The Story of The Gar Wood Mansion In Detroit; A Rock n’ Roll Commune
Imagine moving into a mansion in the heart of Detroit for the sole purpose of rocking out every day with your band and best friends. Sounds like a dream doesn't it? Something like this was actually achieved for a brief moment in the early 70s, as the band Stonefront moved into the legendary Garwood Mansion and began what would be a dream residency. A late teenager Mark Hoover bought the vacated mansion in 1969 and over the next three years would live a rocker's dream.
Hosting bands such as Alice Cooper, the Allman Brothers, Cactus, and Iron Butterfly, a slew of artists wanted to be a part of this incredible tale, which was told in this short NBC clip. But this highlight of sorts ended up being the downfall of a dream.
As the Detroit News details, that lifestyle mixed in that setting was doomed to never be a good mix, as authorities kept an eye on the place, which eventually led to its end:
Subjected to police scrutiny from the outset, the house was raided in January 1972, and it was claimed that 25 kilos of marijuana were found. The residents have always asserted it was a set-up, and this charge, like the several smaller harassment busts that preceded it, eventually went away. But it gave the other island landowners ammunition for a lawsuit against Emanuel Harris, and by August, the Garwood had been declared a public nuisance and was shut down.
Before the mansion was locked up for good, it had been apparently destroyed at a party by the Outlaws motorcycle club over the course of a week. Later struck by lightning the mansion was burned past saving and signs that the mansion was ever there is all that was left.