News & Events

Botch / Aaron Open House

On the afternoon of January 13th the Aarons, who soon intend to sell the Metcalf home known as the Botch House, will be holding an open house for our a2modern friends. Tickets may be purchased here.

Architect Robert Metcalf’s 1958 presentation drawing lifted the Botch House on Chestnut Street just above the crest of the ridge. A rising walkway led to three steps up to the startling entrance portico, while a sweeping white retaining wall created an illusion of floating. It is an extraordinary drawing of an extraordinary house.

A visitor approaching from the street today would see a house gently nestled into the site, the entranceway firmly set on the ground, and rather than a retaining wall (which was not built) a berm landscaped so as to conceal the driveway area at the northwestern end of the house. It is a better solution altogether, and the landscaping and other work supervised by the present owner, an architect herself, won a Preservation Award from the Ann Arbor Historic District Commission in June 2017.

Vintage photos of the interior of the Botch House (see 1055 Chestnut/Old News) emphasized openness to light and the natural beauty of the setting. Sited along a northeast to southwest axis, the all-windows private side of the house facing a golf course receives indirect sunlight all day long. Attention to the sun also explains the elegant screen on the portico: it modulates the raking afternoon sunlight.

In its essence, a “modern” house must be designed specifically for the client. In this instance, Dr. Edmund Botch asked for a discreet area off the master bedroom where he could, when necessary, dress and quietly leave the house to see a patient or keep an appointment. The intricate living area that resulted, including the master bedroom and two large bedrooms, has to be experienced to be fully appreciated.

The present owners, Richard and Yuni Aaron, bought the house in 2006. A series of practical updatings took place in the following years, including replacing almost all of the windows, redesigning storage spaces in the kitchen to accommodate new appliances (without changing either dimensions or materials), replacing carpeted areas with light-toned hardwood flooring, and creating two bedrooms in the lower level area. On the other hand, the buff brown tile used on the portico floor, through the entranceway, and into dining area was left untouched.

When the new owners invited Robert Metcalf to Thanksgiving Dinner, he brought his little black book, in which he had noted, to the penny, the original cost of the house. Two of his trademark touches add romance to the simplicity of its modernist flat roof, continuous expanses of glass, warm tile floor, patio areas, and indirect lighting—an elegant wooden screen separates the dining area from the portico entrance; and on either side of the living room fireplace, niches of purple-rose stained glass complement the pink marble of hearth and over mantle.

It is a big, very proud house, now updated by an architect who thoroughly understands the legacy of a brilliant architect. Together, the Aarons have earned the right to the re-identification of this house as the Botch/Aaron House.

Written by: Jeffrey Welch

Mies van der Rohe’s Lafayette Park

Sold Out

Time: 1:00-3:00 p.m.
When: Saturday, September 9th, 2017
Cost: $30/person, registration required

Detroit’s Mies van der Rohe Historic District in Lafayette Park includes 186 cooperatively owned Town House and Court House units, three apartment towers, an elementary school, a retail district, and a 13-acre park known as the Lafayette Plaisance.

The neighborhood has been hailed as “one of the most spatially successful and socially significant statements in urban renewal” and as a “prototype for future urban development predicated on human values.” The site contains the largest collection of buildings by the architect Mies van der Rohe in the world, as well as the only group of row houses built to his specifications.

The tour will be conducted by Christian Unverzagt and Neil McEachern, both long-time residents of Lafayette Park. Unverzagt is an Assistant Professor of Practice in Architecture at the University of Michigan’s Taubman College. McEachern, now retired, is a former Detroit Public Schools principal.

Space is limited (only 12 tickets available), REGISTER HERE

LOGISTICS: Transportation is on your own. We will meet at the Mies van der Rohe Plaza in the Shops at Lafayette Park at 12:45 p.m. Parking is available in the shops (off Lafayette). Alternatively, public parking is available on Joliet Place and Nicolet Place (off Rivard) and the plaza may be approached from the north by walking through the Plaisance.

Below are pictures of a courtyard unit at 1320 Nicolet Pl. that is currently for sale.

Regent Drive and Highland Road Walking Tour – 8/17

On Thursday, August 17, at 6:30 P. M., Grace Shackman will lead a walking tour of Highland Road and Regent Drive. The lots on both streets were sold with the caveat that the homes be architect-designed. Architects represented include George Brigham, David Osler, Robert Metcalf, and Aldon Dow.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased here. The tour will be limited to 20 people. Meet at the corner of Regent Drive and Highland Road, which is north of Geddes Road near the Arboretum.

Klein Residence Open House

There will be an open house on Sunday, June 11th from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM at 3087 Overridge Road in Ann Arbor Hills. Tickets can be purchase here.

This beautiful home was designed by Edward Olencki in 1962 for the Engels and purchased by the Kleins in 1989.

Once she found herself inside this extraordinary hilltop house, Sally Klein was sure it was for her. Leaving behind their beautiful place in the country (actually Irene Olencki sold their house for them), the Kleins moved into 3087 Overridge Road in 1989. The previous owners kept the house in immaculate condition, so very little needed to be done to accommodate her family. She said that husband Tom, a mechanical engineer, took a little more time but he eventually came around to loving this Midcentury Modern masterpiece (1962) by Edward Olencki, one of three residences designed by him in Ann Arbor.

Edward Olencki came to the College of Architecture and Design at the University of Michigan in 1948, having graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology. He had worked as a draftsman and designer in the office of Mies van der Rohe in Chicago from 1943 to 1948. At Michigan he taught courses in construction materials and methods, comprehensive architectural design, and furniture design. He also ran his own architectural firm, designing homes, churches, and commercial buildings.

The Klein House on Overridge is barely visible from the street, but the ascent up the driveway instigates an Oh My Word! sense of an unfolding palace, white, somewhat austere, rising up a cliff face. The open garage leads the eye to take in the layered forms of courtyard wall, first level, second level and additional chamber farther back. And the house is sited so it’s impossible to comprehend the full scale of the house as it reaches into the surrounding ridge and trees.

Sally Klein made the comment that in the case of this house the outside is more important than the inside. She was referring to the dramatic site but once inside and having climbed the stairway to the main level, the interior dimensions convey an airy feeling of openness and light. Placed on a north south axis, three large rectangular areas accommodate sleeping quarters, living room, and kitchen dining room. On the north end a screened porch looks over a saddleback horizon into forest trees. The detailing in the house, which has remained intact (except for the removal of one bookcase to downstairs and modifications in the kitchen), employs light-toned wood surfaces and large windows. The predominately white interior with black accents adds to the serenity of these light-filled spaces.

For the walkway to the house itself, Sally traded out concrete steps for large granite stepping stones, which better complement the approach to porch area and main entrance. No description can realize how this house takes hold of the imagination. It embodies the essence of Midcentury Modern house design in its use of site, simple materials, elegant proportions and landscaped setting. This is a wonder filled house.