Is the Park Shelton building hiding more secrets? Commercial tenant and owner of The Peacock room, Rachel Lutz found treasure the owners did not know about when she leased the space and the drywall and drop ceilings were taken down. So now Rachel and Curbed are wondering, are the other office spaces hiding the same secret? We took a few shots showing about what the Peacock room looked like before, which are from a different office a few doors down in the building's first floor. There's a good chance that ripping out some of those walls would also lead to great discovery. And Rachel believes that finding them can be the best business move ever, even if you have to alter your entire plan. Last December was the opening of the Peacock Room, the store that struck gold in Architectural treasure. When Rachel Lutz first signed the lease on her space in the Park Shelton building, it was all ho-hum drop ceilings and such. But as the Detroit News famously reported, what hid underneath was the old Wardell Hotel's Crystal dining room with magnificent details from 1926. The challenge would be paying for the restoration. And as far as that goes, Rachel has teamed up with Preservation Detroit (formerly Preservation Wayne) to help cover what was needed to bring out the beauty in the building. When all was said and done, it cost about $8,000 just to refinish the floors which had two layers of carpet glue. Much of the gold leaf had to be repainted by hand, a bathroom had to be demolished and the place needed new wiring. Preservation Detroit is taking tax deductible funds to help out, and hopefully one day Rachel will be able to fix the water damage that remains in one corner of the room. And while you may be wondering why this fund was set up-after-the-fact, there's an easy answer. Rachel was not going to wait to renovate; she saw what needed to be done and went for it. So if you like what you see, maybe chip in a little. Contact Preservation Detroit for details.
· Like Finding Buried Treasure: The Peacock Room Scores Big in the Park Shelton Building & We Score Shiny New Photos [Curbed Detroit]
· Gold! Demo Reveals Design Treasures Behind Drywall [Curbed Detroit]
· Preservation Detroit [Official]