The Smith House / Frank Lloyd Wright
The Smith House by Frank Lloyd Wright (1950) Located in Bloomfield Hills, this Usonian was commissioned by two school teachers, Sara Stein Smith and Melvyn Maxwell Smith. In 1939, during a graduate art history class at Wayne State University, Melvyn was inspired by a presentation on Wright's Fallingwater. Immediately in class, he declared his intention to have a house designed by Wright. Sarah and Melvyn were married in 1940. The Smiths went to meet with Frank Lloyd Wright at Taliesin in 1941 and he agrred to design a home for them. The project was delayed when Melvyn was drafted into the Army. He served from 1942 to 1945. The couple used their entire saving to purchase the site in 1946 and Wright delivered the plans in 1947. Melvyn acted as the general contractor to save on costs. The Smiths must have been the most likeable couple because all the trades people and suppliers gave them generous deals. Even the notoriously arrogant and abrasive Wright was smitten by them. Arch...
