Rob Louisell and Craig Blankenhorn had a number of things on their house-hunting wish list when Rob, a 31-year Ford Motor Company employee, took a new job in Michigan and the couple relocated in 2023 after years of living in California. Top of that list was that they wanted to be within walking distance to shops and restaurants and be able to enjoy a nearby downtown. “This is something we’d always compromised on in previous homes,” says Rob, who grew up in Grosse Pointe and was happy to return to a familiar area with friends and family.
They rented while searching for what they hoped would be their forever home. Frustrated by the lack of houses on the market, Rob sent notes to more than 40 owners of residences the couple admired. Craig thought Rob was crazy until the results came in. More than a dozen responded. “While not everyone wanted to sell their house, all were gracious and many provided other leads,” Rob recalls.
Grosse Pointe interior designer Brian Clay Collins was among those who received one of Rob’s notes. “Rob contacted us about our possible interest in selling our house when they were in the throes of their search,” he explained. “We demurred but invited them to tour our home and became friendly from there on.”
Room for improvement
The designer later worked with the couple after they eventually purchased an unusual and asymmetrical 1950s Colonial with approximately 2,200 square feet and three bedrooms on a quiet Grosse Pointe street. Rob calls its tranquil setting especially “welcome after years of living near a busy Southern California artery.” Craig liked that the house is different from the traditional, center-entrance Colonial or Tudor-style homes so common in the Grosse Pointes. “It has both a modern and retro feel with a floor plan that works very well for us,” he explains.
Although Rob says the house was “very well cared for,” the pair wanted to both freshen and personalize it, they explain. Working with the Blake Company on some projects, they undertook improvements both large and small, including adding a new entryway, new gas lighting (made in New Orleans), and expanding in several areas, including the dining area, to create a more open environment. They installed a hard-wired in-ceiling sound system, gutted and reimagined the primary bathroom, added egress windows to bring additional light to the basement, and upgraded both mechanicals and infrastructure to accommodate current and future projects.
Carefully collected
They also repainted all of the rooms, giving the spaces a décor that reflects both of their personalities. “Our style is a mesh of both who we were when we started (Craig more modern and Rob more traditional), and where we are today,” Rob explains, adding, “We love vintage; items that have some character and can tell stories. We’ve been fortunate enough to have collected many unique items over more than years together and have a strong fondness for Parisian style.” One of their favorite recent purchases is a vintage blue and white enamel street sign brought back from a Paris trip that hangs near the dining area in the kitchen.
The couple’s love of collecting is apparent in other areas of the house as well. Craig’s love of music dominates his first-floor home office space — walls are filled with memorabilia, including original ticket stubs to shows dating back to the early 1980s, when it cost just $13.50 to see Fleetwood Mac, he points out. Rob has been interested in telephones since childhood, and his lower-level home office includes an incredible wall of working corded landline phones from the 1950s through the 1980s. Nearby walls also contain nods to his family and to their ties to the early auto industry — his maternal grandfather, a Packard engineer, holds automotive patents; his paternal grandfather was “Detroit’s Perry Mason” from the 1940s through early 1970s. The couple also collects classic cars — parked in the garage are two vintage Lincolns from the 1960s.
Craig considers his office to be his favorite space in the house. “My music memorabilia, with my concert ticket stubs, brings back so many memories of shows I’ve attended over the years,” he says. “It’s a very personal space for me.” Rob’s favorite is the area he calls “the lounge,” which is the home’s original living room. “It’s where we gather with friends and family and celebrate togetherness,” he explains. “It’s flooded with light during the day and becomes moody and club-like in the evening.”
Warm welcome
Their goal, they say, is to reflect that feeling throughout. “We hope the house evokes a modern gentlemen’s club,” Rob says, something they describe as “a refined, comfortable space.” They worked hard to ensure that the feeling flows throughout the house, indoors and out. Brian Collins praises the results. “The house is mid-50s traditional but their furnishings and art are very eclectic,” the designer says. “Theirs is a uniquely personal statement.”
Rob is happy to be back. “I have deep roots in the Detroit area on both sides, dating back generations,” he explains. “Having grown up here, it’s incredibly rewarding to both rediscover and experience for the first time all the things that make our community so extraordinary. The sense of pride, how people care for one another, not to mention the natural beauty that is Michigan. I appreciate Detroit so much more as an adult… I am blessed with an extraordinary family and I love being closer to them.”
Craig, a California native, has found Michigan winters “exhilarating” and says he has enjoyed getting to know the state’s distinct seasons. “Not that I complained about the average 72-degree weather year-round,” he says of his West Coast days. “Photography is a hobby of mine, so I’m really enjoying how different things look from one day, week, or month to the next.”
Future plans include replacing an aging sprinkler system and adding outdoor lighting to help enjoy the warm weather. “As with any house, the list of things we want to do far exceed what our checking account allows,” they say. “We’ve tried to incorporate all of the learnings from each of our previous properties, making our house as comfortable as we could.” They caution others undergoing a bathroom renovation to think twice before choosing marble. “As beautiful as it is, if we had it to do over again, we’d go back to granite or quartz…even pure water leaves stains and marks that are very difficult to get out.”
Despite that, they say they have few regrets. “We’re thrilled with the results and have a difficult time imagining ourselves anywhere else — except in January, February, or March!”
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Native son returns to Grosse Pointe, finds dream home
Reporting by Khristi Zimmeth / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
