The house at 284 Eliot in Brush Park, Detroit, was a very special old house with a unique history and horrible crumbling structure. I photographed this place for years, and when the front facade crumbled, a group of us went to salvage some of the heavy terra cotta pieces. We were confronted by the cops at the end of mission accomplised, and H almost blew our cover. But I digress...
Amidst all the years of shooting I watched this poor mansion go from bad to devasting to downright dangerous. Last summer, on an all-nighter, G, M, D and I spelunked it. I'm surprised it didn't fall down on us, but it was a thrilling adventure to get inside. The pic on my website is from about 5 years ago, just after the initial facade crumbled and they installed steel stripping. There was hope of rehabilitation. This project, like so many others, was abandoned, while the neighborhood around her was re-built and gentrified.
Well, Ol' Slumpy's gone now, demolished, her memory and architectural splendor squandered by a city that sells the jewels for the price of the polish. In her memory, here's the video of the last of her facade crumbling and some fantastic pics of the demolition by Detroit Funk.
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