The History
It all began in 1911, when The Annunciation Church was first built in Detroit’s East Village neighborhood. Renamed Good Shepherd, its iconic Romanesque-style design was and remains an architectural splendor. While the church officially closed in 2016, its dramatic design continued to inspire the community including the founders of Library Street Collective, who in 2020, purchased the church and its surrounding 3.75 acres in hopes of reactivating the site into a new cultural corridor focused on the arts. New York-based Peterson Rich Office (PRO) was brought on to transform the relic and its adjacent rectory into inspiring venues for public programming, exhibitions, hospitality, and more. Landscape design firm OSD was then tasked at revitalizing the surrounding greenspace into an artistic sanctuary for all to enjoy.
Today, the former church shines anew as the Shepherd, and its rectory, once the clergy’s residence, was reimagined as ALEO — an inn and non-profit headquarters with mid-century-inspired furnishings, locally-rooted art, and an abundance of historic character. Further paying homage to its past, ALEO’s name stems from the Pewabic Pottery ceramic tiles gracing the Shepherd’s altar which feature individual reliefs of an Angel, Lion, Eagle, and Ox.
