Cranbrook Art Museum, Detroit

Cranbrook is not only a National Historic Landmark, but also a living, breathing community, containing private schools, the famous Academy of Art that educated noted designers Charles and Ray Eames and Eero Saarinen (he of the famous Gateway Arch in St. Louis). The 300-plus-acre cultural and educational campus in leafy Bloomfield Hills began life as the summer home of local newspaper mogul George Booth, who purchased the land in 1904, hiring architect Albert Kahn to design a most impressive country manor. Saarinen’s father, Eliel, was a key figure in the academy; the family resided on property for a period—their home is open for tours. An onsite art museum is closed for renovations until 2011, but it’s still an important stop on any Metro Detroit tour—check out the planetarium at the Institute of Science and tour the gardens of the former Booth home, where composer Leonard Bernstein resided for a time in the 1940s.

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