Does anyone know the story of the pair of blue dome houses on Vernor at St. Anne, next to TamalerÃ[a Nuevo León? I've always wondered about them, and I noticed today that they're listed for sale. Asking price is $70,000.
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Does anyone know the story of the pair of blue dome houses on Vernor at St. Anne, next to TamalerÃ[a Nuevo León? I've always wondered about them, and I noticed today that they're listed for sale. Asking price is $70,000.
Those two domes are a house and a garage from what I remember. My wife and I had look at the property a couple of years ago when it was for sale and I think they were asking over $200,000. My wife didn't like the idea of living so close to the "dead hooker" tunnel that goes under the railroad tracks however.
do tell more about this tunnel...Quote:
My wife didn't like the idea of living so close to the "dead hooker" tunnel that goes under the railroad tracks however.
One of the "scariest" tunnels in the city, followed closely by any tunnel in the Milwaukee Junction area.
My mom loves geodesic homes because of their structure and rigidity during inclement weather [[hurricanes). That instituional light blue needs to go.
jack white's hippie brother built that dome and lived there for awhile.
Riding your bike under that tunnel is always scary. At least they finally put a light under there a couple years ago.
Do tell more info.Quote:
Originally Posted by dexterferry
there isn't much more to tell, its where vernor passes under the railroad tracks behind the MCS, its dark and sketchy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gsgeorge
You can see them on Google Maps [[with the satellite view turned on)
The folks at O'Connor Real Estate in Corktown have them up for sale.
www.oconnordetroit.com
Having seen them for sale now I remember them, I'll trade them my house for theirs. Well maybe not the garage is too small.
or... you can venture in there after getting incredibly high and arrogant and make a video before you head back to Grosse Pointe or Bloomfield and it'll show how unique, quirky, and original you are [[aren't you tired of those vids?)... anyhow I'm getting really tired of that area being what it is when some business owners are trying so hard....Quote:
Originally Posted by ThaFuzz
I think I would get claustrophobia living in that house.
http://www.oconnordetroit.com/proper...667_vern/1.htm
yep that is correct--the two guys busted in with shotguns and OOPS! there was an off duty and armed wayne county sheriff in there.Quote:
Originally Posted by paragon_belial
one was killed in the house, the other escaped but was later found down the street still alive but in pretty bad shape.
and to any interested purchasers, word is that wasn't just a random B&E: the domes were being used as an afterhours party venue and that is why the bad guys showed up. from what I heard, Gillis was even raising kids there before he rented it out, I think.
you can walk to honeybee and fresh tamales are just a few steps away.
I never really considered this a tunnel, just a bridge underpass. It's scary but c'mon, its by the train station, you're only gonna see photographers and suburban highschoolers over there.Quote:
Originally Posted by gravitymachine
There was a thread on these places on the old forum. I've been trying to find it for awhile but the search function over there is off due to maintenance.
The place was for sale by owner at the time, and he came in and talked about how he built the place by hand. I think he was asking well over $100,000.
I love the idea of that place, but I have to have windows to see outside. Also, I find the surroundings a bit depressing. Right on the lots where the house is, there are the remnants of another house, buried foundation, remains of cement steps leading up from the sidewalk, some very old landscaping. Also, I couldn't stand to have the ruins of MCS towering over me like that.
jesus, how long ago was this?Quote:
Originally Posted by dexterferry
go have a walk through there a couple times then, especially when its raining, lots of curiously destitute and desparate looking photographers and suburban highschoolers, but it does provide a good storm shelter for the roosevelt park summer camp. be sure to wonder at the myriad of gang graffiti down there as well. great place to strollQuote:
I never really considered this a tunnel, just a bridge underpass. It's scary but c'mon, its by the train station, you're only gonna see photographers and suburban highschoolers over there.
