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Constructed in 1897 and designed by the prominent late 19th-early 20th century Detroit architectural firm Rogers & MacFarlane, the Albert H. Finn House at 660 Virginia Park St, Detroit, MI 48202 is one of the most distinguished Colonial Revival homes in all of the Virginia Park Historic District.
The property’s first occupant was Albert H. Finn, a key player in Detroit’s advertising and publishing industries who founded “The Midget” at just seventeen years old – what is believed to be Royal Oak’s second newspaper, a feat that marked the beginning of Finn’s lifelong connection to media and communication despite its short fifteen-week run.
From there, Finn took a job as advertising manager and later assistant general manager of the prestigious Detroit Journal, eventually gaining local rising prominence as publisher of the Michigan Christian Herald.
He also founded the influential Franklin Press, the publishing company behind the publications Motor News, The American Boy, and various other nationally circulated titles, and he was closely tied into the Burton Historical Collection at the Detroit Public Library, helping to expand its archive of Baptist manuscripts.
A man of esteem, Finn was an active figure in Detroit’s early civic leadership scene, organizing the city’s very first Ad Craft Club advertising courses, which went a long way in lending credibility to Detroit’s burgeoning advertising industry.
After that, he shifted gears entirely, entering into real estate in 1916, a move that saw him sell an impressive $800,000 worth of property to auto tycoon Hugh C. Chalmers in his very first month—an unheard-of figure for the time (over $24 million today).
Suddenly a major mover and shaker, Finn had a run as president of the Bungalohill Land Co., secretary of the Van Alstine Land Co., and was holder of many real-estate holdings all across the Midwest, specifically in cities like Detroit, Toledo, and Chicago.
As for the Albert H. Finn House at 660 Virginia Park, it stands today as a perfect example of Detroit’s early Colonial Revival style architectural greatness as well as the refined design sensibilities of Rogers & MacFarlane, remaining a beautifully preserved landmark that perfectly embodies the intellectual ambition, entrepreneurial aptitude, and quality workmanship that shaped the early identity of Virginia Park.
