KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Buy yourself a salt shaker, a statement sock or a warm winter mitten, you'll get a second one free. A home from a legendary architect in West Michigan? Not usually the case.
“There's only eight in Kalamazoo County, Frank Lloyd Wright homes. That's it," said Fred Taber of Jaqua Realtors, who's front-row to the historic sale.
Half of those homes are in a neighborhood called The Acres. In 1946, a group of scientists reached out to Frank Lloyd Wright about building homes in Kalamazoo.
He agreed, with a plan to build 37 homes in the area. That never came to fruition.
“That is a huge thing here, because this is the only Frank Lloyd Wright development there was that was never overdeveloped," Fred said.
The neighborhood consists of only five houses — four by Wright, one by a student at a school founded by Wright, Francis "Will" Willsey.
"No other home will ever be allowed to be built here," Fred said.
Driving through the neighborhood, you can tell whose mind is behind it all. Each is built in Wright's signature Usonian style.
“Usonian equals simple. That was really the thing," Fred explained.
“All these homes have a great feeling in the living room, you can tell that they were meant to have guests. They were definitely meant to have people here to visit… the Usonian style was targeted towards basically the middle class," he said.
Fred got the dream real estate gig through his mother-in-law. She cleaned houses in the neighborhood decades ago, and first introduced her realtor son-in-law to residents looking to sell. Over the past 25 years, he's become an expert on the five homes.
“I’ve sold more Frank Lloyd Wright, Norm Carver homes and any other realtor in Michigan. That’s unique actually," he said.
That's why he couldn't believe it when two of the homes started making headlines all over again this year. And not just for its famous architect.
“They went from obscurity to now it's in Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, Architectural Digest and on HGTV. It's really been a tremendous thing for The Acres overall," said Fred.
The first two homes in the neighborhood, the Eric and Pat Pratt House and the Samuel and Dorothy Eppstein House, are now on the market—sold as a set—for $4.5 million.
"The house is actually referred to as the original owner, whoever designed the home for," said Fred. “One hundred years from now, this is still gonna be called the Pratt House, and it's still gonna be called the Eppstein house."
The Pratt House is 1,800-square-feet with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The Eppstein is larger, with 2,500-square-feet, three bedrooms and two baths.
The Pratt House
Despite their similar style, you can tell each home was curated specifically for the family who originally lived in it.
“Each house has its own feel, right, its own vibe… It's like a living, breathing piece of art," said Fred.
Living in that art for seven years are Dutch-Canadian couple Marika Broere and Tony Hillebrandt.
The couple saw Fallingwater, perhaps the most iconic Frank Lloyd Wright home located in Pennsylvania, and got the architecture bug years ago. But nothing came to fruition until 2015.
“Tony found the Eppstein House for sale on the internet," said Marika. "We bought it in January, 2016.”
Their first trip to Michigan was to visit the home.
“We looked at each other behind the real estate agent's back, we were pinching each other. We were sold," said Marika. “We had no idea that the normal person could actually own a Frank Lloyd Wright property and we could only buy them because they were fairly lowly price because of the bad condition that they were in.”
Fred says many buyers were interested in the home. But this pair stood out.
“Tony and Marika [were] the perfect buyers," he said. "They're the only one that had the vision to restore and preserve for the next owner.”
The Eppstein House
“It looked horrible when we bought it. So, it took at least three years of constant restoration work with a crew of craftspeople," said Marika.
After the renovation was complete, their next-door neighbor approached them. He wanted them to buy the Pratt House and restore it for the next generation, too.
"We jumped on the occasion and we bought it," smiled Marika.
Now the owners of two historic homes, they lived in one and rented out the other on AirBnB. Whenever both were booked, they'd stay in a nearby hotel.
They thought it was important to give everyone the chance to stay in living history. People from around the world jumped at the opportunity, sending the couple to the hotel more than they imagined.
"You always have rainy days. And then we ask guests later on, what have you done? Because of the bad weather?" said Tony. "They'd say 'We had the best time we didn't even want to leave. Just reading the books of what happened in the house and looking at pictures.'"
Their first guests, though, were ones they'd never forget.
"The complete family Eppstein, whose parents who built his house," said Tony, "The children who grew up here they were between 60, 70 years old, they were our first guests."
“That was the nicest thing when they told us that we have done a great job. We've done a great job if the family who grew up here says 'yes, it's good,'" he said.
They recognized the kitchen table immediately.
“This is the original table," said Marika. “You see somewhere there's a burn mark and they say that was aunty so-and-so who left her cigarette there.”
Fred says a similar Frank Lloyd Wright-designed table just sold at auction for $30,000. But Marika and Tony say it's just part of the charm.
"The house — it embraces you like a warm blanket," said Marika.
“I’m constantly surrounded by nature, the deer are out here, the turkeys, the quiet and the peace. The birds, it's fantastic," she said. "I'm so happy here."
"Even though you're about two and a half miles from I-94, you cannot hear the highway here," agreed Fred.
For just five houses, there is 70 acres of green space in the neighborhood. Wright specifically designed the homes with the natural landscape in mind so you always have privacy, no matter which room of the house you're in.
“The neighbors can be in their living room enjoying their evening, you can be in your living room enjoying yours, and never the two shall meet," said Fred.
Those thoughtfully-designed lots are rare not just for what's in them, but for their shape.
“Each lot is a circle, which is unheard of. I mean, I don't even think today, you could get that passed. Somehow he did," laughed Fred.
The circular lots always have triangle of no man's land in each corner. Fred didn't quite know what would happen if a tree fell or lightning struck in that area.
This is one reason half of Kalamazoo's Frank Lloyd Wright houses ended up in separate neighborhoods, rather than one large neighborhood as planned. The other homes, in a nearby community called Parkwyn Village, were much easier to get approved due to their square lots.
It makes The Acres that much more unique. But that history was nearly left to dust.
"This house would have been a total loss if it had sit out here for two, three more years. And that would have just hurt ourselves," said Marika. “I hope that one by one, nationwide, these homes become restored and saved for the future.”
As Tony and Marika move home to be closer to family, no one can guess the homes’ next life.
“To me, that's going to be a very black page in my diary when we sell, I think I'll be crying," said Marika.
But right now, it’s enough to know they were loved in this one.
"That's the genius of Frank Lloyd Wright,” smiled Marika.
You can check out the listing for the homes here. Tony and Marika say they'd love to pass on the homes to someone who wants to share them with the world like they have, but would settle for someone who appreciates them all the same.
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