https://www.oldhousedreams.com/2019/07/22/1918-italian-renaissance-detroit-mi/
$2.1M USD is over my limit, but I really appreciate how beautifully designed this house is, and how it seems to have survived 101 years completely intact and maintained.
It's quite conservative - but what an opulent yet tasteful beauty. Even the original kitchen is intact, though with new appliances.
Fantastic 1918 Detroit Mansion
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Re: Fantastic 1918 Detroit Mansion
Is the cabinet in the kitchen with butterfly hinges an icebox? looks like the latches are made to close it up tight. That would be a neat way to hide a fridge, leave the door off and make your own!
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Re: Fantastic 1918 Detroit Mansion
That's (one of) the Fisher mansion(s) - as in the "Body by Fisher" tags that graced GM cars for many years. Fred, one of the Fisher brothers, was the original owner.
One thing I never understood about Detroit - in the 1910s and 1920s, there were 10,000+ square foot palaces like this one being built literally on top of each other. If you look at the picture of the driveway, this house is maybe 20-30 feet from the one next to it. Similarly, the house three blocks away that would later become known as the "Motown mansion" is very close to its neighbors. It's obvious that money was no object to the people who had these houses built. One would think they would have splurged on an extra acre of land or two.
$2.1M is a steal for a house like this, but it also reflects the situation of Detroit and what they've let it become. In just about any other major metro area, this house would easily have an asking price three or four times higher.
I had an aunt and uncle who lived in Detroit from the '40s through the '80s. By the time I was a kid in the '80s, it was well into a death spiral and was getting worse every year. The last summer we went up there (around '88 I believe), I wasn't even allowed out in the yard after 5 PM.
One thing I never understood about Detroit - in the 1910s and 1920s, there were 10,000+ square foot palaces like this one being built literally on top of each other. If you look at the picture of the driveway, this house is maybe 20-30 feet from the one next to it. Similarly, the house three blocks away that would later become known as the "Motown mansion" is very close to its neighbors. It's obvious that money was no object to the people who had these houses built. One would think they would have splurged on an extra acre of land or two.
$2.1M is a steal for a house like this, but it also reflects the situation of Detroit and what they've let it become. In just about any other major metro area, this house would easily have an asking price three or four times higher.
I had an aunt and uncle who lived in Detroit from the '40s through the '80s. By the time I was a kid in the '80s, it was well into a death spiral and was getting worse every year. The last summer we went up there (around '88 I believe), I wasn't even allowed out in the yard after 5 PM.
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Re: Fantastic 1918 Detroit Mansion
Oh the tile is just *beyond*! <3
There are so many stunning homes in Detroit. I hope the city gets a renaissance.
There are so many stunning homes in Detroit. I hope the city gets a renaissance.
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Re: Fantastic 1918 Detroit Mansion
what is that tub thing that is in the way of the door opening properly about?
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Re: Fantastic 1918 Detroit Mansion
Phil, I think I remember that being called a standing tub. Basically you stand or squat in it and have a servant pour water over you.
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Re: Fantastic 1918 Detroit Mansion
Nope. It's a foot bath. There were also sitz baths, about this size, that had one side lower. Sitz = sitting.
https://www.thepreservationstation.com/rare-antique-iron-and-porcelain-foot-bath-late-1800s.html
https://www.thepreservationstation.com/rare-antique-iron-and-porcelain-foot-bath-late-1800s.html
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Re: Fantastic 1918 Detroit Mansion
That was my second thought! I think I got the standing bath image from an old woodcut that I used to have.
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Re: Fantastic 1918 Detroit Mansion
Willa wrote:Nope. It's a foot bath. There were also sitz baths, about this size, that had one side lower. Sitz = sitting.
https://www.thepreservationstation.com/rare-antique-iron-and-porcelain-foot-bath-late-1800s.html
Yep. Even though they were advertised for about 3 decades (Standard still listed them in the late '20s), they are fairly rare today. Probably didn't sell too many of them.
I have an enameled cast iron clawfoot sitz bath tub that I saved from a scrap metal yard years ago. It was over two thirds buried in mud when I saw it. I want to say the cast date on the bottom was sometime in 1908. Not to be graphic, but the sitz baths were often recommended for "female problems".