Daniel Bethencourt

Detroit Free Press

The shell of an abandoned home on Detroit’s west side, whose facade was re-purposed into a controversial work of art in Europe, was finally torn down Monday.

A city crew hired by the Detroit Land Bank Authority tore the two-story home to pieces on Stoepel, near 8 Mile and Livernois, while a few passing neighbors looked on from a distance.

The home had been the source of much controversy when an American artist living in Europe, Ryan Mendoza, stripped much of the home’s materials to build a replica he called “The White House,” which some criticized as “ruin porn” that glamorized the city’s decay.

The home’s skeleton also caused a stir among residents. It was left standing as an eyesore six months after Mendoza returned to Europe -- leaving the block worse off than before the artist first arrived.

Artist takes abandoned Detroit home, leaves mess behind

And while a Mayor's Office spokesman, John Roach, said the city would seek a judge's order to make Mendoza pay the demolition costs, Mendoza said by phone that he had been willing to pay from the beginning, and that a contractor he hired for the job did not deliver.

“What we’re dealing with is a public relations issue where they want to look good,” Mendoza said of the Land Bank.

Yet at Monday’s demolition, Kim Tandy, a district manager and Mayor’s Office staff member, denounced the project as an unfair use of Detroit’s image.

Mendoza “came out here to exploit the city of Detroit,” Tandy said. “You're going around ... making money off of some of our unfortunate circumstances. And that's very frustrating to our citizens."

While Mendoza is from Philadelphia, he has lived abroad for more than two decades and is now based in both Berlin, Germany, and Naples, Italy.

He and a crew began removing the home’s facade one year ago. The home was donated by a friend, Greg Johnson, who could not be reached for comment Monday.

Mendoza returned to Europe in October and built “The White House.” The piece was one of the most talked-about works at an art fair in Rotterdam last month.

Yet neighbors believed that he would find a crew to demolish what was left of the original home in Detroit. For about six months, that demolition never came. Many felt the block would have been better off if the artist never touched the home in the first place.

In the months since, the city has taken action. The City Council approved an emergency demolition order on the property in December, though that order did not lead to an actual demolition until Monday.

Craig Fahle, director of public affairs for the Detroit Land Bank Authority, has said the delay was due to survey work and other procedures.

Neighbors said they were relieved to see the property finally go.

"I'm glad it's down," said neighbor Keith Moore. "They're doing a good job."

And a woman who lived a few homes away, who declined to give her name, said: "I'm just so glad it's coming down. All of us are. We have enough eyesores on this street."

Mark Stryker contributed. Contact Daniel Bethencourt: 313-223-4531 or dbethencourt@freepress.com. Follow on Twitter @_dbethencourt.