Within the mid-Nineteen Forties, roughly a dozen Michigan scientists working for the pharmaceutical producer Upjohn got here collectively to fee architect Frank Lloyd Wright to design a neighborhood for them. The group had pooled their sources to buy round 70 acres (~28.3 hectares) in Galesburg, a metropolis a bit of greater than 15 miles from the corporate’s former company headquarters in Kalamazoo, and so they had been drawn to Wright’s “Usonian” houses: cheap, L-shaped, single-story dwellings with robust connections to nature. A couple of years later, some members of the group who determined Galesburg was too far of a trek additionally engaged with Wright to develop one other neighborhood in Kalamazoo.
Now, three Usonian houses from these neighboring Michigan communities are available on the market, providing potential homebuyers a chance to personal a bit of mid-century fashionable architectural historical past — for lower than the price of some Brooklyn brownstones.
The Winn Home is one in all three Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian houses at present available on the market in Michigan. (photograph courtesy Fred Taber)
Throughout his lifetime, Wright designed greater than 300 houses, a number of of that are at present on the market across the nation in Arizona, California, and Oklahoma, based on the Frank Lloyd Wright Constructing Conservancy’s Wright on the Market tracker. Nonetheless, the three residences at present on the market in Michigan — all lower than 13 miles from each other — not solely exemplify his quintessential architectural philosophies for middle-class dwelling, but in addition draw on his broader visions for city and suburban metropolis planning, as proposed in his 1932 Broadacre Metropolis idea.
The Winn Home is at present listed for $850,000 — making it extra reasonably priced than some Brooklyn brownstones. (photograph courtesy Fred Taber)
In Galesburg, the Weisblat and Eppstein houses are at present listed at $1.95 and $2.1 million, respectively. They had been each designed in 1948 and are located on round heaps on the identical drive, as a part of a compound identified at present as The Acres that additionally contains two different Wright landmarks, the Pratt Home and the Meyer Home. The neighborhood was listed on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations in 2004.
In close by Kalamazoo, the Winn Home is listed at $850,000. It was designed in 1950 as a part of the cooperative neighborhood often called Parkwyn Village, which was additionally listed on the Nationwide Register of Historic Locations in 2022.
A room contained in the Eppstein Home, which is at present available on the market for $2.1 million (photograph courtesy Fred Taber)
As proven within the kitchen of the Eppstein Home, Usonian houses usually had been distinguished by partitions manufactured from wooden or brick. (photograph courtesy Fred Taber)
“The houses [in the Acres and Parkwyn Village] vary, but share elements of Wright’s Usonian concept,” Eric Rogers, a spokesperson for the Frank Lloyd Wright Constructing Conservancy, instructed Hyperallergic.
He referenced the houses’ open-floor layouts to encourage folks to socialize in the primary dwelling areas; carports in lieu of garages; and reasonably priced supplies consisting of concrete slabbed flooring, partitions manufactured from wooden or brick, and flat roofs with giant overhangs.
Lots of the Wright-designed homes within the space have had intensive repairs lately. Realtor Fred Taber instructed Hyperallergic that the Eppstein Home and the Pratt Home underwent a mixed $1 million in restoration, and the Winn equally has about $800,000 price of repairs.
“Their value was really stagnant for a very long time … many of [the homes] were in very bad condition and almost beyond repair,” Taber mentioned. Their unique tar and gravel roofing, which was susceptible to leaks, has since been changed with waterproof rubber. The houses have had “no issues” because the replace, Taber mentioned.
Just like the Winn Home, Usonian houses emphasised a robust connection to nature by using giant quantities of pure mild. (photograph courtesy Fred Taber)
However along with being available on the market, a number of of the Wright residences within the space, just like the Eppstein Home and the Meyer Home, are additionally listed on Airbnb for in a single day stays.
“With so many [Wright homes] having recently changed hands, and three currently on the market, the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy hopes new owners will appreciate their significance within this interesting regional history and Wright’s larger body of work,” Rogers mentioned.
Usonian houses are often one-story, L-shaped, and flat-roofed. (photograph courtesy Fred Taber)
The Winn Home is a part of Parkwyn Village in Kalamazoo, the place Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses in 1950. (photograph courtesy Fred Taber)
Like many Usonian houses, the Eppstein Home has an open-floor format that encourages socializing. (photograph courtesy Fred Taber) (photograph courtesy Fred Taber)
