Aretha Franklin | House Tour | IN MEMORY | Her 2 Detroit Mansions

We are on Aretha Franklin's property inside of her gated community in Bloomfield Hills. This home actually just went on sale. Let's take a look inside. Back in 2019, a Detroit-area property went on the market that once upon a time belonged to music royalty. The estate, once listed for $800,000, then put back on the market for over $1 million, was the place where the late Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin once called home. Another one of her properties, located on the Detroit golf course and built in 1927, sold about a year prior for $30,000 to a developer as it was in a state of disrepair. Today we'll check out two former homes of legendary singer Aretha Franklin. We even found the listings. In these videos we don't reveal any addresses and even though I've done a house tour of my own place, please do not show up at any private residences because it's not safe for anyone. Aretha Franklin was a singer, songwriter, actress, civil rights activist and more who passed away at age 76 in 2018. She grew up singing gospel music in a Detroit church where her father was pastor, and signed her first recording contract at age 18. Despite this, Aretha didn't reach her mega success until she switched to Atlantic Records in the late 60s. By the end of the 1960s, she was known as the Queen of Soul, and is one of the best selling music artists of all time, having sold over 75 million records. During Aretha's 50 plus year career, 112 of her songs made the charts, and had multiple hit singles like Respect, You Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman, and more. Being a legend like Aretha, of course she's received numerous awards and honors over the years, including a Presidential Medal of Freedom and 18 Grammy Awards. Aretha's career will outlive her for decades and centuries to come, so it shouldn't be a surprise that the singer left behind a substantial estate when she passed. It's assumed she was worth anywhere between 18 to 80 million dollars, but unfortunately she died without a will, leaving her estate in question. Hey guys, it's Kara the Vampire Slayer and I'm bringing you another house tour here on Famous Entertainment. Be sure to hit that subscribe button to ring that bell, we post a new video daily. Today we're checking out where the late Queen of Soul called home, or two of Aretha Franklin's former properties located in Detroit. If you liked this video, we've also done house tours on other music legends like Whitney Houston and Tina Turner which we'll link to at the end. As always, don't forget to follow me on Instagram to chat, and now let's get into this video. In 2019, one of Aretha's longtime homes came up on the market for 800 thousand dollars, and then after being taken off the market, returned with a respectable price increase to 1.2 million dollars. Located in the suburb of Bloomfield Hills, the estate was just outside of Aretha's native Detroit, Michigan, about a 30 minute drive from downtown. The mini-mansion is situated in the hills of Lone Pine Gated Community, and Bloomfield Hills is quite the upscale neighborhood. Aretha's colonial style home boasted 4,148 square feet of space with 5 beds and 7 baths throughout. The music legend bought the property in 1997, and when the home first popped up on the market, it hadn't been lived in for quite some time according to agents. When it came back up for sale at the higher price, it offered a new look, and was fixed up with a tasteful remodel. The circular driveway leads you to the home's courtyard entrance, and the lot overlooks a community pool and two beautiful ponds, which we can see in aerial views. Inside, there's an elegant two-story entry hall with marble floors and a crystal chandelier, which opens up to the two-level great room. Here there was a granite fireplace, floor to ceiling windows, a wet bar, and at the time, Aretha's red grand piano, which would later be auctioned off. While the home was upgraded and modernized, it maintained a classic feel along with much of the original features from when Aretha lived there. The Queen of Soul also loved to cook, and while the gourmet kitchen was fresh and polished with white cabinets, black granite counters, and an oversized island, they were able to keep Aretha's original appliances. There was also a breakfast nook, and a sub-zero fridge was added according to listing materials. Even the stylist who staged the home said whoever's so lucky to get this space will be cooking in the Queen of Soul's kitchen. The formal dining room had a stunning custom chandelier overhead that Aretha owned and loved, which used to be in one of her other residences, and was brought here to add more of her personal style. Also on this level of the home, there was a cozy library with wood accents, and the stately master retreat. Aretha's master bedroom featured the original floors and attached marble bath, as well as a private deck and two spacious walk-in closets. Another special detail is the floral shower surround in the master bath that was custom made for Aretha. It's the same shower that this queen used to sing in. There's an upper level of the estate that has a bridge, as