The Purchase & Renovation of Patti Smith’s Home (Part 1)
Ever tried negotiating with a hall of fame rock star? Some past clients and I did just that during Fall of 2015 — the prohibition-era “tiny castle” was listed on the open market but none of the listing ticket’s language indicated that the home was owned by a famous Detroit musician who you may have heard before:
For the millennials reading, Patti Smith was one of the progenitors of punk rock —after becoming an influencer in the NYC punk rock scenes during the 1970’s she would later marry and collaborate with Fred “Sonic” Smith, who formed the MC5 back in 1964 out of Lincoln Park, MI. They raised two children (Jesse and Jackson) together just north of Detroit in St. Clair Shores, MI.
The political backdrop to their movement is also noteworthy— MC5 was managed by John Sinclair (who established the White Panther Party, a militantly anti-racist & leftist organization working to support the Black Panther Party), and was well-known for performing during protests for the Vietnam War. Marxism and left-wing ideology deeply influenced the group’s on-stage performances, underpinning their lyrics and musical style. Tensions culminated in Ann Arbor when Sinclair was sentenced to ~10 years’ prison for the possession of two marijuana cigarettes; notable celebrities John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Stevie Wonder, Bob Segar, and others gathered to protest and perform at the “John Sinclair Freedom Rally”. Sinclair was released from prison three days after the rally, and the event ultimately inspired Ann Arbor’s pro-legalization “Hash Bash” rally which continues at the ire of conservatives today.
An Ann Arbor connection was recognizable during one of the first tours of the home on Beach in St. Clair Shores that Heidi and Mike had found while casually perusing waterfront dream pads on Zillow.
Fortunately for the purchasers, Patti had chosen not to push the publicity card for her home (we speculated on why- perhaps she was wanting to sell it to someone who valued the potential in the home itself, as opposed to focusing the advert on wide-eyed fans and followers?) — at the time I found some gawking on a thread in an agent-only forum on Facebook:
I still remember finding that thread while we were waiting on Patti’s response to our initial offer; I wanted to censor all of the banter to make sure that no other local agents or buyers knew the significance of the neglected “castle” or its ownership. Fortunately for the purchaser there wasn’t as much Googliness in the other agents who were showing and discussing the home online, and our client didn’t have to compete with another purchaser during negotiations. Because of the significant investment and mechanical overhaul required to take on the home, our initial offer was around 10% less than Patti’s sticker price.
Never before have I had a reasonable offer to purchase just sit — and sit, it did, for ~3 weeks (with no official response from the seller) until Heidi and Mike decided to give Patti her price before more offers started rolling in and the cat was let out of the bag in terms of the significance of the mysterious waterfront home.
With the accepted offer in hand, we prepared ourselves for what inspections would call for on this home (condition was so bad that the inspector could’ve almost just reported the one or two things not in need of repair/replacement), and then headed straight into a financing debacle with the property. On their third lender and third mortgage product, they were finally able to hear the ring of the “clear to close” before the real work on the home would begin.
During last check, the Allingers were near the 1/3rd point of completion on the home’s extensive rehab. Since moving into the “castle”, they have heard many stories about the historic significance of the home as a stopping point for illegal liquors being smuggled over from Canada and distributed to a network of local Detroit-area Speakeasies.
This would help explain the separate basements in the foundation of the home — one was accessible off of a spiral staircase in the rear of the house, but it was blocked in so as to hide the other section of the basement which was only reachable by a hidden staircase at the front of the home — behind a classic moving bookcase, no less:
The neglected home was detailed with gorgeous slabs of marble, unique & beautiful natural stone tile mosaics, and petinaed fixtures and hardware all waiting to be lovingly refinished and restored into their biggest renovation project yet.
The Patti Smith connection was discovered before we entered escrow — the Allingers found reference to the home in her 2008 rockumentary “Patti Smith: Dream of Life”. However, finding documented evidence on the home’s backstory has been a challenge, since there was no available title abstract for the property to change hands at closing, since recordings and deeds are formatted and managed electronically today.
— An abstract of title is the condensed history of the title to a particular parcel of real estate, consisting of a summary of the original grant and all subsequent conveyances and encumbrances affecting the property and a certification by the abstractor that the history is complete and accurate.
Which leads me to today’s call to action — Where would you look for resources to ascertain more about the history surrounding a home like this? We would greatly appreciate any direction you could point us in. Please click the heart below this article, and let us know your thoughts or suggestions in the comments! THANK YOU!
