Designed by architect John Scott for Emory Leyden Ford (1876-1942), who made his fortune in the chemical industry, specifically as president of the Michigan Alkali Company and the J. B. Ford Chemical Company. He is unrelated to the Ford family of automotive fame.

Subsequent owners include Robert Pauli Scherer (1906-1960), inventor and producer of a rotary die encapsulation machine used to manufacture gelatin capsules for pharmaceutical products. The Detroit Children's Museum occupied the building from the 1990s until its closure in 2011.

The Hellenic Museum of Michigan has occupied the building since 2013, one of only two such museums in the country at the time. Its mission is celebrating the heritage and culture of the Greek-American community in Detroit and statewide.