Woman Trades in Diana Ross' Former House For a Minivan

[jobeterob]

Woman Trades in Diana Ross' Former House For a Minivan

Monday, December 5, 2011, by Sarah Firshein

8Last month, news broke that a Detroit woman named LaWanda Flake had taken to Craigslist in order to try and trade one of her homes—which she bought in a tax-foreclosure sale for $3,500—for a car so she could get her kids to school on time. Well, the Detroit News finds out that said house, a four-bedroom brick Tudor valued at $96K, was once home to Diana Ross and The Supremes. Flake has just traded it in for a 2006 Chevy Uplander worth between $5,000 and $8,5000 with 85,000 miles on it; it wasn't "the most lucrative deal she was offered" but "[the owners] needed the house more than anyone I spoke with. They kept telling me it was a blessing to them. I really feel like I made a good decision." Meanwhile, the new homeowners are surely singing You've Made Me So Very Happy to Flake.

· Detroit mother of 6 trades house for minivan [Detroit News via Yahoo)

http://curbed.com/archives/2011/12/05/woman-trades-in-diana-ross-former-house-for-a-minivan.php

[jobeterob]

I love this............."once home to Diana Ross and the Supremes"!

[randy_russi]

This home was purchased for $35,000 in 1965 by Diana Ross. Florence's home was across the street and Mary's
was further down the block.

[jobeterob]

A shame about how this illustrates the collapse of the housing market in the USA but especially in Detroit.

I can't believe these articles, some of them from reputable places, with so much inaccurate information. I imagined it was the house Randy is referring to. But how the article can say it belonged to "Diana Ross & the Supremes" like it was a company or like the Supremes were a couple of camels kept in the back; makes me shake my head.

They just print anything on line these days.

[bradsupremes]

Oh, you guys didn't know that Diana, Mary and Cindy lived together at one time? This was a short period of time back in late 1967. After coming home from touring and recording, the three ladies would sit around the fireplace together and sing while Diana strummed the guitar. It all ended in March 1968 when Diana strummed a wrong chord and Mary and Cindy threw her out.

[carlo]

The original article I read stated that the house was simply located on Buena Vista, the same street that Diana, Mary and Flo lived on. This is the first I've heard that it was actually Diana's former home being sold. It makes me wonder...

I was in Detroit this past August and saw Diana, Mary and Flo's old homes. They still seemed to be in good shape [[from the outside). However, there were some homes on the street that were neglected and boarded up. A couple were in shambles due to a fire. The city is not in good shape.

[captainjames]

Interesting, I don't ever remember the home going into foreclosure. In fact a Ross relative owned it for a while but I guess everything is possible.

[reese]

The house in the photo accompanying this article doesn't look like the one in Diana's book. Her house had an upstairs balcony. But I suppose the house could have been renovated over the years.

[jobeterob]

Maybe it's a hoax made up to enhance the value of the house???

[huntergettingcaptured]

Oh, you guys didn't know that Diana, Mary and Cindy lived together at one time? This was a short period of time back in late 1967. After coming home from touring and recording, the three ladies would sit around the fireplace together and sing while Diana strummed the guitar. It all ended in March 1968 when Diana strummed a wrong chord and Mary and Cindy threw her out.

Oh, that is rich!

[uptight]

Horribly "translated" from a longer story on the Detroit News website! The original article mentions "...Russell Woods, where luminaries like Diana Ross and the rest of the Supremes once lived." This abbreviated Curb dot com version mis-interpreted it as "the house [[ignore Russell Woods), where luminaries like Diana Ross and the rest of the Supremes once lived."

Plus there is a nasty typo in the Curb dot com article, "...a 2006 Chevy Uplander worth between $5,000 and $8,5000." What kind of website is that..?

[randy_russi]

Well, then, perhaps it just means it sits on the same streets the Supremes once owned homes on and not actually
the house Diana Ross owned.

[marybrewster]

So the woman made a good deal? She paid $3500.00 for the house and got a van worth $5000.00 - $8500.00? Sounds like a profit to me.

[captainjames]

I thought the same thing when I saw he photo but didn't have a pic of Diana's original home in front of me.


The house in the photo accompanying this article doesn't look like the one in Diana's book. Her house had an upstairs balcony. But I suppose the house could have been renovated over the years.

[carlo]

Here is a photo of Diana's former home that I took during my trip this past August. Obviously it's not the same home as the one being discussed in the article:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/308592_10150278282275875_515860874_7980052_7747782 _n.jpg

Here is another home that was on the same street. There were a few like this...

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc7/320733_10150278282775875_515860874_7980062_876187_ n.jpg

[stephanie]

These homes are good houses. They were built well they remind me of homes on Branch Avenue in Washington DC. Its a shame to see some of them like this.

[uptight]

Was the sold house even on the same block as Ross' former house?

[smark21]

Did houses on this street get burned down during the years that Devils Night was a big thing in Detroit?

[woodward]

In the Florence Ballard newsletter from March 1990 there was a story about one of the ex-Supremes homes. Alice Manica who at that time lived in Greenfield, Mass. told a story of her visit to Florence's home in August 1967. Regarding Florence's house, Alice stated ". . . Eventually we arrived at the corner of Dexter and Buena Vista and, sure enough, five houses down was Florence's house. . . ."

This information pertains to one of the 3 Supremes former residences. Unfortunately the article did not give the specific house number.

[woodward]

I did some research on the exact house numbers on Buena Vista. According to an archived topic, it was stated that Diana lived at 3762 Buena Vista, Florence lived across the street at 3767 Buena Vista, and Mary lived three blocks away at 4099 Buena Vista. All 3 homes are located in the Russell Woods Historic District.