Check Out These Beautiful Homes of Motown’s Elite, On The Eastside

I love going down rabbit holes on the internet. I follow several Michigan history pages on Facebook, and with a tip of the hat to a former Detroit (Free-Press, Michigan Chronicle) journalist who goes by "Bhunt" and whose account is "Detroit Griot", he sent me on a journey to the East side of Detroit.

This area is unfamiliar to me, not having grown up in Detroit, so I'm really enjoying the classic architecture from the early to middle part of the last century. Pair that with songs that their name evoke, and it's a fun journey. Along with looking at pictures, it's about seeing interesting stories and comments about the homes and the area.

For example, Marvin Gaye's home on Outer Drive, was gifted to him by Berry Gordy, Jr. when Gaye married Gordy's sister, Anna. And one of the commenters said that was her dance teacher's home, too. That section of Outer Drive was renamed for Gaye earlier in 2021.

Or Stevie Wonder's home, which is in much better shape than the marker in Saginaw, the city of his birth. Wonder moved to Detroit at about 3 years old, and by age 12 had a national hit record with "Fingertips, Part 2".

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The information on Florence Ballard's home is that it's in the Russell-Woods neighborhood, which the FB account describes as home to Detroit's Black-Elite.

One of the things that the photos don't do justice to, is how big some of these home are. The childhood home of Aretha Franklin is very large, as was the Gaye home, as one commenter said. Another thing that some may not realize is almost all of these homes are within a mile or two of each other.

So take a look at some of these historic Detroit homes.