4251: The House of Delta Nu

    Built in 1895, this red-brick, slate-roof, Greek Revival-Style Mansion was once a multi-family home on the "Cass Corridor". In the mid-1920s, the RG&GR Harris Funeral Company purchased the home. Preparations were made, and the house was converted into a fully-functional funeral home. Within the 7,500 square feet of real estate were an embalming room, refrigerated cadaver storage, and multiple viewing rooms. In 1992, Delta Nu Chapter placed a winning bid to purchase the house. Over the course of the following years, the pledges, actives, and alumni, have worked hard to convert the house back to the humble home it was over a century prior. Nowadays, the exquisitely-tiled embalming room is our kitchen, among other retrofittings. Our neighborhood, now referred to as "Midtown Detroit", is increasing in prominence. The house is walking distance from the Stadium homes for the Detroit Tigers, Lions, and a very short drive from the Joe Louis Arena, home of the Red Wings; and these are only the major sports attractions!

    Some Common Myths About the Pike House: Not everything is known about the ownership and rental of the house between 1895 and 1925. While it is possible that the house was a brothel, or some other house of ill-repute, it is not probable. It is well-known that the house features many secret passageways, and other anomalous features. There are two explanations that you might hear if you ask around. The first is silly. The Pike House was never a part of the underground railroad. It was built fully thirty years after the Emancipation Proclamation. On the other hand, some say the house was modified by the Harris Company in such a manner so that morticians could move about the house freely without disturbing grieving families. This is more likely of the two. Otherwise, only turn-of-the-century building practices could account for such discrepencies.

    One of the most common legends of the Pike House is that Harry Houdini's body was embalmed on our premises. Unfortunatly, this is not the case. However, the story is not far off, geographically. After performing his last show in Detroit, the periontitis that Harry Houdini had been suffering from took the best of him. On Halloween Day, 1926, Harry passed away at Grace Hospital in Detroit. His body, in actuality, was prepared by W.R. Hamilton Company. The W.R. Hamilton Company, at the time, was housed one-and-a-half blocks south on Cass. So, while Mr. Houdini never entered the walls of the Pike House, he most certainly came close. Various other stories, of ghosts, apparitions and strange phenomenon circulate amongst the brothers of Pi Kappa Alpha who enter the house confines. Some say the house is still haunted today...no matter what, though, the Delta Nu Chapter House is full of history, and here to stay.