Asking $100K, this lonely house on John R is reminder of the residential neighborhood that once occupied the Detroit Medical Center area. If you don't recognize it immediately, perhaps this will help: It's the building you have to squeeze around to park behind Seva in Midtown. It's easy to see in passing without actually taking in what it looks like.
Recognizing that the house is textbook bulldozer bait, the listing doesn't bother going into details. But we called the realtor and did some research.
· It was built in 1915.
· The owner is several years behind on property taxes, to the tune of $5K.
· There was a small attic fire maybe a decade ago, hence the damage visible outside.
· Structurally, it's in decent shape. The interior would need to be gutted.
· An old gravity furnace still hides in the basement.
· Though the condition suggests it was abandoned decades ago, archival StreetView images suggest someone was living there as recently as 2011. Various images have an American flag outside, fliers in the windows, a car in the driveway, and a mailbox on the porch. All disappear by 2013.
· The basement apartment used to be a barbershop. There's a metal plate next to the door that may have once held a barber pole, along with a sign for Wildroot (a hair tonic) in the window. Records indicate it was called Palmer's Barbershop.
· The facade was far more Tudor-like in this overexposed photo from 1976. Look closely--people are hanging out on the front porch.
· A tiny piece of the tudor facade was revealed by the attic fire, which melted away some of the red paint.
Know anything else about 4635 John R? Hit us in the comments.
· Listing: 4356 John R [Trulia]
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