Last year, American architect Richard Meier‘s iconic ‘Smith House’ reached its fiftieth birthday. To commemorate the anniversary, architectural photographer Mike Schwartz has taken a set...
Five decades after completing the iconic Smith House in Connecticut, Richard Meier talks with AD about designing buildings that last
Last year, American architect Richard Meier‘s iconic ‘Smith House’ reached its fiftieth birthday. To commemorate the anniversary, architectural photographer Mike Schwartz has taken a set...
Image 26 of 26 from gallery of AD Classics: Smith House / Richard Meier & Partners. Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects
We tour one of Richard Meier's earliest forays into residential architecture - and our latest fashion shoot set - the Smith House
Image 24 of 26 from gallery of AD Classics: Smith House / Richard Meier & Partners. Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Image 4 of 26 from gallery of AD Classics: Smith House / Richard Meier & Partners. Photograph by Mike Schwartz
Architectural photographer Mike Schwartz documents Richard Meier’s Smith House for the home’s 50th anniversary
Image 21 of 26 from gallery of AD Classics: Smith House / Richard Meier & Partners. Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Last year, American architect Richard Meier‘s iconic ‘Smith House’ reached its fiftieth birthday. To commemorate the anniversary, architectural photographer Mike Schwartz has taken a set...
An Illustration board demountable model of Richard Meier's Smith House which I made in my first year architecture studio in 1988.
The owners of this Darien, Conn.-house, built by architect Richard Meier, aren't ready to part with their childhood home and its bold design and 'great views.' (
NRHP #97000283 5045 Pon Valley Road Bloomfield Hills, MI Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright Designed in 1949 by architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the L-shaped Usonian house is located in the middle of the woods with a pond on over three acres. The passive solar home uses 14,000 feet of red tidewater cypress lumber and has a maple dining table with eight maple chairs all designed by Wright. The original clients were school teachers who could've travelled the world, but instead chose to spend their retirement money on a Wright-designed house. I probably would have chosen the latter. Wright visited the house several times after construction and called it "my little gem". The Gregor Affleck house is nearby, but there's only so much architecture a girl can take in a 24 hour period, so I did not see it.
The owners of this Darien, Conn.-house, built by architect Richard Meier, aren't ready to part with their childhood home and its bold design and 'great views.' (
The Melvyn Maxwell Smith and Sara Stein Smith House also known as Myhaven is a Frank Lloyd Wright designed Usonian home that was constructed in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan in 1949 and 1950. Both were public school teachers living on a tight budget. During the two year construction period, the Smith's combined income was $280.00 per month. The house was to be 1800 square feet and featured radiant heating through hot water pipes installed in the floor slab. Like other Wright home designs, the house relied on passive solar energy. They received a housewarming gift from their friend Irving Goldberg of a maple dining table with eight maple chairs, two coffee tables and six hassocks, all designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright called it "my little gem.” The home is located near the Cranbrook Educational Community, and over the years, the Smiths built an extensive art collection, and the majority their works were by artists associated with Cranbrook. Among them are a massive chest by Paul R. Evans, a gazelle sculpture by Marshall Fredericks, and works by other artists including a sculpture by Sam Apple, exterior sculptures by Mike Calligan, weavings by Barbara Wittenburg, interior sculptures by Jim Messama, and a sculpted bust of Melvyn Smith by Robert Scheffman. Cranbrook president Roy Slade praised the home as exemplifying "the integration of art, architecture and nature”. Architectural photographer Balthazar Korab produced a widely reproduced image of Calligan's "Natural Bridge" sculpture with the house as the backdrop. Later, the Smiths collected works by Glenn Michaels, including an accordion screen, and a triptych mosaic installed above the fireplace. Sounding Sculpture by Harry Bertoia. At Wright's advice, Melvin Maxwell Smith decided to act as his own general contractor, so that he could save money and maintain the quality standards he expected. He recruited skilled workers who wanted to work on a home designed by Wright so much that they would accept lower pay than usual. Suppliers of building materials also provided goods such as 14,000 board feet of red tidewater cypress lumber at discounted prices because of their wish to be involved with a Wright project. Shopping center developer A. Alfred Taubman provided all of the windows at a deep discount because he considered the house a "fantastic structure”. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melvyn_Maxwell_and_Sara_Stein_Smith... www.michiganmodern.org/buildings/melvyn-maxwell-and-sara-...
Image 6 of 26 from gallery of AD Classics: Smith House / Richard Meier & Partners. Photograph by Mike Schwartz
NRHP #97000283 5045 Pon Valley Road Bloomfield Hills, MI Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright L-shaped Usonian house located in the middle of the woods with a pond. Original clients were school teachers who spent their retirement money on a Wright-designed house instead of traveling the world. I probably would have chosen the latter. The Gregor Affleck house is nearby, but there's only so much architecture a girl can take in a 24 hour period. Besides, I have moved on from my Wright obsession that I suffered from, say, 8 years ago.
Image 19 of 26 from gallery of AD Classics: Smith House / Richard Meier & Partners. Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Image 22 of 26 from gallery of AD Classics: Smith House / Richard Meier & Partners. Courtesy of Richard Meier & Partners Architects
Completed in 2019 in Upper Kingsburg, Canada. Images by Doublespace Photography. Smith House is a vacation home located on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, adjacent to the architect’s farm (Shobac). The home consists of...
Image 3 of 31 from gallery of Smith House / MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects. Photograph by Doublespace Photography
Completed in 1973 in Harbor Springs, United States. Hovering over the shores of Lake Michigan, the Douglas House was built by Richard Meier in 1971-1973 for Jim and Jean Douglas. The house is gently...
Conceived in the 1840s by the 6th Duke of Devonshire, the Rock Garden at Chatsworth has recently been reinvigorated by Tom Stuart-Smith with limestone boulders, tumbling waterfalls and naturalistic plantings
Among much else, the tour demonstrated Wright's commitment to democratizing great architecture.
Located in Bloomfield Hills near Detroit is a Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian gem. Designed in 1946 the 1800 square foot Smith House was to be the home of Melvyn Maxwell Smith and his wife, Sara, both high school teachers. Being of limited means the Smiths sacrificed and saved the 20,000 dollars necessary to build the home, which was finally completed in 1950. Wright visited the house three times after it was built, declaring it “my little gem" with the Smiths simply referring to it as their “haven”.
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Image 7 of 31 from gallery of Smith House / MacKay-Lyons Sweetapple Architects. Photograph by Doublespace Photography
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This country house in East Sussex was almost derelict when Richard Smith and Andrew Blackman fell in love with it. Together, they have breathed new life into the 17th-century property and made extensive use of Richard’s own playful fabric designs
An architectural image of Smith House in the Great Buildings Online.
