Holiday Tours December 2023

Alden and Vada Dow made Christmas a joyous and playful, family celebration.

This December experience the beauty and fun of their zooming scale trains, playful mechanical toys, shimmering Christmas tree decorations, joyous holiday music and the warm and inviting atmosphere they created for family, friends and holiday guests.

Begin your fun by reserving a tour on our website at www.abdow.org or by calling 989-839-2744.

Available Monday - Saturday at 2pm, with additional
11am tours on Friday and Saturday.

2023- Pricing
Adults - $20.00
Seniors - $18.00 (adults 60 and over)
Students - $8.00 (8 years old through traditional college age of 23)
No Children under 8 years old permitted. No Exceptions!

BOOK TOUR

Duration

1.5 Hours

About

Upon opening the front door to this unconventional world, you begin to wonder “how” and “why” and at once you are filled with possibilities. From a low and sheltered entry, the reception area soars… natural light, spring green and crab-apple pink bathe the space and quizzically makes it way down to his Floating Conference Room…situated eighteen inches below the pond. All this and you’ve only walked in.

Policies and Procedure:

• The individual who make the reservation is asked to review the Alden B. Dow Home and Policies and Procedures with all the guests in their party. By checking the box, that individual guarantees they have reviewed the policies and each person in their party has agreed to them.
• Guests are encouraged to leave personal items such as coats, backpacks and purses in their vehicles as they are not allowed to carry them on tour. Please utilize pockets to carry personal items and cash or credit cards for additional purchases.
• You must already be registered for a tour.
• We ask that guests arrive no more than 15 minutes before the start time of their tour.
• The Home and Studio is integrating educational programming back into our schedule. There is a possibility that a program may be running simultaneously with tour times and students will be in the building.
If you have questions or concerns please call us. 989.839.2744

Home and Studio Tourist Policies and Procedures:

• Children must be 8 years old to attend tour. No exceptions.
• Student Age pricing is 8 years to traditional college age of 23 years old.
• Parking: Tour parking is behind the Post Street School.
• Photography: We allow exterior photography only. NO INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHY PLEASE.
• As a National Historic Landmark, the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio not required to follow ADA guidelines. It is not wheelchair accessible.
• We provide a secured closet to lock up purses, backpacks and other personal belongings that are not allowed to travel through the Home and Studio.
• Length of tour is approximately an hour to an hour and thirty minutes.
• Valid College ID required at check-in.
• Senior Age pricing is 60 years or older.
• 24 hour cancellation notice required for full refund or rebooking.

Dow By Decade – Saturday, October 8, 2022

LIVE Facebook Event Celebrates Alden B. Dow

Happy Birthday Alden B. Dow:
Philosopher and Innovator

Alden B. Dow sought to create quality in all that he did. To obtain quality, he questioned, challenged and tested the world in a positive and constructive manner with Honesty, Humility and Enthusiasm. These three factors became the guiding principles in all areas of his life, personal and professional. Join us on Facebook LIVE as Craig McDonald, Director of the Alden B. Dow Home & Studio celebrates the life of Alden B. Dow, the influential philosopher and architect, on what would have been Mr. Dow’s 116th birthday. He will focus time on an article that Mr. Dow wrote entitled “The City.”

Get ready to join the conversation and ask Craig questions in the Facebook LIVE thread as we #MakeArtVirtual.

Some rare individuals have the ability to see a larger perspective and articulate it to encourage and inspire others to think and to dream. It is even more rare when a person has this ability or gift and can actually create and physically manifest those visions and ideas into reality. Alden B. Dow was one of those incredibly rare human beings who created new definitions in our world that continue to inspire and encourage each of us to create and to grow as humans. Most visibly, he created new forms of architecture and design. Through his writings and speeches he encourages us to identify, develop and share our individual talents with the world around us. He appreciated and celebrated that each of us has a talent or gift that is unequal to any other person. When we all share our unique individual talents with others, we can collectively create something that is honest, inspiring and truly individual.

In the article below, Alden B. Dow gives us a definition of what a city is or can be if we appreciate and value the talents of the people who make up that city. When we emerge from Covid-19, we will be asked to create new definitions for ourselves, our families, our cities and the world around us. As we create new definitions in business, art, science, education and all other endeavors, let’s create definitions that reflect who we are as unique, educated, thoughtful, intentional and proactive citizens of Midland, Michigan.

