“In 1956, Mrs. Dorothy S. Turkel commissioned internationally acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design a residence for her property in the Palmer Woods Subdivision. She selected a “Usonian Automatic”, a two-story concrete block residence. The estimated construction cost was $65,000, no small sum for a residence in 1956.  The Turkel House is an L-shaped, two-story, flat-roofed structure of grey reinforced concrete with overhanging eaves, multi-paned hollow glazed windows and a concrete pad foundation. It is an example of Wright’s Usonian Automatic style, a design technique which joined concrete block cavities, steel support rods and poured cement into a single mass.” text from michigan modern For more information visit the official website

After touring the Affleck House, I drove over to the Smith House & it was love at first site (hopefully I can tour it at some point). 

“The Melvyn Maxwell and Sara Stein Smith House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1946 and constructed in 1949. It is a prime example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian design philosophy for housing the “common” man. The house is a one story structure of approximately 1,800 square feet. It embodies Wright’s design principle of “organically” blending with the house with the site and surroundings. The use of strong horizontal roof planes, cantilevers, and the landscape emphasize the integrated relationship of the structure.” (text from michigan modern; to learn more/see interior photos go there)

Today I toured the Affleck House in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.  The tour was meh, but it is always interesting seeing how a university runs/uses a historic home. (this may be my least favorite FLW house I’ve toured so far)

I made a tour reservation to go see the Affleck House next month (they only offer tours one day each month). 

“The first Frank Lloyd Wright-designed house to be built in the Detroit metropolitan area, the Affleck House represents one of the finest examples in the world of the architect’s Usonian style, the last great period of Wright’s career. Designed to exist in harmony with the home’s site and nature, the Affleck House was a part of Wright’s attempt to meet the need for low-cost housing for the average American. The importance of the house is borne by the fact that it was placed on the Michigan Register of Historic Places in 1978 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1985. The Michigan Society of Architects includes the house among Michigan’s 50 most significant structures.”

(Source: ltu.edu)

Being a historic preservation graduate student has perks!  Today I got a tour of the Palmer House in Ann Arbor, MI.  The Palmer House was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and built in 1950; currently the house serves as an informal (very expensive) hotel and is not open to the public.  I’m writing a paper where I re-imagine the site as a functioning historic house museum. For more information and photos click here. Oh, and almost all of the furnishings are original & the majority of them were designed by FLW; the built-ins made me drool.

“An American architectural treasure, this house was built for newlyweds Stanley and Mildred Rosenbaum of Florence, Alabama, in 1939. The house is the only structure designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in the state of Alabama, and the only such house in the southeast that is open to the public.” Photos are of: living area, front of home, office, boy’s dormitory (featuring frank designed bunkbeds).   The city purchased this property and did an AMAZING restoration project.  Home features 10 Eames chairs & the majority of the other furniture was designed by Frank.  Really enjoyed my tour.