Extraordinary West Canfield Victorian finds buyer day it hits the market

By Robin Runyan Jan 30, 2017, 1:13pm EST

It’s not every day we can bring you a home on one of the most beautiful streets in Detroit. To snag a house on the historic West Canfield Street, you have to be quick! Jason Hill of Historic Detroit Realty put a for sale sign in front of 627 W. Canfield this weekend, and it went under contract the same day.

The West Canfield Historic District site reveals the history of this and all of the houses on this gorgeous block. Built in 1874, this house changed hands quite a few times in its history. Its most influential owner was Beulah Croxford, who led preservation efforts in Detroit in the 60s and 70s. West Canfield became a historic district in 1970 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971 because of her. From a Model D story on Croxford,

“At a time when many of Detroit's planners and politicians felt that the city's past stood in the way of urban progress, Beulah fought to save places like West Canfield — not simply because they were old, but because she believed that saving old places would attract residents, create jobs, and make neighborhoods safer, stronger, and more beautiful. Her legacy includes not only stately, brick-paved West Canfield Street — today one of Detroit's most desirable blocks — but the city's local historic preservation ordinance, and along with it, the Historic Designation Advisory Board and Historic District Commission, the legal mechanisms and governing bodies that help make saving Detroit's old places possible.”

More on Croxford and historic districts in the city can be found here.

As for the house, it’s meticulously preserved, with a big front porch, beautiful wood floors, and wood beams and paneling. The house itself is over 2,700 square feet, but it also has a 3,000-square-foot carriage house that could be converted into living space. It listed for $750,000.