A Victorian home in Corktown, occupied at one time by the owner of the Detroit Tigers in 1900, is for sale for just under $2 million — and, get this — it comes with its own plan to help cover the mortgage: a next-door duplex you can rent.
"It's got some great history," said Rick Dziobak, the home's listing agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices the Loft Warehouse in Detroit, adding that the property's provenance is connected to the city in many ways. "It's been in one family for more than 90 years."
Dziobak didn't name the family, but the 3,600-square-foot house at 1801 Church St., is for sale because while the owner grew up in the house and loved it, he now resides in Portland, Oregon, and has no plans to live in it again. His parents, who are no longer alive, inherited the home from his grandparents.
The listing highlights some of the home's story.
"Dine in the same room where Tigers icon Ty Cobb was a dinner guest," it says, noting that the four-bedroom, two-bathroom house still has it’s "original wood floors." And not only did it once have a famous owner and visitors, it was designed, Dziobak said, by a well-known, local architect Harry Rill.
Rill also designed several Catholic churches in southern Michigan — you'll see another church connection in a moment — and by 1910, was he was so successful he open another office in Windsor, across the Detroit River. Rill later died in Florida, where he had gone to recover from pneumonia.
As for the home's connection to the Tigers: It was — and still is — one of the larger residences in Corktown, not far from the former Tiger Stadium, and was purchased by James Burns, who bought the Tigers with George Stallings in 1900 for $12,000.
Burns, an amateur athlete, wasn't the original owner, Dziobak said. And, he didn't own the Tigers very long, choosing to sell the professional sports franchise in 1902 to run, with his family, a brickworks business and later invest in local hotels.
He also became involved in Democratic politics.
As a teen, Burns also was a boxer and wrestler, winning the state amateur championship, according to his obituary. After selling the Tigers, he was elected sheriff of Wayne County, and served, for several years, as a Michigan delegate to the Democratic National Conventions.
Burns had two sons, one of which served on the Wayne County Board of Commissioners and state Senate, and the other became a Catholic priest.
As for house's features, it is painted white with black trim, has a wrap-around porch, leaded glass windows, three brick fireplaces that are original to the home and, what the listing calls, a "grand staircase" that leads to a second floor.
The home also is within walking distance to several Corktown restaurants and the renovated and restored Michigan Central, which is now Ford Motor's new mobility headquarters, making it what Dziobak called a highly desirable property.
The cost: it's $1,899,000, which, based on a monthly Zillow payment estimate, works out to about $13,000 a month. But remember, the price also includes the sale of the duplex, which has two, three-bedroom, one-bath units, each 1,200 square feet.
So, you could rent the duplex units, and the income could cover some of the mortgage.
Contact Frank Witsil: 313-222-5022 or fwitsil@freepress.com.
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