Call me a nut-case, but I love the look of that building. I know it's a ruin, but there's just something about it. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by gazhekwe
for what it's worth, i lived on st. anne about four houses away from those domes for a year and i never experienced anything sketchy or weird in that neighborhood. and from what i remember, the owners of the geodesic domes were raising kids there.
i covet that property-- the domes look sweet and that's a pretty [[and sizable) lot.
Why would anyone want to live in such a proverty stricken area?
Exactly why you are ane ex-detroiter. To each his own.
Crime to high, taxes too high, return to low!
Heck, listing for $70,000, they'd probably take a good deal less. It's right there by the bridge . . . I'm half tempted myself.Quote:
Originally Posted by Lakesuperior
Is that a command?Quote:
Originally Posted by exdetroiter
Leo Gillis [[jack white's brother) and I built the two domes on vernor and st. anne. Leo and I are both initiates of the Argentum Astrum a lineage type order founded by Aliester Crowley in 1907. Leo is a buckminster fuller nut and I'm a Structural Ironworker, between the two of us with assorted scattered volunteers over a two year period built the domes on a shoestring budget as a home for leo and his family.
Now it gets strange: When we were digging the footing we found what we believed to be human femur bones, one was in tact and the other broken. At this point we should've stopped and called the authorities, however we knew that this would halt the building of the domes forever so for good or for bad we said a prayer and tossed the remains back into the hole and kept going.
While
building the dome in the same area we found the bones, I fell twelve feet right on my back, a back injury that I still suffer from eleven years later.
Years
later after leo's divorce, he rented the domes out. a female detroit cop wandered up on the porch and shot herself and died [[same spot i fell and where we found the bones. and recently the last renter was running a blind pig in the domes and there were two people killed in a shootout in the same spot where the other incidences happened. the domes are now abandoned and leo lives in the home that he and jack and their other siblings grew up in.
Wow, interesting stories, bap.
Thanks for the info.
So...you're sayin'...that everything is cool, as long as you stay out of that spot...and you have a fifty-fifty chance of being in some incident if you are in law enforcement. Fifty percent it will be YOU that bites it, fifty percent being the other guy.
Hm-m-m-mm-n-n, that might keep away superstitious law enforcers...this keeps sounding better and better!
WAIT! You said it was built by volunteers?!
very depressing actually, leo and i were there last weekend and the place was trashed by theives. all that work, all that time. absorbed by the crackheads
welcome baphomet, and thanks for the amazing stories.
Thank you for the amazing stories. Maybe someone will still save your amazing domes.
Interesting. I've never noticed them before.
yup, mostly Leo and I but there were a small handful of people that we could count on to lend a hand when the call came in.
When I worked in real estate in Corktown we had the "dome home" listed. This was a few years ago, when the asking price was $200,000+. We got calls about it nearly every day. Showed it a few times, but I knew no one would buy it for that price. The lot is oversized, and could be a good location depending on what happens with MCS. The home itself is actually larger inside than you would think. The smaller dome is a garage [[probably the only circular garage I've ever seen), with what appeared to be a band practice space above it. There's a doorway up there so you can walk out onto the roof and into another doorway to the upstairs of the other dome. Pretty cool. A bummer to hear what's become of it. I would say it's a solid buy at $70K, regardless of MCS. The kit alone I think cost $40,000 originally. And to be that close to Slow's...
From what I have heard, the domes have some pretty bad water damage from the skylights and the blood stain isn't helping much. Its a shame, I love those domes.
a little water damage at the link btwn the two domes. the skylights are fine. the floor in the kitchen is italian marble that was salvaged from the train station by some crackheads that we bought for $2. a 2'x2' square. bloodstains are in the carpet in the aforementioned corner of the big dome. the big one has a 3/4 loft with 2400sq ft of living space and the smaller dome has a 2 1/2 car garage with a 1000sq ft loft above used as a recording studio. Leo is a bassist who plays with x d wei, among other projects. His younger brother Jack had a few siblings that had to have inspired his career. his brother ed i've been told makes him seem like novice with a six string. Leo also writes on number theory, aleister crowley, qabalistic theory among many other things.
