No problem guys. Dave, glad it brought back some memories. I've always thought it'd be cool to experience Detroit how it was back in the early 1900's, especially the 1920's when it was booming.

When I was young, my Dad and I would go to Red Wings games, get there a little early and stand outside the arena before the doors opened. It was always really cool to me to stand there and take in the views of Downtown and the skyline. The Penobscot was the one building that, for me, always stood out from the rest because of its flashing red orb; I've always loved the way that building looks and how it's lit at night. I've been in the Penobscot's lobby but visitors have to have permission to actually go up into the rest of the building.

I've seen all of these buildings up close on the outside and have been inside a few of them (Guardian, Penobscot, Book-Cadillac) and it's amazing what's hiding from the general public that just "passes through" the City.

It'll be interesting to see the next ten years or so. There's even more renovation plans in place plus some new development plans as well. The City just approved a proposal for a new arena for the Red Wings.

 

nice pics. There is a lot of really nice architecture here in my city. I wish a had some pics to post

 

What's the deal with that wall? Used to be a building. But only one wall remains.

 

Lou, I think you're talking about the Fine Arts Building on the North side of Grand Circus Park. Just the front facade standing? Ilitch owns the building and they began restoring it but later found it couldn't be saved so they tore it down. The front facade is standing there being preserved for future use. It's been like this for several years now.

First picture is during restoration work and the second is how it currently sits.

 

Thanks Matt!

 

Definitely was a time when Detroit had it all. That took some serious money back in the day to build structures such as those. The engineers and architects had to really be on top of their game, they were probably doing things structurally that had never been done before. I think the Book Tower comes across as a sinister evil looking building, somewhat like the Disney Tower of Terror.
The 11,000 sq ft John Harvey house was absolutely huge for a home, was he a polygamist or something? LOL. Looked more like a commercial project somewhat like a hotel and not a home.

Definitely a deep rich history, thanks for posting this thread. I really enjoyed looking at these and imagined myself working on them setting tile, that would of been a tough job back then, considering their tile saws were probably junk compared to our present day ones. Hats off to all the men who built these buildings for the Ultra rich to have a place to call theirs. Would not have wanted to be a window washer back then on some of those buildings.