Craig McDonald
Director
The Alden B. Dow Home and Studio

THE CITY

What is a city? A city is a concentration of variety. Like a huge demographic atom it has “individualism” unique to itself. Cities may look alike, from afar, but up close they follow the pattern of the atom, the daisy, or the human being.

It takes people to make a city. They mold the city. Their “individualisms” produce a final composition – the city – with a distinctiveness unduplicated. In a magnificent inter-action, the individual human beings relate to the individualistic city and create a force that attracts and holds a city together.

This “city-force” is a mutual, interdependence between the physical city and its citizens. It supplies an endless variety of facilities and services with a true mutuality. It draws its power from a large population which, in turn, supplies the economic base for the variety impossible in a smaller concentration of people.

Every “city-force” has a distinctive, individual character and enthusiasm. This enthusiasm accomplishes a desirable end in many ways. There are countless kinds of enthusiasm; some like the harsh sounds of the brass section in a band; others like the muted tenderness of violins. The city sets its own tempo, selects its own repertoire, and modulates in its own individual fashion.

If it is to grow into a great city, its people must actively express its beliefs and principles. It must develop a faith in its own “city-force” and enthusiasm. It must project its potential in its own individualism. To truly progress, a city should never “copy” what’s being done in another city. If it cannot figure out a better way of doing its tasks, in its own individual way, it is best not to do it at all.

Every city must ask itself “What am I trying to do?” It should be searching for a “way of life” for its people. And, this “way of life” has to please the inanimate city and the animate population. It must balance the people with its facilities to be “right”.

In achieving this “rightness” a city becomes great. It also becomes truly individualistic, functional, and distinctive.

-Alden B. Dow

"After Alden: An Architectural History of Lake Jackson"
by Marty Merritt
Lecture and Book Signing

Sunday, October 27, 2019
1-3 pm
United Church of Christ
4100 Chestnut Hill Dr, Midland, MI 48642

Mid-Century Modern Midland (MCMM) is excited to present a lecture and book signing “After Alden: An Architectural History of Lake Jackson”. Marty Merritt, author of the book, After Alden will be in Midland to discuss his research and to sign copies of his recently released book on the architecture of Lake Jackson, Texas. This public event will be Sunday, October 27th, 2019 beginning at 1 pm at the United Church of Christ, 4100 Chestnut Hill Dr., Midland, MI 48642.

Few architects have the opportunity to design a whole community, but Alden B. Dow had just such a unique opportunity, in 1941 in Lake Jackson, Texas. Dow Chemical was expanding its plant in Freeport and the new town was to be built nearby for its employees. In the space of five years, he laid out the streets and designed housing and community structures for this new town on the Gulf Coast connecting his Midland heritage to this World War II era project.

In all about 50 house plans in his signature clean, modern style were offered to buyers. Most had in common functional frame construction with clapboard siding, wide eaves, generous windows, a living room with a dining alcove, two or three bedrooms, a screened porch, and a carport. Homes were set back 25 feet from the front property line and 10 feet on each side, allowing plenty of breathing room between neighbors. About 500 single-family homes and another 200 duplexes were built in a garden setting of trees, parks, and lakes.

After Alden, tells the architectural story of the Freeport and Lake Jackson area in the years after Alden B. Dow’s pioneering wartime projects. Focusing on the 1950s and 1960s, the book identifies every major architect who did significant work in the region and highlights several remarkable owner-designed houses. The book features new images by architectural photographer Benjamin Hill.

Marty Merritt is a Lake Jackson native, a member of the board of Houston MOD, and a member of the Lake Jackson Historical Association. Through his work as the Facilities Manager of the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Houston, he grew to appreciate architecture, and through his participation in Houston MOD he came to realize that he grew up with mid-century buildings and houses all around him. This book is the result of that realization.

Books will be available to purchase
prior to the event at The Alden B. Dow Home and Studio
and on the day of the event at the book signing.

The Latest and Greatest in Michigan Architecture

Mid-Century Modern Midland:
Francis "Red" Warner Architectural Showcase
Sunday, June 30, 2019
1-3pm

This showcase will feature self-guided tours of three
Warner structures

Advanced ticket sales only.
You will not be able to purchase tickets the day of the event.
Guest to provide their own transportation to structures.

