1967 Detroit Riot Scars Still Show On Recently Sold Mansion

DETROIT, MI — A once stunning 1920s mansion at 7477 La Salle Blvd. in Detroit wore the scars of the 1967 riots through the years, offering silent testimony to spread of rioting beyond the epicenter of violence at 12th Street and Clairmount Avenue in Detroit 50 years ago this week. The off-market listing on realtor.com shows bullet holes in the facade after National Guard troops raided the house, thought to be an “ammunition dump with scores of boxes of bullets.”

Photos of newspaper clippings on the realtor.com site offer a glimpse of what was going on at the house on LaSalle Boulevard and elsewhere in the city during five days of civil unrest from July 23-27. Photos also show the bullet holes that remained.

The 5,400-square-foot single-family home went on the market in April, listing for about $233,500, and recently sold for $230,000, according to a report by MLive.com. It was marketed as a fixer upper, and it’s unclear if the new buyer will cover up the mansion’s war wounds. (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts and newsletters from Detroit Patch, and click here to find your local Michigan Patch. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

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And it was a war. Thirty-three blacks and 10 whites died, 7,000 people were arrested and more than 2,500 buildings were looted or burned during the five days of unrest. President Johnson ordered 5,000 federal troops to keep peace, and property damage from the riots topped $30 million.

In its day, the mansion was a showplace, with marble floors and staircases, raised Grecian scenes on the plaster ceilings of each floor, an absolutely gorgeous carved soapstone fireplace mantel, leaded glass windows and doors, and distinct decorative tiles in each of the bathrooms. See more photos on realtor.com.

The home is a jewel that far outshines others in the Rosa Parks neighborhood, where the median sales price is $62,022, according to the realtor.com property description. The $233,445 estimated value is almost 705 percent greater than the median listing price of $29,000 in the Rosa Parks area. The property last sold for $35,500 in 2012, according to the listing.

This home isn’t for sale, but for some that are, scroll through the list of recent listings below.

Side-by-side photo of 7477 Lasalle Boulevard today and during the 1967 riots via realtor.com.