Aretha Franklin’s Childhood Home (C.L. Franklin House)

Long before the Rose Estate, there was a brick house on LaSalle.

It belonged to Reverend C.L. Franklin — nationally famous pastor of New Bethel Baptist Church, a man whose recorded sermons sold records, and one of the most connected Black men in America. Aretha lived here from around age five until she was eighteen. She once called it the most beautiful home she’d ever seen.

Her father’s circle meant the house was a crossroads. Mahalia Jackson came through. Clara Ward. Sam Cooke, who a teenaged Aretha swooned over. Nat King Cole. Martin Luther King Jr., who her father marched with. The Queen of Soul’s voice wasn’t built in a studio — it was built in her father’s church and in these rooms, listening to the best singers alive make conversation in the living room.

She was, by her own account, a kid on the front steps watching the giants come and go.

What happened here in 1979

This is the part most write-ups leave out, and it’s the part you should know before you go stand in front of it.

In 1979, Rev. C.L. Franklin was shot during a burglary inside this house. He never recovered. He remained in a coma for five years and died in 1984.

Aretha later asked the City of Detroit to name the nearby park in his memory. It’s called LaSalle Park, and there’s a plaque. If you make the trip, go there too — it’s a block away, it’s public, and it’s the one piece of this story you’re actually invited into.

So this isn’t a fun celebrity-house stop. It’s the room where a voice was made and it’s the room where her father was shot, and it’s a private home where people live now. Behave accordingly.

The most musical block in America

The house doesn’t stand alone. LaSalle and the streets around it were, for a stretch of the mid-century, about as concentrated a run of Black musical talent as any block in the country.

Jackie Wilson lived up the same street. Berry Gordy Jr. and Smokey Robinson lived in the neighborhood. A more recent owner of the Franklin house has said neighbors still remember Sammy Davis Jr. renting the place across the street.

Nobody has put a sign up. You just have to know.

What’s there now

The house has had a rough couple of decades. It sat abandoned for years, then went through renovations, then landed on the market in 2023 at $379,900 — six bedrooms, five baths, original wood floors — after a pending sale fell through.

Who owns it today, and what shape it’s in, is genuinely an open question. That’s part of why it’s still on our list.

Common Questions

Where is Aretha Franklin’s childhood home? 7415 LaSalle Blvd, Detroit, MI 48206, in the Virginia Park area. It’s a private home — view from the public sidewalk only.

Is the Rose Estate Aretha Franklin’s childhood home? No. The Rose Estate on Hamilton Road was her adult home, purchased in the 1990s. It’s been restored and gets a lot of press, but she grew up on LaSalle.

Where was Aretha Franklin born? Memphis, Tennessee, at 406 Lucy Ave. Her family moved to Detroit when she was two.

Can you go inside Aretha Franklin’s childhood home? No. It’s a private residence. LaSalle Park, a block away and named for her father, is public.

Who visited the house when Aretha was growing up? Her father’s circle brought through Mahalia Jackson, Clara Ward, Sam Cooke, Nat King Cole, and Martin Luther King Jr., among others.

Where is Aretha Franklin Buried? Woodlawn Cemetery 19975 Woodward Ave, Detroit, MI 48203