Designed by Francis “Red” Warner AIA, 1962 for Kenneth and Audrey Harding and their family. 3319 Rivercrest Court, Midland, MI

Designed by Francis “Red” Warner AIA, 1962 5501 Jefferson Avenue, Midland, MI

Designed by Francis “Red” Warner AIA, 1963 2602 Louanna Street, Midland, MI

Francis E. (Red) Warner was born in Big Run, Pennsylvania in 1921. He loved the outdoors. Every chance he got he would be out playing, biking and jumping off the railroad bridges in the Susquehanna river! He attended Penn State where he was active in many clubs and organizations including Lions Paw Honor Society and Concert Choir. During World War ll he worked as a field engineer in the construction of naval shipyards and power houses. He received his architectural degree from Pennsylvania State College in 1951. From 1951 through 1957 he considered himself fortunate to be able to work under the tutelage of Alden B. Dow. He often commented that he couldn’t believe he was being paid to work in such an amazing and creative environment!

In 1957 he started his own architectural firm in Midland the year his second child was born, so you might say he was a risk taker! He continued working in the tradition of Mr. Dow and Frank Lloyd Wright and was known for designing affordable, creative structures. Warner designed over fifty residences in an area extending to Barrington, Illinois. He loved designing churches which included Chapel Lane Presbyterian, Poseyville Methodist, Our Saviour Lutheran in Gladwin, First Missionary in Flint and Saint John Lutheran in Rogers City.

Red was called on to design more than thirty-four commercial buildings that included the original brick-faced Holiday Inn in Midland, Bay City Yacht Club, Gladwin Country Club, Midland Road Commission (now a Northwood northern entrance), and many more commercial and school buildings around the state.

Red was inspired by the natural beauty of nature and to achieve that he used wood extensively. He especially liked the grain and warmth of edge grain fir and Douglas fir beams which he incorporated in his designs. His works were designed for those who appreciated beauty without extravagance. He always felt you didn’t have to have a lot of money to live artistically, all you needed was an appreciation for a home filled by light and views of nature. It was in the small details and practicality of his designs that he excelled. Contractors commented that they could tell it was a Red Warner home the moment they saw the front door. He designed passive solar energy homes when that term was rarely used. The placement and style of each building had to be most carefully considered to achieve that important feature. Many of his homeowners became an extended family because they became so close during the home design process, with Red stopping in every day to oversee the build and to be sure the contractors were measuring up to his exacting standards. His success can be measured by the extent to which his clients became his best friends and admirers.

His works were honored in a gallery exhibition at the Midland Center for the Arts in 2001 along with those of Mr. Dow and Red’s very good friend, Jack Hallett.

During his career, Warner served as Director of the Michigan Society of Architects, and President of the The American Institute of Architects-Saginaw Valley Chapter. He was also an active community leader as a member of the Exchange Club, the Boy Scouts, the school district PTA, and as President of the Tri-City All-Breeds Horse Association.

After a long, active and joyful life of painting watercolors, sailing, fishing, tennis, snow skiing and caring for and feeding his beloved horses, dogs and garden, Red passed away in 2006 and his ashes now repose amongst those of his dear friends on Dahlia Hill.

Mid-Century Modern Midland (MCMM), a project of the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio, has been recognized by Docomomo US, as one of 10 winners of the 2019 Modernism in America Awards. The MCMM’s project to document and share Midland’s unique contribution to the Mid-Century Modern movement was awarded a Citation of Merit in the Survey and Inventory category.

MCMM undertook an expansive project in 2017 to identify, document, evaluate, and share Midland Michigan’s unique architectural heritage. The fruits of this labor, much of which was volunteer-based, was made available to the public in 2019 through a well-designed website and mobile app.

The 2019 Docomomo Jury proclaimed the work of MCMM, “A model project that could and should be replicated elsewhere.”
“This was definitely a team project. None of this would have been possible without the help of more than 30 volunteers who literally hit the streets and canvassed every structure within the city limits,” stated Carol Neff, Coordinator of MCMM.

The information collected by the volunteers was then verified by a review committee before being cataloged in a website database created by DCTree, LLC. The mobile app provides another avenue to the information in the database. It also includes a routing feature which allows users to customize tours. This component was created through a partnership with the University of Michigan’s Department of Industrial Operation Engineering, Practicum in Production and Service System Class.

Craig McDonald, Director of the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio commented, “We are thrilled that the architectural heritage of Midland is being recognized and celebrated by this award. This award assists us in achieving the recognition deserved by the architects, designer and craftsmen who created these amazing structures. Carol Neff’s coordination of our volunteers and project partners in addition to hundreds of hours of research and verification of information was paramount to the success of this project.”

