I kinda have this rule that I wont post any “Ruin Porn” in Detroit but I also have been taking photos of Castles in Michigan, so this one is kind of a dilemma, but since you are looking at this photo, you can figure out that I have decided to post it. I think it’s too important of a house, not to post.
This is the James Scott residence on the comer of Peterboro and Park in the Midtown District. James Scott’s father also named James Scott was a prominent business man in Detroit and when he died in the 1870’s he gave a large fortune to his son. He built this house in 1887 but from what I read Mr Scott was not the most well respected person in Detroit. When he built his house he wanted to purchase the property south of his, when the owner would not sell it to him he built a giant wall to block the sun from reaching his neighbors house, that is supposedly why the south wall has no windows.
when he died in 1910 he left the city $200,000. to build a fountain and stipulated that there needs to be a statue of him. Many of the citizens did not want to build the fountain because of the stipulation and felt he was not worthy of a statue. Some pointed out that he apparently never worked a day in his life and was best known for the time he spent in downtown bars. eventually it was decided to spend his money and expand Belle Isle and build a fountain.
the home eventually was converted into apartments then suffered from a fire in the 70’s and was left abandoned, recently a developer has plans to spend 7 million dollars and converting it into condominiums. you can read about it HERE
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