  Gargoyle Member Username: Gargoyle Post Number: 61 Registered: 04-2006 |
I just caught a glimpse of the old Livingstone house as I was driving on Mack by the DMC and it appears that the front of the house is no longer there. Does anyone know more about it? I'm assuming that gravity has finally conquered the old place. What a waste of a beautiful structure. | ||
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100 Post Number: 711 Registered: 12-2006 |
It was still there last Sunday when I was there. Too bad, but it was bound to happen sooner or later. | ||
Hybridy Member Username: Hybridy Post Number: 86 Registered: 08-2006 |
oh man tragedy indeed please post pics it is good friday after all | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 8889 Registered: 12-2003 |
I'm not familiar with this house, but am less than a mile from it...anyone give me an address I'll snap a digit or two on my way to work. | ||
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100 Post Number: 713 Registered: 12-2006 |
Go to Mack and John R. Heading south towards Mack, take a left. Look right as you go down Mack and you should see it. It was bound by cables and should be somewhat standing. It is one street south of Mack to be precise. | ||
Hornwrecker Member Username: Hornwrecker Post Number: 1791 Registered: 04-2005 |
Who had April sixth in the betting pool? | ||
Catman_dude Member Username: Catman_dude Post Number: 111 Registered: 03-2006 |
Any updated pictures of the now-defaced Slumpy????? Or is it on some other thread??? | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 750 Registered: 10-2006 |
It was on some other thread. Not sure which one though. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2188 Registered: 10-2003 |
Found it! Here's a thread featuring Slumpy as AIW's Pic of the Day from early February: https://www.atdetroit.net/forum/mes sages/91697/92652.html Gargoyle: Has it changed for the worse? Or pretty much still the same? | ||
Milwaukee Member Username: Milwaukee Post Number: 1180 Registered: 08-2006 |
What a magnificent house! I can't believe its gone. What a shame. It looked way beyond repair last year and has probably been in that state for 10 years. God if they had only gotten to that house sooner. It really is a sad day for Detroit, losing one of its finest homes. It really shows how low things have gotten in most of the city. Think about it, some family who lived there was most likely rich or upper middle class. A family of that status is probably living in some shithole mcmansion out in Oakland County today. De-evolution? | ||
Harsensis Member Username: Harsensis Post Number: 237 Registered: 07-2005 |
Looks like Ray1936 had it right, the first good spring windstorm did take it down. | ||
Catman_dude Member Username: Catman_dude Post Number: 112 Registered: 03-2006 |
I want peeechures, I want peeeechures, I want.....!!! I don't have powerful enough binoculars, telescope, etc. to see Defaced Slumpy from my place in Virginia. | ||
Catman_dude Member Username: Catman_dude Post Number: 113 Registered: 03-2006 |
I believe this was the last good picture shot of Slumpy taken in mid-March. http://www.flickr.com/photos/p aulhitz/424656123/ So Slumpy now has lost ALL it's (his?) brick facing in this last windstorm? | ||
Milwaukee Member Username: Milwaukee Post Number: 1188 Registered: 08-2006 |
That's it. | ||
Gargoyle Member Username: Gargoyle Post Number: 62 Registered: 04-2006 |
Kathleen, I'm afraid it's much worse now. The entire center section of the facade is on the ground, exposing the front interior rooms to full view. Most of the facing is off the second level of the round tower as well. I stopped by there yesterday afternoon when I left work and was puzzled by the look of the fallen debris. It appears to be stacked in piles according to type: cinder blocks on one side and redstone on the other. Is this the result of nature or demolition? Now that some of the interior is visible you can see that some effort was made at one point to brace the structure inside. There are 2X4's put together sort of like roughed-in walls (pardon my carpentry/construction ignorance---I was a welder) on the second floor of the round tower. Obviously someone once at least thought about saving the house. I have often wondered what halted the work. Sorry, I have no pictures to share. I don't normally take my camera to work. I was hoping Gannon made it over there, or maybe our friend at detroitFUNK had heard the sad news. | ||
Gannon Member Username: Gannon Post Number: 8912 Registered: 12-2003 |
 | ||
6nois Member Username: 6nois Post Number: 145 Registered: 11-2006 |
Sad to see the front go. I was watching it progress since I moved to Detroit. | ||
Catman_dude Member Username: Catman_dude Post Number: 114 Registered: 03-2006 |
Thanks, Gannon. It's time to take Old Slumpy off life support. He's saying "Let me go." | ||
Scs100 Member Username: Scs100 Post Number: 725 Registered: 12-2006 |
Down there today. Gannon's picture tells all. | ||
Gargoyle Member Username: Gargoyle Post Number: 63 Registered: 04-2006 |
Thanks, Gannon. We took our 4 year old grandson on a Brush Park tour after a show at the Fox in February. When he saw Slumpy he said, "Looks like nobody loves that house anymore." Out of the mouths of babes.... | ||
East_detroit Member Username: East_detroit Post Number: 1030 Registered: 11-2003 |
Or the people who moved it and then gave it a foundation of a few cinder blocks were idiots. | ||
