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Bloomfield Blossoms: p. 140-141

Smith, Kay, 1925-

Bloomfield Township Public Library

Architecture, Domestic -- Michigan -- Bloomfield Hills

Affleck House (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.)

Charleton Eden House (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.)

GB01a072

part of 'Bloomfield Blossoms' by Kay Smith

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CONTEMPORARY HOUSES IN THE HILLS By the very nature of the manner in which Bloomfield Hills made its transition from a pioneer settlement through a century of farming and into an exclusive residential area, it had to evolve into an unique community. Bloomfield's first large houses after farmhouses were estate mansions, and were generally done in Georgian Colonial or "English Manor" style. The English "Arts and Crafts" movement added its influence during the Twenties, and a few houses were designed in a style unique to the Bloomfield area. These "Country Style" houses were not preconceived designs but grew out of specific need and the topography of the land. It was this concern for the land which later led to the development of truly modern houses. The house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for Gregor P. Affleck, pictured on this page, for instance, is cantilevered in form to accomodate the hilly ground and running stream over which it is built. Although it was begun in 1941, the Affleck house was not the first "modern" house in the Hills. In 1940 J. Robert F. Swanson designed the Charleton Eden House on Cranbrook Court pictured on the upper half of the opposite page. The contractor who was about to start work on the Affleck house came over to see this house and acquaint himself with the new modern feeling. In 1953 the work of another world-renowned architect was added to the Hills' collection. Edward Durrell Stone that year designed a house for Carney D. Matheson overlooking little Vhay Lake. The house, as is evident from the picture opposite, appears long and low and is protected from the road by the brick grillwork which is Stone's trademark. The entrance is on the second level and an open staircase descends to the large living room with its fountain and tropical vegetation, overlooking the lake.