Frederick J. Schwankovsky was born in Wisconsin in 1859. He received his education through the parish and public schools of Cumberland, Maryland and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Along with his family, Schwankovsky relocated to Detroit in 1876. He found employment in the music store of Herman Bishop on Jefferson Avenue. Just three years later, Schwankovsky was able to purchase Mr. Bishop's business. In 1880, he acquired the business of Adam Couse, which was established in 1844. Schwankovsky commissioned the venerable Gordon W. Lloyd, who at this point in his career was the dean of Detroit architecture, to design a music store on Woodward Avenue in a then-growing section of downtown. The 6-story structure is in the Queen Anne style with touches of Romanesque Revival. The exterior is made of brick and brownstone trim. In Detroit, the building was among the last to be erected using a cast iron frame and among the first to have an electric elevator. However, by 1910, the F.J. Schwankovsky Company was no more. The building was purchased by the Grainger-Hannan Company, a jeweler. Subsequently, Grainger-Hannan became Grainger-Hannan-Kay and then Goldsmiths & Silversmiths, Inc. Wright, Kay & Company moved its headquarters into the former Schwankovsky music store in 1920, remaining until 1978. In 1980, the building became the local headquarters of House of Fabrics. Over the last 2 decades, the building has undergone several incarnations as a nightclub. In 2011, the property was purchased by Bedrock Real Estate Services and subsequently renovated. In 2015, Detroit native John Varvatos opened one of his men's wear stores. It closed in March 2020. The space was taken over by Greyson, a high-end golf clotheir, in February 2021. #Detroit #DowntownDetroit #LowerWoodwardHistorictDistrict #QueenAnne #RomanesqueRevival #VictorianArchitecture #GordonWLloyd #WoodwardAvenue #archi_ologie #RawDetroit #PureMichigan #PureMittigan #MotorCityShooters #PureDetroit313 #DepictTheD #VisitDetroit #Michiganders #ThisPlaceMatters #ThisPlaceMattersDetroit #MotorCityShooters (at Wright-Kay Building) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cb1INEKLBz2/?utm_medium=tumblr