East English Village

Between 1808 and 1810, five eastside Detroit ribbon farms were registered under the family names of Little, Rivard, Fournier and Tremble.  With Detroit's expansion east, in 1925, the farms were subdivided into residential parcels and the neighborhood of East English Village was born.  A home construction boom began in 1928, peaking in the early 1930s as homeowners rather than developers hired builders to design custom ordered homes.  This brought to life the neighborhood's distinctive character.

Today, the neighborhood is home to approximately 2,100 families, many of whose homes have only changed hands one or two times.  The area is bounded by Outer Drive to the east, Cadieux Road to the west, Harper Avenue to the north and Mack Avenue to the south. 

The Detroit Land Bank Authority's infusion of federal dollars, through a program known as the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP), is rehabilitating homes within the community.  I've had the privilege of being part of more than 15 fast-tracked rehabs currently being performed by teams of contractors and rehab specialists. 

More importantly, the rehabs incorporate the latest in thermal envelop construction technology.  The goal of the program is to not only restore these historic homes, but to improve their energy efficiency.

Below is a sampling of some of the houses currently under construction:

 

 

  

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More information can be found at East English Village's Website