Tierney Alumni House

Designed by famed architect Louis Kemper, the former home of Col. Frank J. Hecker has been a jewel of the East Ferry Street Historic District for generations.

It was home to one of Detroit's most prominent families for decades until 1927, when it served as a local rooming house. In 1947, the Smiley Brothers Music Company bought the Hecker Mansion and gave it the first of many name changes over the next 60 years.

Today, the Tierney Alumni House serves as the home of the Wayne State University Alumni Association and the Office of Alumni Relations. In 2015, Wayne State celebrated the rechristening of the mansion as the Tierney Alumni House, named in gratitude of alumnus and donor Thomas T. Tierney's generous support of the university.

The Tierney Alumni House is also home to the extensive art collection of Andronike Tsaragas and John Hilberry, who relocated dozens of works produced by Detroit-based artists in the 1960s, '70s and '80s.

The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971. In order to preserve the property and its historical significance, the Tierney Alumni House is not open for public tours or events at this time.