Kathleen Member Username: Kathleen Post Number: 2189 Registered: 10-2003 |
Wow, thanks, Gargoyle for the report, and Gannon for the photo. If I had known of this thread before heading down to Eastern Market this morning, I would have checked it out for my ongoing watch of its demise. | ||
Douglasm Member Username: Douglasm Post Number: 806 Registered: 10-2003 |
It's kinda like watching the slow death of an old friend..... | ||
Bohemianrobot Member Username: Bohemianrobot Post Number: 22 Registered: 02-2007 |
Old slumpy, great nickname! I'll have to add that as a tag on my pics of this house. Why did anyone bother moving this home to a new/temporary foundation if they were going to just let it sit and rot? Too bad! | ||
Thnk2mch Member Username: Thnk2mch Post Number: 852 Registered: 02-2006 |
I just stumbled across this old MetroTimes story on Old Grumpy. Sorry if its been posted before. | ||
Quozl Member Username: Quozl Post Number: 387 Registered: 07-2005 |
I want to say that AIW in Windsor gave the Livingston house the nickname of "Old Slumpy". He has chronicled the deterioration of the house for quite some time. | ||
Thnk2mch Member Username: Thnk2mch Post Number: 853 Registered: 02-2006 |
Oops - my bad! Old Slumpy  | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 756 Registered: 10-2006 |
Where was it moved from? | ||
Exmotowner Member Username: Exmotowner Post Number: 172 Registered: 06-2005 |
are there any pictures of Old Slumpy when it was new? Who was Livingston? Just wondering? | ||
Aiw Member Username: Aiw Post Number: 6232 Registered: 10-2003 |
There is a photo of the house new here: http://internationalmetropolis .com/?p=50 Livingston, was William Livingstone, of the shipping channel and Belle Isle lighthouse fame. | ||
Exmotowner Member Username: Exmotowner Post Number: 173 Registered: 06-2005 |
Wow Thats amazing! Thanks Aiw! What a shame though. Thanks for the info! She sure was beautiful in her day! | ||
Exmotowner Member Username: Exmotowner Post Number: 182 Registered: 06-2005 |
Its just a shame that the owner would rather let it fall down that give it to a family that would fix it and bring life back into it. Anyone (not that it matters) know who owns old Slumppy now? | ||
Exmotowner Member Username: Exmotowner Post Number: 183 Registered: 06-2005 |
OK I probably shouldnt have said "give" it to some family. Maybe sell it REASONABLY to a family that could fix it. (ok Im better now). LOL | ||
Cman710 Member Username: Cman710 Post Number: 282 Registered: 07-2006 |
Do we really know whether there is an "owner?" I am guessing there is someone who technically owns the property, but is there someone who actually pays taxes? Surely, there is no one who has put any money into the structure. This is really sad. While the house was probably unsalvageable anyway, the falling off of the front will just accelerate the pace at which it falls apart. This is really a shame, especially since the house's move some years ago was done to preserve it. | ||
Exmotowner Member Username: Exmotowner Post Number: 195 Registered: 06-2005 |
Yea. Its a shame. You would think that the city would move in and take it down. Its hard to watch something so beautiful die day by day. (even on line). Thats one thing I dont understand is why the owners arent either forced to take care of the structure or take it down when its like slumpy. The big question is where are the Owners and why the hell arent they forced to do something? (Ok off my soapbox) | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 1528 Registered: 10-2003 |
That house cannot be saved. OK, maybe for millions, it can... but... ? Put it out of its misery. | ||
Lmichigan Member Username: Lmichigan Post Number: 5367 Registered: 10-2003 |
I was thinking the same thing. BTW, the city is a terrible straits, financially. It just doesn't have the wherewithal or time to go through years of litigation forcing the owners to fix these things up. That's even if you can find the owner to begin with. Our state law has been sped up, a bit, on make-safe-or-demolish programs, I believe, but it still takes at least a year or two before the city is granted the right to bring these things down or sell them off. It's really terrible, but with how our nation's government is set up, property owners are near absolute kings. The private sector is given primacy, here, taking most of the power away from the public sector to solve the problem of these abandoned homes. | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 109 Registered: 12-2006 |
I was not aware that a lot of prime historical property is owned by "pro-Detroit" businesses and entities. Here is an article from the Detroit News in Sept. 2005, http://www.detnews.com/2005/me tro/0509/26/A01-327216.htm If you read it before, it should be read again. Frankly, this is outrageous. For me, the needless, wasteful deterioration of the Livingstone House is the last straw. (Isn't it a Kahn designed home?) The city should order the property improved (i.e. building permit applications on record) or seize it with in 90 days, the owners forfeiting any claims as an abandoned property. Period. Then the city should take advantage of the fed and state money, grants, etc. and get busy! The city is lucky as hell I'm far away or I'd be Planning and Development's bitch on wheels. You'd better believe it! | ||
Fury13 Member Username: Fury13 Post Number: 1531 Registered: 10-2003 |
"(Isn't it a Kahn designed home?)" No, but it's by Mason & Rice, names just as notable as Kahn. Built 1893. | ||
