Ransom Eli Olds was one of the most influential auto barons of his time, credited with being the first to design an assembly line for vehicle manfacturing.

Although he built his primary home in Lansing, for more than a decade from about 1916 until the late 1920s, he spent summers at a 12,000-square-foot mansion he built on Grosse Ile.

Through the Great Depression, the mansion was abandonded. But in 1942, it was converted into a U.S.O. and was used to entertain servicemen and women training at Naval Air Station Grosse Ile.

The house is now owned by Barry Gillan and Chad Novak, who continually work to restore it to its original grandeur.

He was a high school drop out, but went on to become one of the most influential auto barons of his time , credited with the first design of an assemb

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