Frank Lloyd Wright in Michigan, Part Two
Prologue…
Part Two of this blog post covers the last three days of my trip to Michigan in late August/early September, 2024. If somehow you got here without reading about the first part of my trip go to Part One.
Monday, September 2, 2024 — More Palmer House Details and a Visit to the University of Michigan Campus
I slept great in the cozy confines of the Palmer House and awoke feeling fantastic. Feeling quite refreshed, I took a long walk in the gardens and around the neighborhood. It was a crisp, cool morning, and felt amazing. In Central Texas we had been experiencing brutally hot temperatures, and the weather in Michigan was most welcomed by this old man.
One of the benefits of staying at a FLLW house is the ability to explore every tiny detail of the house. After my morning walk in the gardens and around the neighborhood, I spent several hours enjoying every nook and cranny of the Palmer House and closely examining all of the furniture and builtins designed by FLLW. I also enjoyed the items displayed throughout the house such as the antique camera display, the teapot collection, the many books, and the art/posters/photos in the house.
Below is a photograph of one of several sets of nesting (in sets of three) ottomans in the Palmer House. According to Palmer House lore, on one of Wright’s visits to the Palmer House, Mary Palmer had arranged for a musical performance for him and other guests. Frank Lloyd Wright became quite upset because of two things — first, the quartet was not in the proper position to take advantage of the optimal acoustics in the house, and, second, Wright was incensed that the guests were seated on folding chairs, which he considered hideous and unsuitable for the house he designed. A few months later a truck pulled up to the Palmer House and unloaded five sets (15 total) of the ottomans. They were a gift from Mr. Wright. Never again would folding chairs be seen in or used in his creation, The Palmer House!
I decided to spend my Monday afternoon visiting the nearby University of Michigan campus. I wanted to visit the Law Quadrangle and the Law Library, as both were well known for their gothic architecture. I also wanted to visit the Kelsey Archaeological Museum on campus, as well as the football stadium, known as the “Big House”. I found the campus to be quite large, and bustling with activity, even though it was a holiday (Labor Day). A few photos from my afternoon…
After I had my fill of the Law Library, I walked over to the Kelsey Archaeological Museum, only to find that it was closed. I was near the Student Union, so I went to the bookstore hoping to find a t-shirt for the football game that was to be played on Saturday against the Evil Empire, also known as the University of Texas. Unable to find a t-shirt with a “Beat Texas” motif, I settled for a Michigan hat, which I took with me over to the Big House, where I did my best to place a hex on the University of Texas Football team. (By the way, it didn’t work, as Texas trounced Michigan the following Saturday).
I left the University of Michigan Campus and drove to the Kabza House, located at 2417 London Derry. This house was designed by Robert Pond, an apprentice to FLLW in the early 1950s. Pond also did some design work for the Palmer House — he supervised the building of the back terrace, which was part of the original Wright plan. Pond was on his own when he designed the Kabza House, but the Usonian principles he learned under Wright are quite evident. I finished my time away from the Palmer House by stopping for an early supper of stuffed Salmon at Real Seafood Company on Main Street — delicious!
I returned to the heavenly confines of the Palmer House where I took advantage of the the golden hour and the sunset. I knew that the ceramic blocks with the cut-out abstract bird motif created interesting light patterns inside the house, but my hostess had mentioned that at sunset, a line of birds appears in the hall of the bedroom wing, and move slowly along the wall.
I will be forever grateful for the time I got to spend at the Frank Lloyd Wright Palmer House in Ann Arbor. I will never forget the beautiful gardens, nor the solitude and enchantment that one experiences sleeping in a Frank Lloyd Wright masterpeice. My time there was perfect, and I think I shall enjoy sweet dreams of that place for the rest of my life! For a more complete collection of photos I took, go to the Palmer House Gallery page.
Tuesday, September 3, 2024 — The Meyer May House in Grand Rapids, The Parkwyn Village Homes, and the Galesburg Country Homes in Kalamazoo
After waking up from another wonderful night’s sleep in the Palmer House, I reluctantly said goodbye to that special place and headed northwest to Grand Rapids and a 10:00 a.m. tour of the iconic Meyer May House. The Steelcase Company purchased this FLLW prairie style home and did a museum quality restoration before opening it up for public tours. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour — what a great house! Here are a few of the photographs I took that morning. For more photographs, look at the Meyer May House Gallery.
