Monica Shelly house

The Monica Shelly house, located at 430 Spring St. in Big Rapids, MI, is a major plot location for the Dozerfleet Comics production Blood Over Water. It is based on the real house located at the same address.

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Until the inception of a comic of Blood Over Water first took place in 2013, there was no major Dozerfleet significance to this location. It was chosen for both Blood Over Water and The Sims 4: Oughties Big Rapids Living Stuff due to its being somewhat easy to reproduce in-game, based on screenshots from Realtor and Zillow.

For the miniseries of Blood Over Water, this house was not plot-relevant in any way. This is because Monica's actress, Cassie Tyler, never actually lived in this house. In real life, Cassie in 2009 was staying in the Puterbaugh / Henderson Hall complex in the fall. In the original miniseries' timeline, Monica's residence in town is never specified.

The house was built in 1950, and uses a forced air gas heating method. It doesn't have centralized air conditioning, and relies on window-mounted wall unit cooling during the summer months.

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Monica moves into this rental home some time before the events in Blood Over Water. Part of this is so that she can work her part time job at the hospital as well as attend Ferris. The other reason she moves here, is so that she can get more privacy for her lifestyle choices - without her niece seeing something inappropriate happen.

It is while living here that she finds herself in a serious relationship with Vance Lingolin, then finds herself trying to solve his murder. She attempts as often as possible to hide her activities from little Annabelle, but has a harder time convincing her sister Betsy to not notice. Her friend-with-benefits Hank Froli is murdered in this house by Gleeful-N'-Young operatives on the same evening that Annabelle is taken. Annabelle is captured by Gleeful-N'-Young, only to be "rescued" by the Straggele - and gangpressed into joining their Krampus cult.

Monica's sense of despair over losing Vance, Hank, Betsy, and Annabelle causes her to become increasingly daring in her assistance toward Aaron's quest to get to the bottom of Mark going missing. She becomes less concerned with protecting others or herself; and becomes more concerned with making Sleet Mountain pay for ruining her life.

Her lease ends on the home after she gets her diploma from Ferris, and she moves out. However, it's not long after moving back to Howard City with her sister in which Monica discovers herself the target of malicious prosecution - which earns her a year in jail. The fate of her old house is left open to interpretation.

This version of the house features a secret compartment in the basement, large enough to hide a mother and child inside of. While not large enough to be considered a proper "panic room," this panel behind one wall will allow someone to hide from the world for a short time.

Specs

 * Lot size: 0.26 acres
 * House area: 789 sq ft.
 * Estimated market value: $85,000

Nearby early education

 * Riverview Elementary School
 * Mecosta-Osceola Education Center School
 * St. Peter Lutheran Private School
 * St. Mary Catholic Private School
 * Big Rapids Middle School
 * Crossroads Charter Academy

Nearby later education

 * Crossroads Charter Academy
 * Big Rapids Middle School
 * Big Rapids High School
 * Mecosta-Osceola Education Center School
 * Ferris State University

Nearby grocers

 * Meijer
 * Wal-Mart
 * Aldi
 * Johnny's Markets
 * Dollar Tree
 * Big Rapids EZ Mart
 * Kilwins of Big Rapids
 * Old Pioneer Store and Emporium
 * Family Dollar
 * Red Fox Market
 * Eastside Market
 * The Market at Ferris State

Nearby fast food

 * Culver's
 * Jimmy John's
 * Arby's
 * Qdoba
 * KFC
 * Long John Silver's
 * Domino's
 * Burger King
 * Little Caesar's
 * Taco Bell
 * Wendy's
 * McDonald's
 * Fatty C's Doghouse
 * A&W
 * Subway
 * State Street Scoops
 * Pizza Hut
 * Nawals's Mediterranean Grille

Nearby insurance firms

 * Farm Bureau Insurance
 * Farmers Insurance
 * Bleeker Insurance Services
 * Bush Insurance Agency
 * Red Insurance
 * Schuberg Insurance
 * Bridge Title Agency
 * Daum-Meemic
 * Big Rapids Insurance
 * AAA
 * Wenger Insurance

Nearby gas stations

 * Meijer
 * Wesco
 * Marathon
 * Admiral
 * BP
 * Sunoco

Nearby pharmacies

 * Meijer
 * Wal-Mart
 * Walgreens
 * Rite Aid
 * HomeTown Pharmacy
 * Family Dollar

Area crime rate
Note: All data listed here is from 2019, given 2020-released FBI statistics. These are only the incidents actually submitted to the FBI after screening by local police reports, and not indicative of all possible incidents that went unreported.


 * Murder: 0
 * Rape: 6 (57.8 per capita)
 * Robbery: 0
 * Assault: 20 (192.5 per capita)
 * Burglary: 18 (173.3 per capita)
 * Standard theft: 114 (1,097.3 per capita)
 * Vehicular theft: 3 (28.9 per capita)

The most dangerous region of town in our Earth number appears to be Locust St., near the Spectrum Health Hospital.

Cost of living
Assuming that rates at Monica's house as a rental were consistent with area rates for 2009 for nearby homes, Monica's rent would have been at most $600 a month. Adding in other living costs, and she would have needed to spend about $1,540 a month in living cost. Between her time at the hospital and her going to class, her earnings would have been no more than about $15 an hour, or $9 / hr. after taxes and other deductions. This would put her, for a 30-hour week, at a take-home income of $270, or $1,215 a month, assuming no additional support from grants or loans. She would have looked for ways to cut costs from time to time, to reduce that $300 or so of overhead. Even with her wealthy settlement from 9-11, she would be hesitant to spend it all on just Ferris living. Her promiscuous nature threatens her savings plans, however, as supplies to support such a lifestyle can add up in cost.

Monica's house in Oughties Big Rapids Living Stuff
Due to the slants for landscaping, this house's lot and back parking area proved especially difficult to adapt. The tool shed in back facing Hutchinson St. is represented by a shrunken-down outhouse object. Monica's panic compartment is not included, but implied to be in the bedroom set up in the basement for Annabelle. Liberties were taken with the basement's layout, to accommodate storytelling needs.

Further viewing

 * 430 Spring St. on Google Street View