Background
H. Maxwell Grills was born in 1865 in England, United Kingdom.
H. Maxwell Grills was born in 1865 in England, United Kingdom.
In 1883 began his career in Detroit as draftsman in the office of W. E. Brown. Later he was employed with John Scott, an early architect in the city, and between the years 1889 and 1900 practiced jointly with him. After a subsequent period (1904-06) in association with Raymond Gies, Mr. Grylls joined the firm with which he was connected for more than thirty years, and during that period was largely responsible for the design of many outstanding buildings, public and commercial, in Detroit. Among these were the Penobscot Building; Buhl Building; Fyfe Building; Municipal Court; Orpheum Theatre, additions to Hotel Statler; Central Methodist Church; Jefferson Ave. Presbyterian Church; the First and Seventh Churches of Christ Scientist; Women’s Exchange Building. In addition the firm designed many industrial buildings, notably those for the Dodge Motor Co., Chrysler Corp., Maxwell Motor Co., Detroit Gear & Machine Co.
Mr. Grylls was also architect of the Administration Building at the State Normal School at Ypsilanti, and various buildings at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.