Indian Village resident John Hantz, president and CEO of his own company, will probably forever be known as the local character that scooped up a bunch of Detroit land for an urban tree farm, an ordeal that stirred up a ridiculous amount of controversy. Let's rewind a little to a time when Hantz was just an endearing and wealthy divorced dad with a strong affection for Tiffany lamps. The Winter 2011 issue of Detroit Home has a feature on Hantz's Indian Village mansion, which is quite the classy affair. The place has not one, but two carriage houses in addition to the 14,500-square-foot main house.
For the full tour, you'll want to see Detroit Home's photos. In the meantime, we highlighted our favorite amenities and now present our favorite quotes and facts from the article:
Hantz told his 21-year-old daughter, Lauren, his only heir, "that if she wants to own the land one day, she has to promise him she'll never sell it."
(Editor's note: That's a lot of pressure for someone in her formative shot taking years. Isn't that why we have the "heir and a spare" policy?)
Describing himself as a "closet architect," Hantz says his hidden pleasure is history and preservation, and he hopes his own home will last another century. (Editor's note: A closet architect is probably a real thing in LA, right? The person that designs Portia de Rossi's shoe room?)
Hantz's collection of significant photographs includes an Orville Wright picture and pilot's license, an Ayn Rand letter, a paycheck made out to Calvin Coolidge as president with the White House address, and signatures of Winston Churchill and Henry Ford. (Editor's note: who's favorite president is Coolidge? Interesting!)
The Hantz basement includes a walk-in humidor stocked with more than 2,000 cigars. "In a lot of aspects of our lives, price has become the barometer of a deal, and price is only one dimension of the equation," Hantz says. "I mean, you can always make something cheaper. I can always get the price lowered. I just have to tweak the quality to some degree. That doesn't make it better." (Editor's note: Wait. What? Oh rich people talk!) · Cultivated Taste: Indian Village Estate [Detroit Home]
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