Aretha Franklin’s Detroit mansion sells for $300K

The brick house was the last property owned by Queen of Soul in her beloved hometown

The last property owned in Detroit by late singing legend Aretha Franklin, a 5,600-square-foot mansion, has been sold for less than half a million dollars.

Ny Magee

Nov 25, 2018

Aretha Franklin waves after her performance at the International Jazz Day Concert (Photo by Aude Guerrucci-Pool/Getty Images)

The last property owned in Detroit by late singing legend Aretha Franklin, a 5,600-square-foot mansion, has been sold for less than half a million dollars.

According to public records, the brick home, which was built in 1927, fetched $300,000 in a sale last month. The Detroit News reports that the Queen of Soul purchased the home in 1993 but nearly lost it in 2008 due to unpaid property taxes.

“There are no other Detroit properties” that were owned by Franklin, said Sabrina Garrett-Owens, the personal representative of Franklin’s estate, in an email to The Detroit News. “There is no link with (the) new owner,” she added.

The mansion boasts five bedrooms, six bathrooms, three fireplaces, leaded glass windows, a three-car garage and a backyard adjacent to the Detroit Golf Club.

Franklin’s 4,148-square-foot Colonial-style house in Detroit’s Bloomfield Township is still on the market for $800,000.

The music icon died of pancreatic cancer in August in her Detroit riverfront apartment at age 76. She had reportedly been in poor health since 2010.

In related news, Julien’s Auctions in New York City held an “Icons & Idols: Rock-N-Roll” event earlier this month where over 30 items worn by Franklin sold for big bucks.

Among the items that were on the block was Franklin’s pink silk two-piece Bill Blass-designed gown that she wore at the Duets concert AIDS benefit in 1993. The item sold for $10,000, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Billboard also noted that the singer’s black silk hat adorned with black feathers, black fishnet and white silk flowers that she wore at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opening ceremony in 1995 sold at auction for $3,125. Additionally, the strapless white silk evening gown and satin coat that she wore at the 1998 Grammy’s pre-party sold for $8,750.

Proceeds from the auction went to the Prince’s Trust charity, which aids disadvantaged and low-income young people in the U.K.