Old Village Spotlight – The McCormick Family

This blog post has been written by Old Village residents Marie and Darren McCormick

We Live on Holbrook!

In late 2020, during the height of the pandemic housing craze, our family jumped on the crazy train and bought the 1910 burgundy brick, Dutch Colonial [Sears Kit Home] on Holbrook in Old Village.  The deep and wide front porch, eclectic neighborhood, walkability to local businesses and a stone throw from Wilcox Lake helped seal the deal on our forever home.  We spent most of 2021 entrenched in renovations to the house – from the sanitary sewer to plaster removal, to upgrades to ancient knob and tube electric and overall working to maintain or mimic the historical architectural integrity. .  As we came up from the dust, we greeted neighbors, browsed shops and began to understand the incredible fabric of community pride in Old Village.  

Hard at work!
Making progress.
Welcome home!

Now fully indoctrinated into Old Village, we enjoy popping into Meridian for a chat and an Americano, checking out new vinyl selections at Finders Keepers or camping out on the second story of Bearded Lamb for “beer daycare” with other local parents to play games and catch up.  We practice yoga at White Buffalo, take the kids to Crawford’s Kitchen for their absolute favorite pancakes and sausage and unleash them on the playground at Knights of Columbus Park or what locals call “Pollinator Park” off Spring and Holbrook.  Some days, we just wander around Wilcox Lake to admire the incredible natural asset that our community has embraced as our own.  Over the past year, Old Village Association – in partnership with the Plymouth Pollinators [of which Marie is a board member], as well as Wayne County Parks and the City of Plymouth – has led two invasive species removal projects.  You can check out details of those in previous OVA blogs.  Locals may notice a huge difference in visibility of the lake and a safer pedestrian walking route made from the removal of roadside invasive brush along the Northville Road side of the lake.  In the coming year, we are looking forward to a major habitat restoration project at Wilcox Lake and upstream at Phoenix Lake.  Details for that project can be found in previous blogs and in the December 2022 issue of The Rock, p. 14-16. OVA plans to host another invasive species training and clearing event in either late May or early June 2023 – so stay tuned for details if you are interested!

The connection between Hines Park, Wilcox Lake and Old Village geographically seems so simple.  Yet, as parents of young children – we have been terrified at times to just walk from our home [four houses away!] down Wilcox Road to Hines Drive.  As a narrow, assumed pass-through commuter route – motorists fly up Wilcox hill to Old Village blindly.  Taking the kids by bike down that road is out of the question.  To bike, we pack up our van, drive .5 miles around the corner to GunsollyMills, park, and then bike.  It feels absurd to be next door to miles of incredible recreation and feel so disconnected.  

Darren and the Mini McCormicks
The whole family love being so close to Wilcox Lake
Showing our lake and community some love.

We hope to find ways to contribute in our own way to this awesome community.  We love our neighborhood and we love Old Village. 

From our home to yours,

The McCormick’s

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