Want Motown mansion? It can be had for a song

DETROIT — Berry Gordy Jr.’s former residence in Detroit’s Boston-Edison neighborhood went on the market Monday - its history a key part of the nearly $1.4 million asking price.

The hope of its owner is that a buyer will step forward who “understands the role this house played in the history of the city of Detroit,” said Cynthia Reaves, an administrative law judge for the Michigan Tax Tribunal and head of a consulting firm.

“When Berry Gordy owned this house, it was the center where political, social and entertainment roads converged for the betterment of the city,” she said. Gordy moved Motown to Los Angeles in the 1970s, and the house was vacant save for a caretaker for years.

Reaves is selling the house because she is moving. She said she has some opportunities out of state.

Here’s a bit of what comes with the price and history: 8,500 square feet in the main house and 4,000 square feet in the pool house. The poolhouse includes a two-lane bowling alley and a billiards room. It has nine bedrooms, five full bathrooms and four half-bathrooms; a five-car garage-carriage house with living quarters; a nine-hole miniature golf course; seven separate dining areas; and a private gymnasium and more.

So can just anyone get in to see the house? No way, said listing agent Kenan Bakirci, who works for Coldwell Banker Weir Manual in the Birmingham/Bloomfield South office. The house won’t even have a sign out front. Only pre-approved, qualified buyers will be allowed to view the house.

The Motown mansion was built in 1917 by lumber magnate Nels Michelson. It features Italian renaissance design and Old-World craftsmanship including a black walnut-paneled living room and a marble-columned ballroom.

Motown greats including Smokey Robinson, Diana Ross, the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin and the Jackson 5 were Gordy’s visitors. Reaves has hosted then-Sen. Barack Obama, Gov. Jennifer Granholm, Detroit Mayor Dave Bing and U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow.

Determining a sales price in today’s housing slump wasn’t easy, Bakirci said. The house cost more than $1 million to build in 1917 - $400,000 less than today’s asking price.

“It is 10 cents on the dollar for what it would cost to replicate this house today,” Bakirci said.

Bakirci said the house might have sold for closer to $2 million during the market peak. He said the B. Seigel mansion that sold for $750,000 in 2008 was larger at 12,000 square feet and was of similar style, but was not as comprehensively finished as the Gordy house. The Gordy house has three finished floors, plus a lower level with the famous ballroom and a pub.

Plus, it has the detached pool house, which other nearby mansions lack.

“We are banking on some of the history and someone willing to pay a premium based on who has been there and who has owned it,” Bakirci said.