HGTV's "Rehab Addict" is back this summer, with metro Detroit native star Nicole Curtis restoring a Lake Orion house she said she's been working on for years.

The show returns later this month — Curtis said she looks forward to the chance to "showcase Detroit to the world through my point of view." In the meantime, Crain's caught up with her about an older project — the Ransom Gillis House, a two-unit building built in the 1870s that was the first home of Pewabic Pottery. One of the units hit the market earlier this summer for $1.99 million.

The house had been abandoned for decades before Curtis got to it and she said the project quickly spun out of control. What was supposed to be a three-week project took six months and while she wanted to update it as a single-family home, she said partners wanted it to house three or four units.

At the time of the project seven years ago, Curtis was a "breastfeeding, baby-wearing mom," she said. She spent most waking hours at the house — and slept there "I don't know how many times," too.

"Our family pictures are in that house," she said. "It was a lot to take on. My heart was so invested in that home."

Curtis said she's still proud of the work, which was the first major new redevelopment in Brush Park, an area that's now full of condo developments.

And that, Curtis said, she's not a fan of.

"I absolutely hate it; it breaks my heart," she said. "It's flanked by ugly, square box, modern, prefab, just crap. It was a real miss on the part of the city. It didn't even cross my mind that anyone would go in there and smoosh Ransom Gillis into that kind of space. It's all disposable architecture."

Spokespeople for the city of Detroit, the Rocket Community Fund and Bedrock LLC, which partnered on the redevelopment, declined to comment on Curtis' opinions of the neighborhood. The former city planning director, Maurice Cox, did not respond to a request for comment.

Curtis said she expected the city to add density while still respecting the historic homes and is disappointed by the outcome. She said the Ransom Gillis house was in disrepair, with only the brick walls left on the interior. During the rehabilitation, she said, everything was hand-crafted.

"We did it to prove to anyone we can take the worst project on earth and create a historic example," she said. "There are so many demolitions going on that are unnecessary."

Ransom Gillis had no roof and no walls, Curtis said, but was still salvageable. She hopes Detroit residents understand "what a gift" they have in old houses ripe for restoration.

Still, she continues to lament the end result of the Brush Park area.

"I lost a year of my life and then you put that next to it?" she said. "It would've been such a kick-ass area."

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