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Break It Down

Deconstruction Time At The Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit
Nov 23, 2005

BY AMY LANGE
FREE PRESS REAL ESTATE WRITER

“You never know what’s gonna be in a house,” states Carolyn Mosher — artist, environmentalist, salesperson and president of Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit. Her business? Deconstruction. “We create jobs at a 5-to-1 ratio compared to construction,” she says proudly. “Everything is done by hand and we save 85 percent from landfills.”

Whether it’s a building in Detroit, a ranch home in Bloomfield or an old farmhouse in Grosse Pointe, ASWD is ready to take it apart, repair, reuse and recycle instead of taking a wrecking ball to it. Their space on Warren Ave., just east of Grand River, is packed with every home item imaginable: wood railings, old columns, leaded glass windows, beautiful mantels, cabinets, toilets, tubs, air conditioners, water heaters, refrigerators, washers, dryers, light fixtures and lumber — lots of lumber. “I love it, no way I’d go anywhere else,” frequent customer Winston Wingo says. He lives near 7 Mile in northwest Detroit and works on many do-it-yourself projects. “Special things this place has, no one else has. Look at the windows, us old school people know that — you know you can’t find that door anymore.”

This is the salvage shop homeowners have been looking for. “The people who come into the warehouse are moving into the neighborhood — they have old houses they are trying to refurbish,” Mosher says. “They are desperately trying to find authentic materials to refurbish the homes.”

But this isn’t easy. Like most non-profits — it’s tough getting funding. Mosher spent three years researching deconstruction in other cities around the country. She says most companies start out with about $250,000 — ASWD is starting with $33,000. “We’ve gotten one loan — the board members gave up the capital to get this going. We’re brand new: We need funding for job training, operational costs, we need someone to step up and help us out.

“It’s a win-win. The homeowner gets a good deduction, 12 guys are working who wouldn’t be working and people are getting historic materials for their homes.” And they’re getting them at good prices — but not everything is old. Mosher is selling an entire kitchen cabinet set from a deconstructed home in Grosse Pointe for only $350. The island costs another $150. She’s selling Pella Bay Windows — brand new — with built-in blinds for $800 (the regular price is $2,400).

But the best part isn’t the price — it’s the environmental impact — saving the stuff from a landfill. And it’s amazing what she’s saved. Once, as her team rummaged through a garage in Birmingham, a miniature piano sprang to life — the music box started playing “Green Sleeves” and they hadn’t even touched it. “It was as if it was saying, ‘Take me home, I’m so lonely!’”

Mosher is most excited about ASWD’s next project using beautiful materials salvaged from an old mansion in Highland Park, Illinois. While Focus Hope provides warehouse space for most of the supplies over the winter months, architectural students at the University of Detroit will be designing a new home. That new home will be built next summer in Detroit’s historic Woodbridge neighborhood … using the mansion’s materials. “A new house with historic materials in a historic area … it’s never been done before,” Mosher says. And already she’s hoping to do it again — every year. | RDW

The ASWD is open Fridays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more info please call 313.515.0399.

FOX 2’s Amy Lange and Michael Shore are freelance journalists for Real Detroit. Please email comments to letters@realdetroitweekly.com.

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