Detroit's White House is the oldest structure on Belle Isle, and, even pre-dates the island's time as a park. Though there is ambiguity around its exact age, it is one of the oldest buildings still standing in the city.

The 15-room, wood-framed, lapped board house is set back off Inselruhe, just south of Loiter Way.

But it's that uncertainty of exactly when the house was built - and who did so - that makes it one of the island's more frustrating historical mysteries.

Some histories say that the house was built about 1873 by Walter Schweikart, a stone cutter who immigrated from Germany and leased the island from the Campau family, which owned the island at the time. Schweikart ran a tavern and fishery on the island at the time. He was also the one who dubbed the house "Inselruhe", meaning "island quietness" in German. It is this house that gave the road running near it its name. Schweikart, incidentally, designed and built the stone gateway at Mt. Elliott Cemetery in 1882.

But there are descriptions of the house as far back as 1866, and the builder of the house is attributed to Robert Storrs Willis. If this account of the house is indeed the true account, Willis got 176 acres of the island through his wife, Alexandrine Campau, widow of John Barnabas Campau. He set out to clear and drain the swampy land, and hired architect Gordon W. Lloyd to design him a stately home complete with a carriage house, stable, hennery, barnyard, corn cribs, ice house, kennels and a windmill to draw water from the canal behind. The firm Moorehouse, Mitchell and Byran built it.

Though white today, and called the White House, the home was originally brown.

An article in the Detroit Daily Advertiser, dated Aug. 15, 1866, described the house as being "colored on the outside a stone color while the finish of windows and verandas in dark colors, with which the wood is stained. Flooring throughout is of ash, waxed and the doors, staircases, and interior decorations of the room in natural pine, oiled and varnished and furnishing convincing proof how beautiful a wood it is for such purposes when properly prepared and finished. A large Elm overhangs the house and seems to give it protection. A commodious carriage house, stable, a hennery and a barnyard are covered with tan barks so as to always be neat and clean. Corn cribs, a large icehouse, kennels, etc. complete the arrangements for living in comfort. There are 8.2 acres of lawn and enclosures for gardens about 14 acres. Water is furnished by a windmill, which draws it from the river and pushes it through underground pipes to the house and stable.

So the most likely story is that the Campau family had the house built in 1866 and used it as a summer residence. It is likely that Schweikart leased the house from the Campaus while he operated his tavern and fishery on the island.

The City of Detroit bought Belle Isle in September 1879, and the house also transferred to the City's hands. From 1882 to 1890, it served as the home of the park's superintendent, until being turned into a refreshment stand called the Dairy Lunch.

In 1926, the aging house was extensively remodeled, with what is now the rear of the building replacing the original lean-to kitchen. From 1940 to 1957, the island's garden teams used part of the house.

For decades, it served as the Detroit Garden Center, and was then used by the Michigan Horticultural Society, given its proximity to the Anna Scripps Whitcomb Conservatory and greenhouses. In the 1980s, the house was used for offices by the Detroit Recreation Department.

As part of the Friends of Belle Isle's 10th anniversary in 1983, the group set out to restore the White House. The nonprofit had 1,600 individual and corporate members at the time, and raised $30,000 toward the $70,000 restoration.

"There hasn't been much maintenance done on the exterior of the house for most of the last 100 years, mostly because the City can't afford to do much," The Detroit News wrote April 14, 1983. "That's where the Friends come in."

The house's basement was waterproofed, the sheet metal roof was replaced, as was rotted wood siding. Window frames, roof and porch also saw work.

The exterior work wrapped in late 1984, and the Friends then set their sights on the inside, kicking off a campaign on Jan. 29, 1985. This work set out to repair water-damaged plaster and adding an information center, conference room, and sitting areas. The Friends partnered with the Junior League of Detroit, the Detroit Historical Museum and a local chapter of the Questers, a historic preservation society, to tackle the historically accurate restoration. The American Society of Interior Designers kicked in $3,000.

Between 1982 and 1984, more than $100,000 in money and donated labor were put into the work.

A 2018 strategic management plan by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, in partnership with the Belle Isle Conservancy, said that "The White House is not suitable for sustained use as office space as the current live load capacity does not meet requirements for office use." The document also said the White House's foundation needed to be replaced. The White House was viewed as possibly being leased to vendors.