Representatives of MCMM will be attending the Modernism in America Awards ceremony which will take place Wednesday, June 19, 2019 in New York City.

Docomomo US, a committee of Docomomo International, is dedicated to the preservation of modern architecture, landscape and design. Through advocacy, education and documentation, they provide leadership and knowledge by demonstrating the importance of modern design principles including the social context, technical merits, aesthetics and settings of these important pieces of American history.

Mid-Century Modern Midland – Special Event

Midland’s Treasure Trove of Mid-Century Modern Architecture

A Rare Collection of Midcentury Architecture Is Revealed in Michigan

Residential Work of Jack P. Feagley – Self-Guided Tours

Mid-Century Modern Midland features the Residential Work of
Jack P. Feagley
Sunday, August 19, 2018
1-3pm
Advanced ticket sales only. You will not be able to purchase the day of the event.

Please join MCMM on Sunday, August 19, 2018 from 1-3pm, for self-guided tours, featuring two of Mr. Feagley’s residential designs. The tour includes both the Mr. and Mrs. Reinke Residence-1941, located at 33 Lexington Court Midland, MI 48642 and the Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Winters Residence-1961, Located at 4210 Andre St. Midland, MI 48642 (Guest to provide own transportation to homes)

Jack P. Feagley Biography:
Jack P. Feagley was born in 1930 in Phillipsburg, New Jersey and lived most of his childhood in Easton,
Pennsylvania, where he attended grade school and middle school. He attended Billard Naval Academy in New London, Connecticut and was the art editor for his year book. He had an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy Annapolis, but was unable to go because he was color blind.

Jack then turned to another passion and pursued becoming an architect. He applied and was accepted to Penn State in 1950. While attending Penn State, Jack competed against 59 other contestants and won a competition sponsored by the Beaux Arts Institute of Design, to design a newspaper plant.

After graduating college in 1954, Jack went into the service and spent three years in Washington D.C. in the Corps of Engineers while simultaneously working for architect Hugh Moore Jr. so he could complete his commitment to take the boards in architecture. In January of 1957 he passed his exam and officially became a registered architect. By getting his registration in Washington D.C., through reciprocity, he could practice in any state in the country.

Together with his wife Doris and their young, growing family, Jack came to Midland in 1957 to work for architect Francis “Red” Warner and stayed at his firm until 1962. He designed several houses in Midland and the greater Mid-Michigan area. He then began working for Alden B. Dow Associates, Inc. and continued there for the next 21 years. During his time at the firm he researched and specified the materials for structures. In addition to being lead designer for projects like the Chemical Bank in Saginaw, he became the Chief Specifications Writer for the firm. Jack served the American Institute of Architecture – Saginaw Valley Chapter as Secretary 1969, Vice President 1970, President 1971 and Past President 1972.

Howard Ball Home Restoration Presentation

“The Mysticism of Religious Architecture”

Defining an Architectural Canon From the Ground Up

Living Mid-Century Modernism: Growing Up in Midland and Beyond

PRESS RELEASE

Henry Whiting II has had a life-long relationship with Mid-Twentieth Century architecture and design. The son of Helen Dow Whiting and Macauley Whiting, Henry was born in a Midland hospital, attended schools, worshiped in churches, interacted in civic buildings and most influentially, grew-up in a home all designed by his Great-Uncle, Alden B. Dow. This immersion into the design, beauty and the intersection of nature and structure, would have an everlasting impact on Whiting.

Whiting is returning home to Midland to share his unique journey in a public lecture titled “Living Mid-Century Modernism: Growing Up in Midland and Beyond”
Alden B. Dow and Grand Nephew Henry Whiting II, 1982

Running through the wooded property surrounding his family home on Eastman Avenue, now known as Whiting Forest, Henry was constantly awed by the beauty of nature and how masterfully his great-uncle had created structures that were extensions of nature. “Alden influenced me in so many ways. His own home and studio, in particular the floating conference room, is the most beautiful space I have ever experienced. I remain in awe of it. What young person could not love a building with so many levels, corners and angles, not to mention a theater and scale trains running through it?” Whiting reflected.

1947 - The Macauley and Helen Dow Whiting Residence by Alden B. Dow.
It will be the new Visitor Center for the Whiting Forest.