thirty grand would make it an unbelievable space.
yeahhh. my friend's bf is his nephew.Quote:
Originally Posted by dexterferry
So you find what you think to be human bones, and you continue building anyway?! Hmmmm . . .Quote:
Originally Posted by baphomet
Quote:
Originally Posted by baphomet
So basically what you're saying is that crackheads are cool when they're trespassing, destroying and looting the contents of a beautiful historic building such as the train station in Detroit [[especially when they sell their looted goods to you at bargain basement prices) - they're not so cool, however, when they turn their attention to your friend's empty and abandoned property.Quote:
Originally Posted by baphomet
I find your actions and comments repulsive.
Well snoopy, I don't mean to insult anyone, but man, sometimes you gotta be a little flexible to build great things. The history of Detroit and the USA is filled with colorful characters most of whom you probably would not like.
So you would have done it different, more power to you.
Baphomet, I don't think your actions are repulsive. Plenty of people around town have all sorts of treasures and collections taken out of abandoned buildings. I would rather see those things in the hands of the living. I don't really think there is much hope for MCS restoration. Is it looting? Not in my opinion, though I know not everyone would agree and that's okay.
I find it odd that no one has torn out the blood stained carpet. Wouldn't it be better for a potential buyer to see a concrete floor and think "This place needs carpet" instead of seeing a giant blood stain and thinking "Someone was murdered in this room. Get me out of here!"??
I enjoyed your spooky dome lore, but I don't think you can expect a fruit basket from O'Connor realty anytime soon.
Yes, whoever owns it should get rid of that carpet.
If I was single, I would love to buy that place. I love the strange stories that go with it. Wife wouldn't think much of it though.
Now why would somebody sign up here and make two such posts on a thread nearly 2 months old?
A wider view from Google Earth.
If my brain is working at all, based on post 28, these were built in 1998 or so which would explain why I've never seen them. Last time I was through that section of town was probably in the late 80's.
:) That knife and fork next to them makes them look like a table setting.
Meddle,
Apparently someone has even MORE time on their hands than us.
These domes are OFF the market. They were taken back by the bank, and some deal is being worked out to get them into the hands of a worthy non-profit venture in the SW side.
Done deal. Case closed.
What do you mean?? I just saw this property for sale for $70,000 last week at O'Conner's Reality.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gannon
I ran into the principle interest of O'Connor Realty, literally, not more than two weeks ago, and he gave me that information. I was out jogging, he was walking his children. [[Nobody was injured.)
If anything changed, then per our conversation I hope he would've gotten back to me.
As it is, I have an appointment today with a realtor for another building that suits my needs well.
i once called on something listed on craigslist only to find it was sold two days prior, the horror!Quote:
Originally Posted by izzyindetroit
I don't mean to pry John, but weren't you recently evicted from your loft? How are you going to afford to buy these domes or a building if you can't pay your rent? Just curious.Quote:
Originally Posted by Gannon
I'd say these are the things that private messages are for, Nothing like airing someone's dirty laundry for them.Quote:
Originally Posted by detmich
Not trying to air dirty laundry. john was pretty openly posting about this a little while ago. Obviously things have turned around for him, so I'd like to here the positive story since he chose to share the negative with us all.Quote:
Originally Posted by Cushkid
Gee, Det, that isn't prying.
That is doubting.
Much worse.
My troubles last year stemmed from severe clinical depression.
That is an illness that I had little control over, nobody who succumbs to it does.
Over the past ten years, while learning ways to cope with it...I also realized I need to go further towards increasing my emotional resiliency to handle the severe shocks served up by life.
In order that those shocks appeared: My divorce, 1997, recovered in a few years with the help of family, doctors, and friends [[1998 was the year of discovery, when I was officially diagnosed); September 11th [[caused me to walk away from my dream job, and return almost immediately to Michigan where I sought the company and emotional support of family and friends that I could NOT find in Los Angeles); My mother's sickness which led to her death in 1994 [[this one was a whopper, understandably so, and I was JUST getting used to her absence when...); ItsJeff died suddenly in his sleep.
