Whitney House Upper Unit

FEATURES
Enter the circa 1892 David C. Whitney mansion through the 9’ tall carved oak private entry doors, and you’ll find a grand staircase leading up two flights of stairs to your third floor living quarters. Two king bedrooms and one queen bedroom are furnished with top-of-the-line memory foam mattresses. Enjoy two full bathrooms, an updated kitchen, and a fourth floor wet bar with counter seating overlooking the downtown skyline! The kitchen features a coffee bar and the refrigerator has an ice-maker and filtered water. A full-size washer/dryer is also on-site. The large TV in the living room has a Firestick and a remote linked to the high-speed wi-fi. On the fourth floor, a larger 70” smart tv is located in the cozy circular turret room. Parking is available onsite.

LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
This home is a perfect stay when going to concerts, Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, Pistons and/or JazzFest, just to name a few. The views from the unit are spectacular. Look to the south east and see Ford Field and Comerica Park. Directly south is the beautiful Detroit skyline and to the west is Little Caesars Arena! The house is conveniently located a half block away from Detroit's QLine, offering free rides as far south as Hart Plaza and as far north as W Grand Boulevard. Two stops away on the QLine is access to the Detroit People Mover which circles the downtown area. Feel free to skip the QLine and People Mover if you care to walk 7 minutes to Comerica Park and the Fox Theatre. Less than a 10 minute walk will get you to Campus Martius or Ford Field. Whether on foot, on public transportation or Uber/Lyft, Detroit has a wealth of delicious restaurants easily accessible.

HISTORY OF THE HOME
According to Eric Becker, historic home researcher of the Brush Park neighborhood, “The story of 82 Alfred reflects the ups and downs of Detroit through time. It was built in the late 1870s, then expanded and remodeled to its Queen Anne-style by David C. Whitney, son of lumber baron David Whitney Jr. Whitney used architect Gordon W. Lloyd.” “As Detroit changed, so did the house. By the 1920s, the wealthy enclave of Brush Park was becoming a crowded neighborhood for auto industry workers. The home was turned into a rooming house.

ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE
The 135-year-old house in Detroit has a co-starring role in a 2012 vampire movie, Only Lovers Left Alive, and is available for rent on several streaming services. The historic home symbolizes the decaying grandeur of a post-industrial city. One of the the main and most important locations was Adam's house. They really wanted to stay true and authentic to Detroit and the architecture. By the time the film crew arrived, decades of the city's economic struggles were visible on Alfred Street, where only a few inhabited homes, the remnants of the Gilded Age, still exist.

In the movie, the brick Victorian house with the striking turret is the moody abode of the star, a centuries-old rock musician-vampire who prefers to dine via blood banks and lives surrounded by old sound equipment, vinyl albums, rare guitars and photos of artists ranging from Franz Kafka to Iggy Pop.

YOUR HOST
Jeff Cowin, who has renovated 17 homes in the area, bought the 7,000 -square-foot property in December 2012. That was only months after the movie was filmed. When Cowin took ownership, the roof leaked through the attic and three floors to the front foyer. The plumbing and wiring needed to be replaced. Much of the plaster on the walls was damaged or missing. He spent a few weeks filling dumpsters with the hoard of items left by the previous owners. Jeff prides himself on being a quick-responding host, available to meet anything that may come up.