(Mount Clemens, MI) We recently attended a wedding north of Detroit, which is my hometown. While driving on the northern east side we decided to take a detour and drive past a house we owned from 1988-1990.The house is located at 32 Third Street just outside of downtown Mount Clemens, MI. We moved from Detroit in the summer of 1988, thinking we could make a fortune on a fixer-upper in the suburbs. Of course, we did not stick around long enough to become real estate moguls, but we made a few dollars on the transaction.
However, this house was a labor of love for my wife and I. The place had been let go, and needed a lot of work. I remember that the windows looked yellow from all the cigarette tar that built up on them, and how my wife got involved in a two-day plumbing overhaul when the old iron pipes kept falling apart when all she wanted to do was install a vanity. She ended up replacing half the old cast iron lines with PVC, while teaching herself a bunch of plumbing skills on the fly.
I think we spent every free moment for two years improving that old farm house, which was built around 1900. We pulled out flea-infested carpeting and polished the hardwood floors, and we painted rooms that likely had not seen a fresh coat in 20 years. Along the way we replaced a hot water heater, a circuit breaker box, a rotten porch, and more amenities than I can remember.
I am glad to see that subsequent owners have continued improving the place. There is now a white fence around the property, and someone added shutters and gutter guards, from what I can see.
Take care, old house, and may you be someone's happy home for another 100 years.