well as two large bedrooms also with en-suites. Downstairs there's a finished walkout lower floor with plenty of space to entertain. This level of the home boasts a family room with fireplace, kitchenette, second master a guest suite with attached bath and sauna, another guest room, and an office. Aretha's former property backs onto the community amenities, which include a pool, a tennis court, a clubhouse, stunning ponds, and even a walking trail. The home itself has elevated decks as well to soak up the views. Now let's check out Aretha's other former home. This property was sprawling and impressive, but unfortunately it was in a state of disrepair at the time of sale, so went for the low price of $300K. It was purchased by a real estate developer, Anthony O'Callum, who decided to work on renovating the place, rent it out for an event, and then sell it. At least, that's what his plan was. A year later, in 2019, the house popped back up on the market, this time for $600,000 dollars. Dubbed the Queen of Soul's Rose Estate, it was in rough shape the first time it was sold, and the Tudor mansion needed new heating and electrical systems, as well as roof repairs. The first buyer, Kellum, said he planned extensive kitchen and master bath renovations, but it was unclear how much work had actually been carried out on the home. Built in 1927, Aretha's other former estate was located on the lavish Detroit golf club, backing up onto the 7th hole. Kellum, at the time of purchase, said that he was an Aretha fan. When she passed, it hit him hard, especially since his late mother used to listen to the singer all the time. The house had been vacant for some time, and he estimated renovations would cost around $350K. He said, I see this as an opportunity to not only revitalize an iconic property in the city I love, but knowing how proud my mom would be if she were still here, makes this even more amazing. While we don't know the full list of renovations that ended up being done, we can hope that they preserved some of Aretha's touches in the mansion. Her former Detroit golf club estate spanned 6,200 square feet inside and was full of potential. While it was in disrepair, the home still kept many of its stately features like wooden mantles, interior French doors, leaded glass windows, and a slate roof. There were 5 beds and 6 baths throughout, and the home sat on just over half an acre of land. Looking at photos of the property, I honestly like the classic look throughout with the beams and the archways inside, and the soaring ceilings. The centerpiece and main attraction of Aretha's former home seems to be the great room with 30 foot arched ceilings which spans 32 by 17 feet and boasts a rose colored crystal chandelier. In fact, Aretha's love for roses shows in this entire mansion from the wallpaper to the fixtures and even the carpets. We see this large imprinted carpeted rose in the great room, and it's also said that Aretha lived here when she recorded the song A Rose is Still a Rose in 1998. There's an outdated kitchen, but it still had plenty of space should it be upgraded. There's also a beautiful sunroom which listing materials call the solarium. This space had stone arched walls and overlooked both the terrace and the golf course outside. The first level of Aretha's home is complete with formal dining room, family room, library, and breakfast nook attached to the kitchen. The central staircase leads up to a private master retreat on the north side of the mansion that features a bedroom, a sprawling master bath, dressing room, and then elsewhere, there's two separate bedrooms that share a bathroom. At the time this home was listed, you could still see the Queen of Soul's unique style throughout, and a couple of her artifacts were present. These include her quilted pink bed in the master bedroom and a lot of that rose wallpaper. There's even a bathroom with roses painted all over. On the south side of the mansion, two more sprawling bedrooms connect with a bathroom that had multicolored tiles covering the entire space from the walls to the floor, while another bathroom boasted a red tub and a fireplace. The property also had a heated 3 car garage. After looking at those two former estates of Aretha Franklin, I know some of you might be wondering where she lived before she passed away. She actually hadn't lived in either of those mansions for a few years, and was living at Riverfront Towers located in downtown Detroit at the time of her death. After checking out Aretha's two estates, what did you guys think? Which did you prefer? The first Bloomfield Hills mansion, or the larger but more outdated Detroit Golf Club property? Honestly, while the second place was much more dated and needed a ton of work, I love the original design and the historic feel. I know that if that home just got some TLC it would be one amazing mansion, and I for one would keep a ton of those original features. Like the amazing great room and the sunroom, but I would definitely can that bright rose patterned wallpaper in the hallway. Be sure to let me know what you guys thought of Aretha's beautiful Detroit mansions down in the comments. 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