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It is a Prairie style home that was designed for Mr. & Mrs. Meyer May in (circa) 1909. Standing proudly – and quite grandly – in the Heritage Hill Historic District of Grand Rapids, Michigan at 450 N. Madison Avenue, it was the subject of a recent visit by my wife and me. In the context of Wright’s career, it was an expression of ideas that grew bolder over time. In the context of contemporary architecture and design, Wright’s impact is still being defined.
Meyer and Sophie Amberg May House
Frank Lloyd Wright Affleck House - Detroit News
Frank Lloyd Wright Affleck House.
Posted: Thu, 18 Apr 2019 07:00:00 GMT [source]
SAH Archipedia tells the story of the United States through its buildings, landscapes, and cities. This freely available resource empowers the public with authoritative knowledge that deepens their understanding and appreciation of the built environment. Designed for a progressive and prominent Grand Rapids clothier, during the decades after the Meyer May house was completed it changed significantly and deteriorated slowly. A large addition was made in 1921 to accommodate May’s growing family, and in the mid-1960s the house became a multi-unit rental with carports and extra entrances.
Tour the Meyer May House
In honor of that collaboration, the Meyer May House is owned and maintained by Steelcase today. The Meyer house was purchased by Steelcase in 1985 and has since been masterfully restored.
Group Tours
The windows, rugs and other textile finishes, built-ins, grilles, and brass fixtures of the residence exhibit a harmonious continuity that reflect Niedecken’s sophisticated understanding of Wright’s design philosophy. The house is characterized by an overriding luminescence that is the result not only of its abundant fenestration, but also the application of rich materials. The brickwork around the living room fireplace features mortar speckled with golden glass that offers a luxurious contrast to the plaster and brick of Wright’s typical interiors. The dining table, modeled on Wright’s own design for the dining room of his Oak Park Home, includes four piers that support electrified lamps with glass shades ornamented with patterns that echo the abstractions found in the windows and rugs of the house. This 1908 masterpiece of the prairie-style design is the most complete restoration of a Frank Lloyd Wright house in existence. The owners, Steelcase Inc., spared no expense in reproducing in exact detail all furnishings and original grandeur.
The results are a home that feels like it is a Wright project that was commissioned just last year and only recently completed; it represents the beauty and grace of both form and function that Wright himself embraced. And although he may not have approved, the structural steel that has now been added to the building has provided a roof that will never again leak. The clay roof tiles, by the way, were made to original specifications in a special run by the company that had originally manufactured them back in 1909; the one-hundred-plus leaded-glass windows are beyond amazing. Designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1908 for a prominent Grand Rapids Clothier, the Meyer May House was purchased by Steelcase Inc. in 1985, meticulously restored and opened to the public in 1987. Today, complete with original furnishings and faithfully executed reproductions, the Meyer May house provides the rare opportunity to experience a Prairie house exactly as Frank Lloyd Wright intended. Meticulously, painstakingly and lovingly restored, this home is more than just an excellent example of what Mr. Wright was capable.
It is carefully sited to allow maximum southern exposure for the living room windows and skylights, and to create a spacious yard for the perennial gardens. Each terrace and art glass window is carefully arranged to bring nature into the house wherever possible. Wright’s characteristic attention to detail and visual unity is particularly apparent inside, where much of the space is defined by built-in cabinetry and geometrically patterned screens. Art glass windows, ceiling panels, and lanterns play off of the gold glass used in the mortar joints of the fireplace to create a completely light-filled space. Significantly altered in 1922, the home fell into decline following Meyer’s death in 1936.
Meyer May House
Also worthy of note is a pastel mural of hollyhocks rendered by George Niedecken, an “interior architect” who had worked with Wright previously. It was discovered – beneath six layers of paint on a wall separating the dining room from the living room – and lovingly restored. There is no charge to tour the house and view the film, The Renewing of a Vision. The Steelcase and Frank Lloyd Wright connection began in 1936 when Steelcase was contracted to manufacture Wright-designed furniture for the Johnson Wax Administration Building in Racine, Wisconsin.
Frank Smith Bank Building
Commissioned (apparently his first commission in Michigan) by Sophie and Meyer May (a Grand Rapids clothing store owner) in 1908, the home was completed in 1909… only to undergo significant changes over the ensuing decades, not the least of which was the change to a multi-unit rental in the mid ‘60s. Its deterioration had progressed slowly but steadily over the years and the home was in a sad state of disrepair when the Steelcase Company purchased the property in 1985. Wright’s frequent collaborator, and former Studio employee, George Mann Niedecken, supervised and coordinated the interior of the May house.
The Meyer May House (1909-
Meyer May (1873–1936) was a prominent merchant who became president of A. The Mays influenced the decision of the David Ambergs, Sophie's parents, to build a Wright house a few blocks away. In 1985 Steelcase, Inc., acquired the May house and accurately and meticulously restored it and the existing original furnishings to museum quality. It won the distinction of a President's Historic Preservation Award for corporate-sponsored preservation in 1988, sponsored by the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation and the U.S.
In 1985 Steelcase, Inc., the manufacturers of Wright’s Johnson Wax furniture, embarked on a two-year, museum-quality restoration of the home and returned it to its original 1910 condition. The Meyer and Sophie Amberg May house was Wright's first large commission in Michigan and one of only two residential buildings (KT35) in the state, other than resort cottages, from Wright's Prairie house period. The two-story, T-plan residence is situated on the northern edge of the corner lot to take full advantage of the southern light. The shallow-pitched hipped roof covered with red tiles slopes to broad overhangs, emphasizing the horizontality and hovering quality of the house as shelter. Leaded- and colored-glass-accented casement windows and doors open out to terraces and gardens with garden walls and planters, all incorporated in the design to intermingle the interior and the exterior. Wright hired George M. Niedecken of the Milwaukee firm of Niedecken-Walbridge Company to supervise and execute the interior decorative details.
In 1987 Steelcase fully restored it to Wright’s original design, preserving the house exactly as he intended. It stands today in its original form, exactly as Wright envisioned and intended; it is once again as glorious as anyone could imagine. From the exterior landscaping to the intricate details in the interior, this property is as magnificent as Wright himself would have desired.
