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Diana Ross’ Childhood Home in Detroit Is on the Market for 3K

Stop, in the name of love—and check out the childhood home of Motown legend Diana Ross. It’s now on the market for $132,500.

The Detroit residence, which the hit-maker left decades ago, had long been in decline. But there’s been a recent spate of activity in the North End/Gateway neighborhood, where the home is located.

“The North End is the hot topic,” says listing agent Darin McLeskey with Denovo Real Estate. “It’s the neighborhood that’s really coming back. It’s been overlooked for so long. You definitely see redevelopment patterns.”

One of those patterns happened to include the former Ross residence, a two-family home owned by the city and picked up for a song ($1,400) by a developer who then gutted it.

“It was rough,” McLeskey says of the state of the interior. “He gutted it to the studs.”

Now the home has all new doors, windows, wiring, plumbing, insulation, HVAC, and drywall. The two south-facing porches are “nice and bright.”

What it doesn’t have is a finished kitchen or cabinets. In fact, the listing describes it as “nearly complete and ready for your final touches.”

Indeed, prepare for many touches. This could be the perfect opportunity to create a custom home, or pick up an investment property. A buyer could keep it as a two-family building, as it was when Ross lived there. Or it could be turned into a single-family structure. The home positively hums with possibilities.

The property measures 2,112 square feet and has four bedrooms and 2.5 baths.

In 1955, the Ross family moved to 635 Belmont St. (the legal address for the home is now 633 Belmont St.), according to “Diana Ross: A Biography,” written by J. Randy Taraborrelli.

The author described the neighborhood at the time as a “pleasant community of two-story houses, well-trimmed lawns, and front porches decorated with flower boxes.”

According to the biography, it was while living there that Ross met the 15-year-old William (“Smokey”) Robinson, who would rehearse with his group on their front steps. The family of six children quickly outgrew the space, and in 1958, when Ross turned 14, they moved to a larger apartment in the newly built Brewster-Douglass Housing Projects.

The home, and the area, could certainly sing again.

McLeskey says there has been interest in the home, and perhaps someone who appreciates the Motown connection will snap it up.

“You think of the history of Detroit; Motown is something that was exported all over the world and was a shining, positive light. I think holding onto that part of the history is important,” he says.

What can we say, Ross (and her former home) will keep us hangin’ on.

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