Deer Haven House is located in Grand Rapids, MI and was build for a busy, growing family of five. It is a 3,000 sq ft home conceived as a narrow bars of space that follow and step down with the subtle contours of the site and unfold to the South to take advantage of the daily path of the sun and natural site air movements. Nestled into its wooded 1-acre setting, the building carefully occupies the space between the ground and the tree canopy with an unfolding spatial sequence that connects the occupants to both through extensions of the ground plane and manipulation of clerestory light.
Houzz Tour: A Fresh Look for a Modern Gem in Michigan A new black exterior, a streamlined kitchen and white oak floors bring this 1970s home up to speed
When a young professional couple returned to their hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan, to be closer to their parents as they started their own family, they found a 1971 architect-designed home for sale by the original owner. While the home had been well-cared-for, the gray, cedar-clad exterior was crowded in by overgrown vegetation and a chain-link fence.
Today, the new landscape and Cor-Ten steel walls around the house allow “the building to express its elegant architecture,” says architect Evan T. Mathison. A new coat of chic black paint covers the old stained gray cedar siding.