In these heady days of downtown Detroit’s rebirth, Christopher Burcham, a 30-year-old entrepreneur, bought a building on the outskirts of Corktown and turned it into four high-end condo units, including one he occupies.
Two-and-a-half years ago, Burcham purchased the 8,400-square-foot Bullock-Green Hardware Building, a two-story emporium that later became a brewery and then an appliance store and, after that, an art studio. At the time, he was (and still is) working as the chief technology officer for his family business, Steelpro, based in Wayne. A DIY enthusiast, Burcham had already restored a wooden 1949 Chris Craft powerboat and was up for a new challenge.
“I kept thinking, ‘How hard could a building be?’ ” Burcham says of the opportunity he saw to create something that Corktown lacks: high-quality residential spaces.
Acting as his own general contractor/interior designer, he contacted Kevin Crosby and Shane Burley of Studio Detroit. Crosby and Burley were able to see Burcham’s vision for the circa-1905 building, whose funky façade was partially burned from a fire in the 1930s.
“He had the idea and we helped to bring it to life,” Crosby says. “We drew the floor plans with his input, worked through the codes, and did the design/build for the project.” Burcham found a plumber, electrician, dry-waller, floor refinisher, and HVAC company, and got to work. The idea was to keep as much of the original building’s skeleton as possible, including the exposed brick, steel interior doors, freight elevator, wooden and concrete floors, and one long, plastered wall that had been covered with shelving and many layers of paint.
“It took one year of construction and eight months of getting permits before that,” says Burcham, who grew up in Sterling Heights and Bloomfield, graduated from Detroit Country Day School, and lived for a time in Miami before deciding to return to the area.
“This is one of the first neighborhoods I gravitated to after coming back,” he says. He was intrigued by the vibrant restaurant community that was winning awards, as well as new infrastructure that included bike lanes on Michigan Avenue. “It’s a part of America that’s being preserved,” he says, “and I wanted to be part of it.”
You can bring spring right into your living space, and enjoy it all year round, if you’ve got a room like the one shown here, designed by Kourtney Shammo. Shammo was working with Troy and Detroit-based Petrella Designs Inc. when she was asked to create this pretty living room in Grosse Pointe Park for a couple whose sons are grown. The firm also designed a casual dining space off the kitchen, as well as the dining room, the master bedroom, and a mud hall. Shammo, who has since launched her own design firm, Kourtney Anne Studios in Birmingham, looks back on this project with pride and joy.“We stripped the existing high-gloss floors and refinished them with a natural stain with a satin top coat that shows off the white oak, and painted the walls in Benjamin Moore’s Edgecomb, a nice gray, for starters,” Shammo recalls. “The homeowner had floor-to-ceiling built-ins that were super shallow and not functional. There was also an outdated fireplace.” Shammo is quick to point out that there’s no TV here, as it’s a place where the couple can read or enjoy each other in conversation. “The home is older and we kept the classic look, but created a more clean and casual feel,” she adds.As for the palette, calm and organic were the goals, so the designer pulled in grays, blues, and greens that carry throughout the home and bring the outside in (a quaint courtyard is right outside this space). The drapery is a warm gray with taupe undertones, and it’s “deeper than the walls, to create contrast,” Shammo says, “but still in keeping with a monochromatic, clean feeling.”Details are everything here, including the chartreuse tape trim on the window treatments. “We needed a pop, but didn’t want it feeling loud,” Shammo explains. “We carried that color into the pillows, which are more olive and not as bright. The chairs have a blue-based fabric with a green leaf motif, while the sofa is in a very neutral linen blend that’s low-maintenance, because they have two dogs.” A table by Hickory Chair (San Giorgio limestone with a wrought-iron base) does the trick. Stools, beneath the table, also by Hickory Chair, are upholstered in a Pollack fabric from Tennant & Associates (Michigan Design Center, Troy). “They were a fun way to bring color in; it’s muted but has that chartreuse again,” Shammo says. With casters, the stools can be moved around easily and can even become an ottoman when you want to “put your feet up,” she adds.More information: kourtneyannestudios.com
Architects Crosby and Burley attacked the ugly façade with fervor. “We kind of brought the whole office down to do it,” Crosby, co-founder of Studio Detroit, recalls. “We wanted to activate that façade and bring it to life,” he says of the structure, which was basically concrete block with bricks at the bottom. The project included boring out openings for more than 20 windows and adding a wooden structure to the upper front.
Local muralists Ouizi and W C Bevan painted lively images on one side of the building. “It was a way to say, ‘Hello, I’m here,’ ” says Crosby, and also a way to claim the turf: Great street art stops bad graffiti in this neighborhood.
The main door to the building looks a little like a boarded-up piece of plywood, and that’s intentionally deceiving. A high-tech Nest smart system runs through each unit and includes video monitoring, heating/cooling, fan controls, Sonos, and fire protection controls.
Burcham’s first-floor loft — 7,580 square feet, including an attached two-car garage — is as stylish as a Restoration Hardware catalog. Indeed, RH Modern is where he found all his large-scale, industrial-chic furnishings and chandeliers, and they fit right into his plans. So did the shiny white kitchen, bath and bar cabinetry, appliances from IKEA, and the quartz countertops and wolf range from Preferred Marble & Granite in Fraser.
Below the basketball hoop on one wall is a home gym, and two bicycles hang neatly on a wall. At the other end is an LED-lit bar with shelving Burcham made with steel pipes and wood from Detroit’s Public Lumber Co. A full-view, glass garage door lets daylight in and showcases his private, gated, grassy courtyard beyond.
All of the existing windows were replaced with heavy-duty aluminum models that seal out street noise and have motorized shades. Each master bath — including his own, accessed via a spiral stairway to the second floor — features Toto toilets, Aria tubs, Brizo fixtures, and Mr. Steam steam showers.
The condos exemplify urban luxury at its finest, and the building is even pictured on the cover of a new hardcover book, Detroit: The Dream Is Now: The Design, Art, and Resurgence of an American City, by Michel Arnaud (Abrams). Burcham was hands-on throughout the process, from building and installing the exterior façade panels to hanging the interior lighting and reclaiming and repurposing the building’s original woodwork. “It was a fun project,” he says.
Life is good for this entrepreneur. He says he originally planned to find occupants for all four of the lofts but he loves living here so much, he just might decide to stay.
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