Curbed Detroit’s top 10 stories of the year

Here at Curbed Detroit, we try to bring you stories about living in the city we love. Most of the time, that means great or interesting (or not so great) real estate, beautiful buildings, neighborhood news, and development/construction news. So what were you drawn to this year, Curbed readers? To be honest, getting out of town. Many of our top stories were about places outside of Detroit, but fear not - some great local landmarks made the list. Here are your top 10 stories from this year.

17 Up North Small Towns in Michigan You Need to Visit: Hey, we all need to get away sometime. We compiled a map of small towns up north we think are totally worth a road trip. We’ll be updating it again for winter, too. What do we like most about this? My mom supplied the main image! (Thanks mom!)

Inside the Restoration of the Charles T. Fisher Mansion: We were lucky enough to be invited inside the largest house in Boston Edison and wow! This house is just incredible. From a secret vault in the basement for liquor to the restoration work that was currently happening in the dining room, we were pretty blown away by this house. We love our photographers Michelle and Chris Gerard, and this piece really shows how great they are at capturing the details.

Michelle & Chris Gerard

America’s first sustainable urban agrihood is growing in Detroit: This piece on the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative’s agrihood piqued curiosity in that term: agrihood. It captured the attention of many around the internet universe; the story hasn’t even been up for a month and it’s #3 on our list. We’ll be checking back in the spring when the vacant building is renovated into offices, a kitchen, and meeting spaces.

Michelle & Chris Gerard

Stunning Old Redford stone house in wooded setting asks $175K: We see a lot of houses listed but this one grabbed our attention immediately. The lead picture basically transported us to a storybook land with green fields and a rolling brook, and inside a warm fireplace. And the house is in Detroit! We weren’t the only ones transfixed. This house took off and recently sold for well over its asking price.

This Frank Lloyd Wright house in Michigan is for sale for the first time: This was a no-brainer. There’s only one Frank Lloyd Wright house in Detroit, but there are some around Michigan, including a little community in Galesburg. How often do we see one in pristine condition for sale for the first time? It listed in September and it’s still for sale FYI.

Detroit's Billionaires Hope to Change Downtown with Development Spree: Our friends at Curbed.com wrote this great in-depth Property Lines longform piece about Dan Gilbert, Mike Ilitch, and the development they’re involved with in and around downtown. How does this change in the coming year? The Little Caesars Arena should be finished by September 2017 and more developments around the District Detroit will be announced. Dan Gilbert has some big renovations in the works, but his new construction will keep making headlines in the coming years.

Spectacular Midcentury Modern, Designed by Harold Turner, Lists in Bloomfield Hills: Fans of midcentury modern - rejoice! This house in Bloomfield Hills is everything you could dream of. Beautiful natural materials, designed impeccably so you can enjoy the lush setting. Yeah, we go back and look at these pics sometimes.

Exclusive: Rare photos inside the original Fisher Theatre: We were so lucky that a frequent contributor to Curbed Chicago just happened to find these incredible pictures of the old Fisher Theatre, before the renovations in the midcentury. These pictures are so clear; you can get transported back into this ornate theatre and truly grand lobby.

Berry Gordy's Historic Motown Mansion Ups Sale Price, Asks $1.6M: We were pretty excited to see this historic Boston Edison mansion go up for sale again, and with much better pictures this time around. A bowling alley? A pool house? It’s still up for sale, FYI.

9 projects set to transform Detroit: This map is a little different than other development or construction maps. We tried to pinpoint the projects that would have the biggest impact on their surrounding areas. Some of them are still in the pre-pre-planning phase (will the State Fairgrounds development ever take off? And will that bridge be built?), but some will be here before we know it.

Honorable mention:

Admittedly, some of us spend the summer chasing ships around the Great Lakes, and we were pretty excited when a viking ship decided to dock here. So was the rest of Detroit: it was one of our most-read posts of the year.