Museum, enjoying a self-guided tour of three featured exhibitions or admiring the impressive outdoor sculpture collection that displays more than thirty pieces. Next enjoy a boxed lunch on the bus as we make our way across campus, stopping to take in the sights before arriving at Cranbrook House & Gardens. Built in 1908, this English Arts and Crafts-style home is the oldest surviving manor open to the public in metro Detroit. Your private guided tour of Cranbrook House takes you back in time to a golden era of craftsmanship as you explore twelve rooms on the first floor, including the library, Oak Room, and Cranbrook cofounder George Gough Booth’s original office. Learn about the Booth family and their 1908 English Tudor estate while viewing handcrafted furniture, tapestries, tiles, stained glass, and other works of art.

While one half of the group tours, the other half will freely explore the Cranbrook Gardens. Comprising 40 acres of formal and natural areas surrounding the house, the gardens feature unique statuary and calming water features in addition to their extensive plantings. Sites include the popular sunken garden, the reflecting pool, the native plant and wildflower garden, the greenhouse, and the Japanese garden. End the day enjoying a meal together at Lockhart's BBQ before returning to Meijer Gardens. Fee includes bus transportation, admission, snack, tours, boxed lunch, dinner and all gratuities.

*Applies toward Michigan State University Extension Master Gardener education credit.