When Ken Strom bought 33405 Grand River Ave. in downtown Farmington he says it was easily "the ugliest building in the whole city."
"When I bought it eight years ago it had the ugliest paint job you had ever seen," Strom says, adding the entire late-19th Century structure was in a state of disrepair equal to its exterior.
That's not the case today. Strom is gearing up to run the last leg of a restoration race, breathing new life into the building at the southwest corner of Grand River and Farmington Road. He has invested $150,000 making the building level, renovating the inside and putting on a new roof, among other things.
He plans to start a $100,000 renovation of the exterior later this month that will include new windows, awnings, flower boxes, doors and a new paint job. "It will have vibrant colors," Strom says.
It will be an exterior worthy of the hardware, furniture and bookstores that once called the building home. Today Strom's Kitchen Master and Beyond Salon call the ground floor of the two-story structure home. Seven apartments are on the second floor.
And when it's all said and done, Strom thinks he will have one of the most beautiful buildings in town.
Source: Ken Strom, owner of 33405 Grand River Ave.
Writer: Jon Zemke
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