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William Palmer Residence
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| Location: | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
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| Built: | 1952 |
| Architect: | Frank Lloyd Wright |
| Architectural style: | Usonian |
| Governing body: | Private |
| NRHP Reference#: | 99000340[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | March 29, 1999 |
The William and Mary Palmer House is a house in Ann Arbor, Michigan, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in 1952.[2] The home was designed for William Palmer, an economics professor at the University of Michigan, and his wife Mary. It sits on three lots at the end of a quiet, dirt road cul-de-sac. The location is near the Nichols Arboretum, and less than mile (1.2 km) from the university.
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The house was continuously owned by the Palmer family from 1951 to 2009. It was placed on the market in early August 2008, with restrictions in place.[3] Jeffrey and Kathryn Schox purchased the house in March 2009. Jeffrey Schox, who is a San Francisco patent attorney, spends several weeks a year in Ann Arbor. When he is not in Ann Arbor, the Palmer House will be available for rent as a guest house and as a meeting location. [4]
The Palmer House is a multilevel brick and cypress late period Frank Lloyd Wright house, the plan and design of which is based on the equilateral triangle. The house is sheltered by a long broad hipped roof with deep overhangs. The cantilever extending over the terrace is the most dramatic feature of the house. The walls are finished with brick that ranges from pale pink to light grayish yellowish brown, and the roof with wood shingles and copper flashing. The trim is clear grained cypress. The house rests on a red-tinted concrete mat. The chimney mass rises above the brick base and the roof. A window band encircles the house. Terraces extend from the porch off the living room of the house. Shallow stairs rise gradually to the main front entrance. The house has three wings arranged off the main entrance: Beyond the entrance to the north, the long loggia of the carport extends to the projecting tool shed; to the east is the triangular living room wing; to the southwest the compact bedroom wing. The open interior is fitted with Wright-designed furniture and built-in cabinetry. The Palmer house exemplifies Wright's open, American organic architecture in which all parts are related to the whole and are linked to the environment in an adaptation of form to nature. [5]
The Palmer House is one of the finest late works of master architect Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959). The house is considered one of the best of a long series of houses based on a module that is either an equilateral triangle or a parallelogram. The house rests comfortably tucked into a narrow ridge of hills and surrounded by a lush informal garden that drops down the ravine to the east and southeast. The landscape garden possesses superior aesthetic quality and constitutes an important artistic statement. [5]
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