Ann Arbor City Club Tour Features Metcalf's Crane House-June 2nd
Ann Arbor City Club Tour
Sunday, June 2, 2013
10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
This year’s tour features Robert C. Metcalf’s first commission “H. Richard and Florence Crane” (1954) home at 830 Avon Road which is now owned by Jim and Linda Elert.
Significance of home:
The original homeowner, Dr. Richard H. Crane, was one of the most distinguished experimental physicists of the 20th century. Dr. Crane’s early work on nuclear physics and the physics of accelerators culminated in the invention of the race track synchrotron, a design emulated by almost every particle accelerator since 1950. His pioneering measurements on the gyro-magnetic ratio of the free electron are a cornerstone of quantum electrodynamics. During World War II, Crane worked as a research associate on radar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and as a physicist on the proximity fuse at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He served as the director of proximity fuse research at U-M and as director of the atomic research project for the Manhattan District.
The architect of this home, Robert C. Metcalf, is in an own right one of the leaders in architectural modernism in southeast Michigan. The Crane house was Bob’s first commission after apprenticing under George B. Brigham from 1948 to 1952. At the same time he was designing the Crane house, Bob was also building his own home with his wife Bettie. Bob would go on to design over 40 residential structures in Ann Arbor for prominent business, research scientists and academic leaders in the Ann Arbor and Detroit areas.
See City Club flyer for details on obtaining tickets for the tour!