Whiting left Midland to attend high school at the Cranbrook Academy, where he experienced the beauty and all-encompassing vision of another great architect, Eliel Saarinen. With a focus on art, architecture, sculpture and nature, Cranbrook was an extension of his upbringing in Midland. “I originally wanted to attend Cranbrook, which both of my parents had attended, to be closer to my paternal grandparents. When I first went there, it looked so old fashioned to me when compared to Alden’s architecture, but gradually I came to appreciate the beauty and organic coherence of its design. The whole campus is a piece of art in and of itself. The totality of Cranbrook’s beauty would impact me and reinforce all of the ideas that were created by my Uncle Alden in Midland. The fact that it is architecturally perhaps the most famous high school in the country, and one of the epicenters of Mid-Century Modern design, can only be attributed to fate or destiny for me.”

These combined experiences encouraged Whiting to study the relationship of nature and structure together and took him to the University of Wisconsin-Madison to study landscape architecture. In his second semester at Wisconsin, Whiting took a course in the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. With such close proximity to Frank Lloyd Wright's home Taliesin, in Spring Green, Whiting began his in-depth study of Wright's architecture, an interest which was strongly encouraged by his great-uncle and enhanced by their lengthy conversations back in Midland. “Incredible conversations with Alden began when I was at Cranbrook and we talked about many topics including the Dow Gardens, architectural publication and design. Once I began researching Mr. Wright, our conversation would center on the time that Alden and Vada spent as Charter Members of the Taliesin Fellowship in 1933 and Wright’s work and influence.”

After university, Whiting moved to Idaho to help with the design and construction of the retirement house that his parents were building in Sun Valley. Almost immediately, he discovered the only work by Frank Lloyd Wright in Idaho, the Archie B. Teater Studio, which he purchased five years later and began the first in a series of extensive renovations.

1957- Archie B. Teater Studio by Frank Lloyd Wright.

The structure is perched about 300 feet above the Snake River between the towns of Bliss and Hagerman. It is a dynamic and soaring combination of wood, glass, concrete and stone. The elaborate one-room structure is shaped like a parallelogram that follows a diamond grid pattern. It is believed to be the only studio Wright designed other than his own.

Whiting has devoted his life to the preservation of this incredible structure and the appreciation of Wright’s work. His loving care of the Teater Studio, which has been his home for the last 35 years, has initiated great friendships with many renowned architects like Bart Prince, E. Fay Jones and John Lautner. His shared passion for great design with these architects, in addition to his close relationship with Dow, have placed him uniquely in the world of Mid-Century Modern architecture.

With extensive knowledge of both Mid-Century architecture and Wright’s work, Whiting has written two books, At Nature's Edge: Frank Lloyd Wright's Artist Studio and Teater’s Knoll: Frank Lloyd Wright’s Idaho Legacy along with numerous articles about the studio. Whiting lectures across the United States on what it is like to live in Mid-Century Modern design and speaks on the significance and importance of preserving this uniquely American design movement.

Whiting is returning home to Midland to share his unique journey in a public lecture titled “Living Mid-Century Modernism: Growing Up in Midland and Beyond” The lecture is sponsored by Mid-Century Modern Midland and will be held on April 25th at 7pm, at The Grace A. Dow Memorial Library Auditorium and is open to the public. Admission is free.

“Though Alden was the patriarch and leader of the community of Midland in the 1960’s and 1970’s, his influence was felt throughout the community, it was fascinating to watch how this influence rubbed off on other individuals, particularly architects and artists. His office spawned many other architects in the community, whose work was also beautiful and compatible with his own.” Commented Whiting on Midland’s Mid-Century Modern architectural heritage.

“Being away from Midland for most of my adult life gives me perspective that many in the community might not have. I appreciate Midland as a unique, one of a kind town. I often compare it with Columbus, Indiana, which is very similar, and justly world-famous for its architecture. But Midland is different in an important way: whereas Columbus has had many different, famous architects from all over the world working in its community, resulting in a tremendous variety of buildings, they are not necessarily compatible or harmonious. Midland, with its 130 Alden Dow buildings and a nearly equal number of Mid-Century Modern buildings by architects, most of whom worked in his office, has a harmony and cohesion which is completely different, and to my eye, much more appealing as a whole. This quality is easy to take for granted when living with it every day. I hope to shine light on this uniqueness in my talk, and to pay a debt of gratitude, for my life would not have been the same without growing up in Midland.”