Mdoyle Member Username: Mdoyle Post Number: 62 Registered: 10-2006 |
Eastsidedame, The whole seizing thing would be good in theory except for the fact that city gov't is so disorganized and detached from itself that the right hand never knows what the left is doing. So if the buildings are seized, some paper work get filed.. somewhere under a pile. Suddenly no one know who owns the property, the city owns more abandoned structures it cant afford to demolish. The land is losing money because its not being taxed and the abandoned building continues to sit there. The city cant seem to get people to pay parking tickets or water bills let alone seizing property. The whole system needs an overhaul. The continual ineptitude of city government has cost billions of dollars. For a while i was hoping for receivership just so we could clean out all city govt and start from scratch with copious amounts of reorganization. | ||
Exmotowner Member Username: Exmotowner Post Number: 196 Registered: 06-2005 |
Eastsidedame I would be the bitch right with you if I still lived there. It is crazy. Im coming back for the first time in 10 years over memorial day weekend and Im really looking forward to it. I've been so home sick its not funny! Your right Mdoyle, its a whole lot easier said than done. The owner of slumpy probably has many more just like it. | ||
Eastsidedame Member Username: Eastsidedame Post Number: 110 Registered: 12-2006 |
Exactly, Exmotowner. And who is this person, exactly? Why don't these articles include the name and addresses of the irresponsible person(s) involved. After all, the Livingstone House was MOVED once, was it not? That's probably one big reason it's in worse shape than it would have been if it was just let alone. I don't know how to do this on line without paying for it, but if I was in Detroit I'd go to the hall of records and search the Wayne County, Michigan Register of Deeds and get the name of every owner of every neglected and abandoned historic house in every historic district. Then, I'd get the list published...in the daily papers, in the school newspapers, on the internet and on flyers if I had to. Everyone from HGTV and the National Historic Trust to the guy reading the Detroit News on the bus would know who these folks were...their name and address right next to the photo of the once beautiful structure. I'd make sure the name and address of the owner of the Livingstone House (for example) was common knowledge. Shame on the mayor, planning and development, and every city department who has been letting this happen. Public pressure and shame has been known to work in the past. There's a lot of anger on this topic; it just needs to be directed where it will get the most results. Old Neal Shine would be proud. | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 702 Registered: 11-2005 |
Someone actually was filming when the facade fell. Believe it or not: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v =3p7G4hpvUn4 Sorry, I didn't know this thread existed when I posted the last topic. | ||
Krawlspace Member Username: Krawlspace Post Number: 311 Registered: 04-2004 |
I want to throw up... | ||
Eric_c Member Username: Eric_c Post Number: 947 Registered: 11-2003 |
WOW!!!! Just WOW! | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 703 Registered: 11-2005 |
Albert Kahn is rolling in his grave in Troy. | ||
Mg2007 Member Username: Mg2007 Post Number: 14 Registered: 12-2006 |
the guy in the backround is soo funny i cant stop laughing | ||
Yooper Member Username: Yooper Post Number: 33 Registered: 12-2006 |
So sad! That's my favorite Albert Kahn house. | ||
Quozl Member Username: Quozl Post Number: 517 Registered: 07-2005 |
It's my favorite Mason & Rice designed house too! | ||
Yooper Member Username: Yooper Post Number: 34 Registered: 12-2006 |
Did Albert Kahn work with those guys? | ||
Quozl Member Username: Quozl Post Number: 518 Registered: 07-2005 |
He sure did! Link | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 1390 Registered: 01-2005 |
That is absolutely amazing! Talk about the luck of being somewhere at the right time! From the sound of the wind in the microphone, would appear wind gusts were the culprit. Thanks for finding that, Rhymeswithrawk!!!! | ||
Patrick Member Username: Patrick Post Number: 4311 Registered: 10-2003 |
How did those people just happen to be there videotaping when it fell? | ||
Ewo Member Username: Ewo Post Number: 23 Registered: 05-2006 |
I'm thinking the same thing. Seems like pretty long odds to be there at the exact moment it falls. | ||
Rjk Member Username: Rjk Post Number: 695 Registered: 11-2003 |
After a handful of bricks come tumbling down the guy with the camera states, "That is the most amazing thing I've ever seen." He needs to get out more. "How did those people just happen to be there videotaping when it fell?" My first thought was that they may have been throwing rocks at the house. It just seems very strange to me that it happens to fall and they have a video camera focused on it. | ||
Rhymeswithrawk Member Username: Rhymeswithrawk Post Number: 704 Registered: 11-2005 |
If you're accusing them of causing the collapse ... Ray's right, it was likely wind gusts. It's slowly been crumbling since the house moving company botched the job. | ||
Diehard Member Username: Diehard Post Number: 50 Registered: 03-2005 |
WHy in the world did anyone move such a big mansion onto what looks like cinder blocks and a weak wooden frame? Wasn't it doomed from that point on? |
