semi modern

I was rushing to get to a liquor store before it closed on Christmas Eve two years ago when I stumbled on a little hidden enclave of Modern in – of all places – St. Clair Shores.  It is a little neighborhood right on the border of Grosse Pointe Woods full of all these great little California ranch homes.  The houses are not overly impressive individually, although they are cute, but it’s the massing of them that make it all work.

Nestled between St. Joan of Arc on Mack Avenue and the Assumption Greek Orthodox Church on Marter Road, the streets of St. Joan, Sunnyside and Avalon are completely lined with these hip little three-bedroom homes. Check out the Google map street view here to get a look.

Of course St. Clair Shores is at its heart a working class suburb, so these homes tend to be owned by people looking for a good price and neighborhood to raise a family, and not a sweet little modern abode.  So don’t be surprised to find a lot of pickups in driveways, and many homes are victims of unfortunate DIY projects (most popular seems to be turning the carport into a den).

An influx of young Dwell magazine-reading familes could really make this neighborhood of starter homes a hot little modern gem – a bookend for the more traditional Cabbage Patch neighborhood at the southern border of Grosse Pointe.  The price is right on these places – my pics were taken last fall, BEFORE the market bottomed out – when they were going for a little over $100k typically, and a fixer upper was priced as above.  And they’re all in walking, and certainly biking, distance from some great shops and restaurants on Mack Avenue, including Josef’s bakery and Merchant’s Wines.

With a little elbow grease to un-DIY some of the design mistakes and a few more Mini Coopers in the driveways, this neighborhood could be out-of-control cool.