Prior to each tour, guests see a film about the history and restoration of the Meyer May House. There is also a display of Steelcase office furniture in the room where the film is shown. As you might imagine, there is a Frank Lloyd story behind this office furniture. The original chairs designed by Wright for the S. C. Johnson Headquarters building only had three legs. Wright felt his design promoted good posture and, if sat in correctly, were very stable and comfortable chairs. That turned out not to be the case, as office workers began to complain about the chairs and the many falls they created. H.F. Johnson, Jr., the third generation leader of the company at the time, contacted Wright and complained about the chairs. His complaints at first fell on deaf ears — Wright’s only comment was “Their first fall will be their last”. As the complaints from employees continued, many refused to use the three legged chairs. H.F. Johnson, Jr. knew he had to do something. So he scheduled a meeting with Wright in a conference room that he had set up to demonstrate to Wright that the chair was in fact unstable. He placed a cup of colored pencils in the center of the conference table, knowing that Wright would not be able to resist leaning over to reach for them, which is exactly what Wright did, falling to the floor in the process. Soon thereafter Wright sent plans for a new four legged replacement chair to Mr. Johnson, never admitting that the initial design was unstable. Of course, the Steelcase Company benefited from this, as their order for the chairs suddenly doubled!
After my tour of the Meyer May House, I headed to the south, bound for the Parkwyn Village FLLW houses in Kalamazoo. Parkwyn Village was a 47 acre subdivision near the Upjohn Company that Wright designed in 1948. Four houses, all located on Taliesin Drive, were designed by Wright and built in the Parkwyn Village subdivision. I was able to drive by and see three of the houses from the street, namely the McCartney Residence (2662 Taliesin Dr.), the Brown Residence (2806 Taliesin Dr.), and the Levin Residence (2816 Taliesin Dr.). Unfortunately, the Robert D. Winn house, a hemi-cycle design located at 2822 Taliesin Dr., was not visible from the street, so I was unable to get photographs of it.
From the Parkwyn Village homes in Kalamazoo, I drove out to the Galesburn Country Homes subdivision, anxious to see the Eppstein Home, where I would be spending the night. Consisting of 72 acres, this was the original subdivision FLLW designed for a group of Upjohn scientists and was located 10 miles east of Kalamazoo. Some of the group decided that this location was too far from work for them, so they broke off and located land closer to Upjohn, upon which Wright designed Parkwyn Village and the four FLLW homes found there (see the above drive-bys).
As I entered the Galesburg Country Homes development, I saw a sign that said “The Acres”. I learned later that this was the nickname given to the 71 acre development by the original members of the Upjohn group who purchased the land and had Wright design a plan calling for 21 round one acre sites, with the rest of the undeveloped acreage to be owned by the homeowners association. The first house I encountered was on the right a short distance from the entrance — this is the Pratt House, located at 10036 Hawthorne Dr., Galesburg, MI. The Pratt House is very close to the road and the lot is very open so, while I wasn’t able to enter or tour the home, I was able to get some very good photos of the exterior.
Just past the Pratt House is the Eppstein House, where I would be spending the night. I pulled in, and made sure the entry code I was given worked. I decided I would walk back down to the entrance to photograph the development’s sign before I moved my belongings into the Eppstein House. While I was on the way back to the Eppstein House a gentleman passed me on the way to check his mail. As he drove past me on his return trip, he stopped, rolled down his window, and introduced himself as Doug LeBrecque, the owner of the Meyer House. Upon learning that I was staying at the Eppstein House (and that I was a FLLW aficianado!) Doug invited me up to his house. I walked back and locked up the Eppstein house then walked up the drive to Doug’s home. He gave me a tour of his home and allowed me to take photographs. What a stunning home it is! I had promised the owner of the Eppstein House that I would not snoop around or otherwise bother the other homes and homeowners, so I did not think I would have the opportunity to see the Meyer House, much less take a tour of it. Ever since Dorothy and I visited The Lewis Spring House in Talahassee, FL, I have had a thing for Wright’s solar-hemicycle designs. Still saddened by not even being able to get a peek at the Winn Residence (also a hemi-cycle design) at Parkwyn, I was overjoyed by Doug’s kindness and generosity in sharing this home with me. What a great birthday gift is was for this old man! Here are a few photos I took of the Meyer House. For a more complete set of photos see the Meyer House Gallery page.
After thanking Doug for letting me see the Meyer House and saying my goodbyes, I walked back down to the Eppstein House to get settled in for the night and to explore the home. The Eppstein house is unusual in a number of respects. It has two living areas, at opposite ends of the house (Wright identifies the one farthest from the entry as a “family room), separated by four large bedrooms. While the large living room has the customary grid lines in the floor, the hall, the bedrooms, and the family room have incomplete grid lines or none at all. It was difficult to tell if the furniture was original, since much of it had legs that were unlike anything I have every seen on furniture designed by FLLW. I enjoyed my stay here and was quite comfortable in the house. But, to be honest, the feel of the house was very different from the Palmer House, as were the construction details — kind of like going from driving a loaded Porche to a stripped down Chevrolet. Below are a few of the photos I took. For a more complete set of my photos take a look at the Eppstein House Gallery page.
