Are These Kalamazoo Historic Home Owners Asking For Too Much?

The city of Kalamazoo has many historical buildings, and the downtown area itself is a living relic from a time that is well documented in available photos, both colorized, as found here, and at the Kalamazoo Public Library. Many iconic buildings have stood the test of time and continue to be pillars of recognition in the community.

And although some of these houses and buildings remain iconic for us locally, there is only so long they can go without having to do necessary repairs to keep them up-to-date. I’ve noticed that a few of the most iconic residencies are up for sale, like the infamous Upjohn House and Henderson Castle, but there seems to be an issue going on with the purchase of both of these homes.

Get our free mobile app

The Woods – Upjohn house has been on the market since late in 2022 and most recently Henderson Castle was listed for sale with the price tag of $5 million.

Why Is Henderson Castle So Expensive?

Henderson Castle recently came under scrutiny after a GoFundMe was started, by who residents claim was the owner, with a goal of $2 million that would be used for repairs and upkeep of the castle. Current owner Francois Moyet claims he's put in over $1,000,000 in renovations in the past decade.

It’s pretty mind-boggling that both of these historic buildings in Kalamazoo seem very hard to sell. But then again, we have to take a look at what has just happened in the last four years.

We just crossed the fourth anniversary of when everything shut down because of the pandemic, and since navigating our way through sickness and healing, things have become more expensive than ever, including crucial items like groceries. Inflation is starting to hit us hard and a massive price tag on these historic buildings, I personally feel is going to make it harder to sell these locations.

The housing market has also tended to be bipolar, and currently, rent prices are getting out of hand. Will these large price tags for these historic buildings stand, or should the owners start thinking about lowering the price of the property to reflect the current economic state of the country?

Ultimately that’s on the owner of the property and as much as I hope that these buildings do get sold to someone who has a general interest in their upkeep, I find it very hard to believe that anybody is going to have $1 million or $5 million to spend on a house.

Upjohn Going Up...Up...UP!

Especially considering that when the Upjohn house was originally listed back in 2022 it was on sale for $445,500, and now the new owner has a price tag of $998,000. I’m not sure if they recently did renovations but that’s an extra $550,000 that they tacked onto the price, for what I’m assuming is no other reason to get more for their historical home.

Unless I missed the $500,000 worth of renovations, they recently put in the home, I’m worried these houses will slowly start to crumble out of relevancy in the community, as nobody has that kind of money to blow on a crumbling residency.