Metal Leaves Studio
  • Home
  • Profile
  • Contact
  • Editorial
  • MUSIC Gallery
  • Event Services
  • EVENT Gallery
  • Portrait Services
  • PORTRAIT Gallery
  • Blog

Detroit Hustle | Amy Haimerl at Mutual Adoration

5/24/2019

0 Comments

 
​I recently attended a presentation at Mutual Adoration in Detroit. The theme was "Preserve," and the featured speaker was Amy Haimerl, a professor of Journalism and author of the book "Detroit Hustle." Below is an adaptation from Amy's talk-- basically a love story about a city. Detroit City.

We fell in love with Detroit. 

​Amy and her husband Karl had visited the city over many years-- and something kept calling them, nudging them to return. The people they met-- in the neighborhoods, at the coffee shop, at the dive bars around town, kept drawing them back.

At the time, they were living in Brooklyn, but just couldn't get Detroit out of their minds. They imagined the city and what it would be like to create a life there. As many of us that live here have experienced-- people thought they were crazy. What were they thinking! said everyone (probably).    

Click to Read More                                                   ↓↓↓


Detroit Dreams 

In 2012 they were driving through city they had visited through the years and Karl said he wants a house. In Detroit. So, through word-of-mouth, they heard about a home in West Village. Not just any home. A home that had spent countess years as an abandoned structure. So you know it was in great shape, hahahaha.

It was a once-glorious Georgian Revival home, circa 1914. This home was once owned by Nona Herzog, who in the 70s, saved the West Village neighborhood from being swept away in the undercurrent of progress. At the time, the entire West Village neighborhood was slated to be bulldozed. Obliterated. Herzog worked to have the neighborhood designated as a historic district. It took years of effort, but in 1980, West Village was granted placement on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Give Me a Sign 

There are many factors to consider when purchasing a home, all culminating in a perfect moment when you decide it's The One. The defining moment for Amy was twofold: As they stood in front of the forlorn structure on Van Dyke, after they had toured the interior-- a white cat walked across the roof, and a streetlight went on almost simultaneously. I don't know how simultaneous these instances are, but if you know anything about Detroit at that time-- the chances of a streetlight working were pretty slim. I think Corktown (on US 12-- a main throughfare) was the first neighborhood to get them,  and I remember it was shocking to be driving down Michigan Ave. with lights. I remember when West Village got theirs because that was a big deal too-- but anyway-- I could see how a streetlight would be a sign. 

They signed on the dotted line and bought the house for 35k.

Then the house and the cat became theirs. In a serious plot twist, the white cat that Amy saw on the roofline on that fateful day returned to their home during a blizzard. They named it Jack White. It was later discovered that their neighbor across the street actually owned the cat. It’s name was Amy. They now share joint custody. 

Amy wrote a book about her experiences renovating her home in West Village in a book published by Running Press, Detroit Hustle. It's a behind-the-scenes and deeply personal look into the painstaking renovation of a home in Detroit City-- and everything it took to get there.

Spoiler Alert: 400k. It takes 400k to get there. 

The Contractor's Final Bill was delivered with a bottle of bourbon, a nice touch if you ask me. 

Detroit Hustle is available at local bookseller Pages and online. 

In addition to writing a book, Amy is the creator and host of Shady Ladies Literary Society, a literary club that features a guest author at an evolving roster of venues around the city. And drinks. There's drinking involved. And food. And maybe some books. And reading. But probably not. 
Related: 
Labor of Love
The House that Jack Built 
Dream Of Life | Patti Smith's Home For Sale 
​How We Roll ​
​​One Won't Do 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    All images & text ©Nicole Wrona

    Categories

    All
    Art & Design
    Celebrations
    Detroit
    Event
    Music
    New York

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    Archives

    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    June 2021
    April 2021
    October 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    February 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    May 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011
    December 2010
    November 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    October 2009
    September 2009
    July 2009
    June 2009

    Picture
    Picture
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.