A Detroit mansion that was owned by Aretha Franklin has been sold for less than half a million dollars.
The 5,600-sq-ft brick home, built in 1927 adjacent to the Detroit Golf Club, fetched $300,000 (£233,964) in a sale last month, the Detroit News reported.
The great soul singer died in her Detroit riverfront apartment in August, from pancreatic cancer and at the age of 76. She sold more than 75m records and won 18 Grammy awards. She had been in poor health since 2010.
The News reported that Franklin bought the house in 1993 and nearly lost it in 2008, due to unpaid property taxes. A 4,148-sq-ft colonial-style home in Bloomfield Township, in the city’s suburbs, is still listed for $800,000 (£623,904).
A representative for the Franklin estate, Sabrina Garrett-Owens, said “no other Detroit properties” were owned by the Queen of Soul. In September, it was revealed that Franklin died without a will, meaning the process of dividing up her wealth is likely to play out in public.
Those who paid tribute to Franklin following her death included former presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama and the current president, Donald Trump.
Clinton, at whose 1993 inauguration gala Franklin performed, said in a joint statement with his wife Hillary Clinton: “She will forever be the Queen of Soul and so much more to all who knew her personally and through her music. Our hearts go out to her family and her countless fans.”
