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Posted Aug 14, 2014, 10:37 PM
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Honored Member
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Posts: 7,445
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Detroit has several distinct mansions districts.
Detroit's original mansion district was the Grand Circus Park area toward the north end of the CBD. That area developed primarily in the mid to late 1800's, but unfortunately nothing of the era remains. In the early 1900's, most of the old mansions were torn down to build skyscrapers.
Detroit's second mansion district was called Brush Park which was mostly built in the late Victorian era. The area started losing its prestige by the early 1900's, with many of the mansions being chopped up into multiple units. In the 50's a huge chunk of the neighborhood was torn down to build a massive housing project, and within the next few decades much of the historic mansions became abandoned. Beginning in the 90's, but especially into the early 2000's, the few remaining mansions were restored (again often into apartments/condos) and many others were stabilized for future renovation.
Here are some picks of Brush Park:
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
(The apartment rows are a new addition from the mid 2000's)
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
The northern end of Brush Park was developed more in the early 20th century and remained a bit more stable than the older late 19th century blocks toward the south.
Brush Park is basically the lower east "6th" of the larger Midtown neighborhood. The neighborhoods that comprised what is now called Midtown were relatively wealthy compared to the areas that developed closer to the river. While the neighborhood as a whole has become much more urban, you'll find plenty of examples of Detroit's turn-of-the-century wealth in what is now Midtown.
Here are a few examples of the mansions within the Midtown neighborhood outside of Brush Park:
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Midtown, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
By the early 1900's, Detroit's wealthy elite began moving further away from the core. Two distinct mansions districts popped up during this era. The Boston-Edison/Arden Park area to the north and the Indian Village/Joseph Berry area to the east. Most of the housing in these neighborhoods was built roughly between 1900 and 1920, though you'll find a few earlier and later examples in either area. The Indian Village area is still a relatively wealthy area, while the Boston-Edison area has lost much of its prestige and is now more economically middle-class.
Here are some examples from Indian Village:
Indian Village, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Indian Village, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Indian Village, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Indian Village, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Indian Village, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Indian Village, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Indian Village, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Indian Village, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Indian Village, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
During the rapid expansion of the city in the 1920's, three new distinct mansion districts popped up. The Palmer Woods/University district at the northern edge of the city, The Grandmont/Rosedale district in the vast Northwest side of the city, and the Grosse Pointe area on the East Side of the city. The Grosse Pointes were never annexed by the city and all developed as individual cities, with most of the largest mansions closer to the massive Lake St. Clair.
Here are some picks of Palmer Woods and Detroit Golf Club on the north end of the city:
Palmer Woods, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Palmer Woods, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Palmer Woods, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Palmer Woods, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Palmer Woods, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Palmer Woods, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Palmer Woods, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Detroit Golf Club, Detroit, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
There are plenty of mansion districts in the suburbs. The city of Bloomfield Hills doesn't really have compact "urban" mansions, but the small city developed as a sort of summer estate home for Detroit's wealthy elite. The island of Grosse Ile south of the city is also known for it's pre-war mansion estates along the Detroit River. The city of Birmingham just south of Bloomfield Hills was originally a typical suburban node, but in recent decades the city has become a de facto "urban/suburban" mansion district, with many of the early, more modest homes being torn down and replaced with small lot/large footprint mansions. A similar pattern is occuring in the tiny nodes of Plymouth and Northville to the west of the city. To the south of Birmingham is the Royal Oak area. Downtown Royal Oak is mostly young college-grads and hipsters, but just to the east of Downtown Royal Oak the city of Huntington Woods has somewhat of a mansion district and just to the south of Downtown Royal Oak the city of Pleasant Ridge has another decent mansion district.
Here are few shots of Pleasant Ridge:
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Pleasant Ridge, Michigan by hudkina, on Flickr
Last edited by hudkina; Aug 14, 2014 at 11:01 PM.
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