In the News!

Picking Up the Pieces

September 2006

BY Ann Marie Aliotta

In an era where anything more than a few years old is considered obsolete, Grosse Pointe Park resident Carolyn Mosher is on a mission to preserve historic architecture, one piece of crown moulding at a time.

Mosher, 65, is the president and founder of Architectural Salvage Warehouse of Detroit (ASWD), a non-profit organization that goes into houses about to fall victim to the wrecking ball and salvages materials that would otherwise be thrown away.

"Our history is going into the landfill," Mosher says of the recent rash of demolitions in and around Detroit. By reusing the materials, she continues, "We try to give new life to historic buildings" and perpetuate the life of some wonderful architectural elements.

ASWD takes apart entire houses by hand, employing a systematic process called deconstruction, and also does partial removal (or "skimming," taking items that are easy to remove), where full deconstruction is not possible. The salvaged materials, such as leaded glass windows and solid oak doors, are sold at the ASWD warehouse in Detroit for restoration projects, or to residents who need more affordable housing supplies.

"Most people, given the opportunity, would prefer to do something environmentally sound. It goes against the grain to waste things," Mosher says.

ASWD's first "take-down" was a mansion at 88 Lewiston in Grosse Pointe Farms, in April 2005. Workers took the house apart, saving everything from the oak floorboards to the copper wiring. ASWD's work provides training in the deconstruction process, which requires careful disassembly that won’t damage the items. ASWD has partnered with such organizations as YouthBuild Detroit and Focus: HOPE to provide work opportunities for local youth.

One of the most significant projects, Mosher says, is ASWD's first new build using materials salvaged from a 1920s Tudor mansion. Designed by University of Detroit-Mercy School of Architecture students, the home will be built in the next year in the Woodbridge neighborhood in Detroit, which hasn't seen new construction in approximately 70 years.

"This was a really wonderful opportunity for the students to think about the concept of using deconstruction instead of demolition, which is a very timely and important idea in general," says Will Wittig, associate professor in the school of architecture and a board member at ASWD.

A native New Yorker, Mosher raised her daughter in Grosse Pointe Farms and worked in the fashion industry for many years, including a stint as an international buyer for Jacobson's. She re-invented herself in her mid-50s, she says, by earning a master in fine arts degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. She painted, and ran a gallery in Chicago before returning to Grosse Pointe to be near her daughter, who was starting her own family.

Mosher says she never planned to work this much once she moved back, but Detroit City Planner Alex Pollack persistently recruited her to start up ASWD.

"He said it's so desperately needed. So I thought, 'Why not?' " she says. "It really is important. And it's a nice legacy to leave in my golden years."

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