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When Rob and Mary Lubera started pulling threads to uncover the origins of their new home—the lone midcentury house amid rows of Tudor Revivals in suburban Detroit—not even architecture scholars could have anticipated what they would find. Theirs is the last surviving residence by Alexander Girard (1907–1993), a modernist visionary who made his name in textiles but tried his hand at virtually everything, architecture included. The shoji-like laminate screens, seen in the entryway, are characteristic of his Japanese-influenced work.

Schlosser Residence Floor Plan

An added benefit of installing the skylights was adding headroom over the day beds, Smith says.

Loon Lake Retreat floor plan

After contemplating adding a second floor above the kitchen to accommodate the master suite, Delano decided that situating it on the lower level, where the rec room and bar had been, was a better—and more affordable—choice

The couple journeyed to Denmark to

Third Floor Renovation Plan

"In some ways the strongest attributes of the house are probably the outside spaces,” says Court. The original cedar deck was replaced with Kebony decking that wraps around a century-old cherry tree. A pair of Andy rockers from Mamagreen face an ottoman by Kenneth Cobonpue. The accordion doors are a NanaWall SL-60 system that allows the main room of the guesthouse to open completely to the deck.

The custom sofa is finished in black corduroy.

The birch was custom kerfed to look like planks and finished in a white varnish. The table and peninsula were also made to fit snugly into the A-frame.

The architects cleared out the ground floor and created an open-plan living, dining, and kitchen area along an elongated section at the rear. Floor-to-ceiling glass sliding doors were installed in this part of the house to connect the interiors with the spacious garden. This light-filled and highly-transparent half of the ground floor now serves as a shady extension of the lush green garden.

The clients had an impressive collection of Scandinavian midcentury teak furniture that now pops beautifully against the concrete floors, white-painted brick, and pine v-joint walls.

Materials like the tan leather sofa and circular area rug soften the stark contrasts in color.

Replete with wood finishes, and glazing framed to match, the extension takes inspiration from Dutch courtyard paintings by "establishing monastic spaces that open to landscape and sky,

Viewed from the roof, the home’s name—The Gables— makes perfect sense. Its asymmetric brick gables angle towards one another and converse with the architecture of the neighboring homes.

A compact custom desk and shelving system makes the most of the available space.