Farmhouse glow-up: How does a house triple in price in two years? By doubling in size. The 1800s farmhouse at 621 W. Summit sold for $625,000 in April 2024 and $1.915 million this June—and all it took was gutting, remodeling, and enlarging it to 3,263 square feet. The now five-bedroom, four-bath house has heated floors in the primary bathroom, skylights over the shower, and Viking appliances in the kitchen. But the property still has some of its farmhouse roots: there are vintage doors and an icebox, and the hardwood floors are all original.
Designed to be seen: At 3575 E. Huron River Dr., the view is everything. This 1,440-square-foot mid-century modern has expansive walls of glass overlooking the South Pond of the Huron River. It was designed by U-M architecture professor C. Theodore Larson and built in 1953 by Larson, his wife Myra, and their sons, with a little help from some U-M architecture students. The two-bedroom, two-bath was the family home for over seventy years, and the Larsons introduced the swans that still live on the pond. There’s just one little complication: according to the listing, the “home has asbestos throughout,” and was sold as-is for $400,000.
Small houses, big price difference: On this month’s map are two houses each just over 700 square feet. A two-bed, one-bath ranch at 1310 Kay Pkwy. boasts a finished basement and a fenced backyard, and it’s an easy drive or pedal to Westgate Shopping Center. It sold for $352,780. Two miles west, a one-bed, one-bath ranch at 685 S. Wagner sits on a half-acre lot backed up to Dolph Nature Area and across the street from the Saginaw Forest trailhead. It sold for $253,000. What could explain the nearly $100,000 price disparity? There’s the basement and the extra bedroom, but location also plays a part: the Wagner house is on a busy road with no sidewalks.
Dig These Digs: The 2,889-square-foot Craftsman at 1236 Westview Way, which sold for $1.25 million, has plenty of room to live in, with four bedrooms, 4.5 baths, an open-plan layout, soaring ceilings in the great room, and a finished lower-level walkout. There are multiple places to enjoy the outdoors too, including a deep front porch, a back deck with a patio table, and an enclosed porch for cooler weather. But if all that isn’t enough (or is too much), its owners can retreat to what the listing calls a “grown-up treehouse”—a small sanctuary nestled high in the trees that comes with its own wood-burning stove.