So...for all of you keeping score, and wondering why his passing had such an impact on me...there it is.
My landlord at the amazing DFD Lofts had me over to his house just last night. He understands the depth of what I suffered, and how it kept me from functioning fully to my generous capacities. He is patiently waiting for the last four months rent from me, and he will get paid.
If the last seven months would've gone better, if I had chosen to focus on MY business instead of blindly helping another in deep distress, then I would NOT have been evicted. I chose to jump on someone else's bandwagon to snap myself out of my funk...having daily interactions with people and HAVING to get out of bed and show up somewhere. I proved I could, everyone knows where I was and what I did, now it is time for my return to the stuff I had dreamed and planned. Time to act, to do.
In addition, I now have great empathy for and deep understanding of anyone caught in the swirling and churning dark depths of clinical depression...and I have a novel patterned plan discovered through my ordeal which allows me to live with this issue without it severely damaging my life any further. It may be helpful to others, and I will publish it soon for them. We will see! I will not divulge the whole of it here, beyond the random discovery that has already been put forth. Buy the book!
I have been assembling the means to get back to productive life...and as long as I can avoid the doubters and the system who always seem to want to drag folks down [[for whatever personal and professional reasons they have), and as long as I can remain on my learned path of proper rest, nutrition, exercise, FAITH, and motion...then I will not get stuck in my head and my bed EVER again.
I am much stronger now than ever...and know that it is up to me to surf the waves served up by life, instead of letting the big ones crash me to smithereens standing on the shores of life with my back turned to them.
So...I have resources you wouldn't understand, and things that will not be revealed on a public board, but I will have the perfect place to continue my contributions to this city, including the creation of many, many jobs that are so desperately needed. There will be so much activity out of this next place, I will never be alone long enough to trip back into the unending universe inside my noggin.
Thanks for asking...
John- now that is good news to hear. I think everyone on here is interested in how you are doing.. Please keep us up to date on progress as you move forward.
Please don't. No one wants to hear the pitiable details of everyone's life, especially on a forum that has nothing to do with you. It's embarrassing and loathsome. Grow a sack and quit airing your laundry in public.
Like truck nutz? Should he hang them from the saddle on his bike?Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeM
http://images.tribe.net/tribe/upload...7-9e95d978807a
I heard this property sold last month for $20,000.
http://i26.tinypic.com/23u07r.gif
http://i26.tinypic.com/2rdg193.gif
Nice, lot of gardenspace as well. But then there's that eyesore to the north... ;)
http://i31.tinypic.com/2l8ixia.gif
Ps. Still strange to see Bing lists the MCS as an Amtrack Railway Station, a role MCS hasn't played since 1988...
My source was O'Connor Real Estate. Also, I heard they were indeed pretty stripped, resulting in the low sale price.
Someone beat me to it! :)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Whitehouse
Threre was an Amtrak station there until the mid-1990's. It just did not use the building any longer.
Considering the creepy background of the property, I'd demo those domes and put up a new house if I was the owner.
I doubt it's the domes with the bad vibes, if it's anything, I'd bet on the land itselfQuote:
Originally Posted by Fury13
Have a Priest come in and give it a blessing. Problem solved!
These are back on the market https://detroit.curbed.com/2017/6/5/...ktown-for-sale
$399,000.!...a little excessive i'd say.
Believe me, if you want scary tunnels, BY FAR 20th Street takes the cake.
More descriptive Info on that 20th street tunnel please , I want to check it out.
It'S about the same length as the Vernor underpass, but unlike Vernor, there are no skylights between the tracks. 20th Street tunnel is pitch black and looks like a great place to dispose of a trade union leader's body, buy drugs, or make friends with some nocturnal animals.Quote:
Originally Posted by softailrider