Melvyn Maxwell and Sara Stein Smith House - Bloomfield Hills, Michigan - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The owners were two public school teachers living on a tight budget. The 1957 landscape design is by Thomas Dolliver Church.

Melvin Maxwell Smith was the son of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants whose original surname was Smiefsky. He became a grade school teacher, and later a high school English teacher. While attending an art history class at Wayne State University as a graduate student in 1939, he was inspired by a presentation on Wright's famous Fallingwater house, and, on the spot, announced his intention to build a house designed by Wright himself.

Sara Stein, born in 1907 in South Fork, Pennsylvania was the daughter of Lithuanian Jewish immigrants. She later became a Christian Scientist. She was also a school teacher.

Sara Stein embraced Smith's vision of a Wright designed home, and the couple married on March 21, 1940. They spent their careers as teachers in the Detroit Public Schools. Melvyn Smith died in 1984, and Sara Smith died in 2005.

The home is now owned by the Melvyn Maxwell and Sara Stein Smith Foundation. Tours are available May through October through the Cranbook Art Museum.

In 1957, Melvyn Smith met with landscape architect Thomas Dolliver Church who visited the home and stayed for a spaghetti dinner prepared by Sara Smith. Church spent the night as their guest, and the following morning, produced a landscape plan on the spot for a nominal fee.

The home is located near the Cranbrook Educational Community, and over the years, the Smiths built an extensive art collection, and the majority their works were by artists associated with Cranbrook. Among them are a massive chest by Paul R. Evans, a gazelle sculpture by Marshall Fredericks, and works by other artists including a sculpture by Sam Apple, exterior sculptures by Mike Calligan, weavings by Barbara Wittenburg, interior sculptures by Jim Messama, and a sculpted bust of Melvyn Smith by Robert Scheffman. Cranbrook president Roy Slade praised the home as exemplifying "the integration of art, architecture and nature". Architectural photographer Balthazar Korab produced a widely reproduced image of Calligan's "Natural Bridge" sculpture with the house as the backdrop. Later, the Smiths collected works by Glenn Michaels, including an accordion screen, and a triptych mosaic installed above the fireplace.

According to the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office, "the use of strong horizontal roof planes, cantilevers, and the landscape emphasize the integrated relationship of the structure" and they concluded that the house is "a prime example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian design philosophy for housing the 'common' man."

The National Register of Historic Places described the home's characteristics as including "ingenious building techniques, free flowing interior spaces exploding to the outdoors, as well as an 'organic' relationship to the site" and they concluded that "the home is especially pleasing at night when the spaces take on a festive atmosphere. At night from the exterior, the lights reflect off the large glass walls and mitered glass corners and give the home a crystalline quality."

Street address: 5045 Ponvalley Road Bloomfield Hills, MI USA 48302 County / Borough / Parish: Oakland Year listed: 1997 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Architecture/Engineering Periods of significance: 1950-1974, 1925-1949 Historic function: Domestic Current function: Domestic Privately owned?: yes Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Secondary Website 1: [Web Link] Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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