Natural Harmony

This custom home in Michigan features a distinctive prairie-style exterior. A series of hip roofs are joined together by two flat transition roofs.

Designed for a couple looking for a home that reflected their love of music and entertaining, this spacious 10,500 square foot custom residence in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, lets them enjoy both--within a picturesque setting.

The three-level, prairie-style home features a crisp, contemporary interior with ceilings that rise to dramatic 19-foot heights, oversized windows that emphasize the year-round views offered by its spectacular site and easy accessibility to the outdoors.

Although the indoor location of the 12 x 30 foot pool and spa allows the family to use it year round, this retreat is surrounded by windows and doors that can be opened wide.

Architect Kevin Akey designed the family-oriented home with a "boomerang-shaped" footprint that made it possible to take full advantage of the natural vistas offered by his clients’ pie-shaped site. Although the home is located on a relatively small lot within a developed neighborhood, its interior spaces offer exceptionally private views of the woods and the two ponds that adjoin it. "There is literally no one looking in," says Akey.

Viewed through floor-to-ceiling windows, the surrounding woods provide the chorus for family sing-alongs in the corner of the 19 foot high great room.

Akey found his inspiration in the consistent use of a geometric grid pattern for everything from exterior trim to the lighting sconces inside. These details contribute to the home’s unique character. "Cubes were a very big thing in this house," says Akey, who was responsible for designing nearly everything in the home, including the custom oak and etched glass front doors.

The home features four bedrooms on its uppermost floor, including a luxurious master suite with its own staircase access. Secondary suites with private full baths on the main floor and lower level provide accommodation for guests or in-laws. A dramatic, circular staircase connects all three levels in an open lightwell.

The geometric grid pattern that characterizes the entire house gives the foyer its visually interesting appearance.

Granite countertops and floors give the kitchen a sleek, ultra-modern look. A mid-level deck wraps around the kitchen/breakfast area and the adjoining family room.

Capitalizing on the slight slope of the lot, Akey was able to design the lower level as a walk-out, extending the already generous living space to the outdoors. It is this area of the home that the couple uses most often for entertaining and business meetings. In addition to a spacious central recreation room, there is also a dance floor, an indoor pool and an exercise room for friends and family to enjoy.

With a graceful sweep, the circular staircase rotates around a massive central column to connect all three of the home’s levels.

The home’s exterior features a combination of brick and EIFS, providing the homeowners with the maintenance-free exterior that was one of their primary requirements. Large windows dominate the front and rear of the residence, but window openings are downplayed or eliminated on either side, where the home adjoins its neighbors. Completed in early 1999, the custom home had hard construction costs of $1.3 million.

A huge granite-topped island floats atop two stainless steel cylinders in the ultra-modern kitchen, designed with both practicality and style in mind.

Project Spotlight
Architect: AZD Associates Architects, Birmingham, Mich.
Landscape Architecture: Paul T. Nakolan and Design Associates, Union Lake, Mich.
Major Products Used:
Appliances: Sub-Zero;Viking
Cabinetry: Custom
Countertops: Granite
Doors: Custom
Exterior Finish: Limestone; EIFS; brick
Fireplaces: Heat-n-Glo
Flooring: Granite
Lighting: Halo
Plumbing Fixtures: Grohe; Kohler
Roofing: Certainteed
Windows: Marvin
Pool/Spa: Paddock Pools