Detroit's Historic Fisher Mansion Back On The Market

DETROIT (WWJ) - The historic Alfred J. Fisher mansion in Detroit's Palmer Woods neighborhood is up for sale less than one year after it was sold with plans to become a retreat for drug addicts.

The 28-room, Tudor Revival-style building on Balmoral Drive was bought for $1.6 last August by Brad Lamm, founder and director of Breathe Life Healing Centers. He had planned to convert the opulent home into a "spiritual retreat" and dormitory for addiction treatment patients.

However, Lamm told the Detroit Free Press that he's relisting the mansion, which was built in 1926, for $1.57 million.

Lamm said he decided to scrap his plans for the rehab center partially because the mansion is located in a residential community and he couldn't get the necessary zoning change. He also said he didn't want to fight with neighbors, who were opposed to his plans from the beginning.

"I did underestimate the neighborhood pushback in going into Palmer Woods," Lamm told the paper. "When it comes to behavioral health and the treatment of those who struggle with addiction, we like the idea that people are helped, but it's hard to wrap our heads around them being in our neighborhood."

Lamm -- who called the mansion "the most magnificent house I've ever been in" -- said he intends on finding an alternative location for the treatment center in the city.