Frank Lloyd Wright’s Harper House Overlooking Lake Michigan is For Sale

In 1950, the town of St. Joseph, MI gained its second Frank Lloyd Wright property. The Harper House, named after Dr. Ina M. Harper who commissioned the design, is believed to be the last home built by Wright in Michigan. After 25 years of private ownership, The Harper House with its water facing views is on sale.

The Harper House is set on just over fourth-tenths of an acre and features a rectangular plan with two 45-degree protrusions, one in the living room and the other in the master bedroom. Characteristics of Wright’s later works, such as board and batten walls, mitered glass corners, built-ins throughout with piano hinges, recessed lighting, and banquette seating, appear in the Harper House to combine the master architect’s signature design with modern living today.

The salmon-colored Chicago common brick and tidewater cypress building materials align with Wright’s attention to durability and minimal need for an artificial finish. The living room opens to include a statement fireplace built of Chicago common brick to anchor the space, complemented by a high-reaching shed roof. The wider part of the Harper House curves around Lake Michigan in a fan-shape with panoramic windows for breathtaking views in the great room with access to the terrace. Original stained glass and mahogany doors throughout the home allow light to permeate in the space.

The current owners did a full restoration, working closely with the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy in Chicago and an approved contractor. Wright apprentice and Taliesin faculty member Charles Montooth designed an addition that expanded the original footprint, adding two more bedrooms, a flexible space, and a bathroom.

The Harper House in St. Joseph, MI is currently listed for $1,960,000 by Anne Gain of @Properties.

Photographs: Majority shot by Rebecca Steenbeke with evening photos shot by Andrew Pielage.