Built high into the steep, dune bluffs in Leelanau County, this contemporary lakefront home transcends traditional vernacular as it stands witness to the drama of a dynamic Lake Michigan theater. Magnetic and mercurial, the lake is one of expressive hue, shifting sands, and powerful currents set amid ancient forests, towering headlands, and islands of tilted limestone layers buried beneath glacial debris. There is a constant in its transformation, as shipwrecks and natural landscape court the imagination, and for the homeowners of this waterfront residence built just north of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore in view of South and North Manitou Islands, the idyllic setting of Lake Michigan served as the…
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Rustic-modern retreat
Overlooking Long Lake in Traverse City, Michigan, a home originally built in the mid-1990s was recently transformed into a rustic-modern, home-away-from-home for a couple and their growing family, a remodel designed by New Leaf Interiors of Traverse City. An interior design studio founded in 2010 by Gretchen Knoblock, owner and design director, New Leaf Interiors works toward helping clients realize their dream spaces, utilizing in-house capabilities such as kitchen and bath cabinetry selections, an array of finish options, and many furniture and home accessories lines. The firm’s services also include space planning assistance and visual representation of a client’s vision through sketches, the creation of concept boards, CAD drawings, and…
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Lakefront Prairie oasis
On the western shores of Lake Michigan, a composition of brick and stucco, leaded glass windows and overhanging eaves, emerges from its sloped landscape in an artful celebration of geometric abstraction. Surrounded by planted sumac and prairie grasses on a blufflike dune ecosystem, the home is respectful of the iconic Prairie Style where principles are adapted for its site, purpose, and time. There is an integration with its landscape as its rectilinear form intentionally wraps around a 150-year-old oak tree and opens out toward the lakefront in an expression of waterfront living. Its simple, natural palette celebrates the discipline of ornament and artistry of craftsmanship from artisan tiles and hand-carved…
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En Masse
Set amid a row of iconic Greystone buildings along California Ave. in Chicago, Illinois, the grid-like façade of concrete and glass on the En Masse Architecture and Design Ltd. studio presents a bold juxtaposition with its environment at first glance. Its poured-in place, brise-soleil creates a patterned effect where vertical fins of concrete lend an added layer of complexity to the grey-hued limestone of the historic residential building style inherent to Chicago, and bring an energy and dynamic tension to the creative conversation within its architectural landscape. Minimalist in design, the studio is more than a composition of its brise-soleil—an architectural solution popularized and initially designed for climatic challenges by…
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Solutions in storage
California Closets Inc. offers quality custom storage solutions to clients throughout Michigan from its three Michigan-franchise-based locations within the Metro Detroit area: its showroom in Birmingham; its manufacturing, administrative, and showroom in Wixom; and its showroom within the Michigan Design Center in Troy. Samantha Jones, trade development manager and marketing coordinator at California Closets Inc. in Detroit, Michigan, indicated that the company designs and installs a wide range of custom projects tailored to a multitude of spaces and budgets. Often, California Closets, Michigan will collaborate with interior designers and builders who represent their client, working on projects such as new construction, production homes, and apartment buildings—as well as taking on…
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The Caterpillar
In Core City, Detroit, urbanism is defined in unconventional terms. For the creative and technical minds behind the neighborhood development at the intersection of Grand River Ave. and Warren Ave., it is about investing in intentional and thoughtful ideas grounded in reality to create a place rather than a market or projects motivated by demand. It is about renovating and activating land that has been vacant for decades in a manner that not only honors the history, people, and space characteristic of the surrounding city, but also enhances and preserves the environment through developing as little real estate as possible. Core City envisions a depopulated urbanism, where public spaces like…
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Gina A. Paul, AIA
Principal, Senior Architect, Commercial Studio Leader AMDG Architects | Grand Rapids, Michigan Inspired by the iconic architectural landscape of southern California, Gina A. Paul, AIA, senior architect and one of the principals at AMDG Architects in Grand Rapids, Michigan, knew she wanted to be in architecture from a young age. From the bustling epicenter of Los Angeles, where she went to college, and the nearby historical districts of Pasadena with its distinctive landmarks like Pasadena Hall, to diverse styles found in the region such as Mission Revival, Beaux Arts, Art Deco, and Midcentury Modern, the rich tapestry of the built landscape left an influential mark early in life. Paul…
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Design at home
In Troy, Michigan, the Michigan Design Center boasts distinctive access to top design manufacturers and their showrooms under one roof. From September 17th through the 27th, the design center will also provide rare access to the personal homes—and styles—of six Metro Detroit interior designers as part of its bi-annual Home Tour, in coordination with Detroit Public Television, or DPTV. This year, the tour will be presented as an hour-long video program for the first time, and it will be available to ticket holders to watch any time within the duration of the program. The video presentation tour, hosted by DPTV’s Fred Nahhat, will provide an intimate glimpse into the designers’…
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X House
Perched on rock outcroppings along the shore of Lake Superior, a Marquette, Michigan residence is a display of harmonies between residential life and a profound natural topography of forest, lichenous bedrock, and freshwater horizon. The single-story home lays about the landscape in an X shape: an architectural strategy to minimize the home’s footprint, while preserving those stony landforms that inspired the homeowners and architectural team. The shape also embodies more conceptual contradictions, such as the interactions of short and long views across the lake and the robust, protective design of the home that is still bordered in glass and fit for the gentle rituals of everyday life. The choiceness of…
