Briarcliff is set on a park-like 3.5 acres in historic Franklin, Michigan. The home’s design was inspired by the classic form of rural Michigan farmsteads—collections of gabled-roof structures built over generations. These familiar forms connect the home to its historic context but are articulated with modern building techniques and innovative detailing. From the outside to inside, and incorporating playful, brightly colored patterns and fabrics, Briarcliff Residence reveals a series of delightful moments for a young family looking to grow in an imminently livable and enlivening place.
Over one hundred mature trees grouped in clusters create dense wooded areas, high canopied “grottos”, and large sun-bathed openings around the property. The home is nestled into the topography behind several knolls that have been “sliced” with Corten steel retaining walls. From the street and perimeter of the site, the house seems tucked behind gently rolling hills, while a submerged motor court and Corten-walled walkways face the house. The combined effect is to aid privacy while beginning to reveal the home’s whimsy and playfulness as you near the home.
The layout of clustered pavilions creates a sense of the building unfolding as it is experienced. The siting was minimally disruptive to trees, and in particular creates a feature of a hundred-year-old American Elm and climbing Hydrangea. Windows frame views of both the beautiful natural setting and other components of the home itself. In this way, the outside is constantly invited into the home, for an ongoing conversation among the modern exterior, the warm interior, and the natural surroundings.
In a fitting marriage between exterior form and interior function, the 6,400 sq ft residence is separated into four distinct pavilions. From the street, the combination of clustered trees and grass knolls obscure the home and create curated views. The tallest knoll just in front of the house is “sliced” vertically in half by one-inch corten steel, creating a “submerged” motor court for guests’ cars.
The home’s functions are separated into four distinct pavilions, creating clear separations between private and public zones. The longest pavilion runs side-to-side across the property in an uninterrupted volume that features exposed steel bents, expansive glass towards the pool, and a wall of custom millwork creating privacy from the street. The pavilion is bookended with striking complementary forms that house the blued-steel hearth and the kitchen in emerald green and stained walnut. Eco-friendly, prefab roof panels allow large spans between the steel bents without need for additional structure.
Client’s Brief
The primary instruction from the client was that the home be modern while also fitting into the context of the neighborhood. Influenced by the community’s collection of original-condition structures, Iannuzzi Studio envisioned a series of simple barn-like structures, while adding to those traditional forms a modern, sublime architectural aesthetic. This idea also fulfilled the young family’s desire to live in a home with clearly separated public and private areas for entertaining and living. Their final instruction (or playful suggestion) was that the house be “unplottable.” This is a concept that runs throughout the Harry Potter stories of a building or place that is enchanted to a point that it is magically concealed or hidden from plain sight. It is there, but it can’t be seen and/or found on a map.
Context & Siting
Founded in 1825 and located about 21 miles northwest of downtown Detroit, Franklin is known for its picturesque setting and large, estate-style homes. The downtown, home to a very popular cider mill, was Michigan’s first historic district and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1969. Iannuzzi Studio always looks into site-specific environmental factors (sun, wind, views), and in this case, tried to balance all of these factors while ensuring privacy/openness and access/views as the client desired. It was important for the kitchen to be bathed in morning light. The main (master) bedroom’s terrace is located closest to a large stand of deciduous trees that form a high canopy (or grotto) which the clients love to walk under. The master (main) bathroom has an outdoor shower and screen wall, and is located nearest the pool for quick access. The Entertaining Pavilion housing the living, dining, and kitchen are sited for cross breezes.
Design Concept
The concept of “Unplottability” translated into an abundantly modern building that is cloaked in a familiar vernacular, so that one could potentially pass by without taking notice – or from an aerial view be hidden beneath a collection of simple roof ridges. Setting the stage for the architecture, the concept for the site plan and organization of the buildings was driven by the rural Michigan farmstead – a collection of buildings likely built at different times by different generations with different purposes.
The main entry and foyer are subtly located in the void created by pulling apart two of the primary pavilions, instead of the front door being loudly pronounced front and center. The entryway offers a curated view to the rear yard, while the grandness of the entertaining pavilion is filtered by the double-sided fireplace. Unplottability also became the root for a major concept in the landscape design which was to build the home into the surrounding knolls, making it appear as if it is emerging from beneath the ground. This strategy is carried out by the use of corten steel retaining walls that “slice” a series of knolls, leaving rolling hills to face the street and submerged walled walkways facing the house.
To accentuate the height and stateliness of the gable end, narrow cedar planks are laid up vertically with open joints between planks. Cedar is often used locally as shakes and lap siding, but its application here as a ventilated rainscreen is site-specific and energy-efficient. At the structures’ corners, the cedar planks meet the fiber cement panels at a uniquely detailed “eyebrow” which serves to terminate both materials and create a delicate shadow line on the gable end.
Both the cedar slats and the fiber cement panels are installed as ventilated rainscreens which allow air to move behind the cladding thereby ventilating the building (an increasingly common strategy for healthy buildings). Moisture is allowed to get behind the rainscreen where it will drain down the UV stable, water-resistive, vapor-permeable air barrier membrane. Cedar is naturally rot-resistant. In this case, it was purposely left unfinished to naturally weather and gray out without requiring yearly attention to maintain a particular finish.
Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) were specified to form the roof/ceiling planes for both their structural and insulating performance. The SIPs allowed a 12-foot clear span between rigid steel bents without requiring intermediate rafters, while also providing an insulation R-value far beyond the requirements of the local energy code.
The square shape of the pool is designed for lounging and entertaining over sport/exercise. An integral hot tub and sun shelf occupy half of the area with a deeper portion in the remaining balance. Clad in the same cedar as the home’s exterior, a terrace runs uninterrupted to the pool’s edge.
Pavilion Programs
Entertainment (1,750 sq ft) runs side-to-side across the property and contains an uninterrupted length of public areas for entertaining (living, dining, and kitchen) with tall ceilings, exposed steel bent frame, and expansive views to the rear lawn and pool. A solid wall of built-in millwork on the street-facing side integrates a high ribbon window that allows afternoon daylight while maintaining privacy. Behind the tall back wall of millwork at the kitchen there hides the pantry and some “back of house” functions like mud hall, half bath, and coat closet.
Main Bedroom (1,600 sq ft) houses the client’s bedroom, walk-in closet, and bathroom. These 3 rooms are organized around a “floating” fireplace facing the bed with a small kitchenette and linen closet on the backside. The bedroom has a tall cathedral ceiling with a high window on the south wall that acts as a sort of oculus or sun dial as the sun moves across the southern sky. The bedroom area purposely does not look out to the pool, but instead has a more private view to the clients’ favorite part of the site. The bathroom has an outdoor shower and path leading to the pool. This pavilion also houses an office with views to the pool.
Private Living (1,800 sq ft) is the only 2-story portion of the home. The first floor contains a Music Room with a piano, custom millwork storage for other instruments, and a full bathroom. The piano sits in the front window near the main entry to the home. The husband is an opera singer, and the couple met in college at a music conservatory. The first floor also houses an informal “loungey” family room with overstuffed furniture, built-in banquette for Canasta playing, custom millwork entertainment center, and a door wall directly to the pool terrace. The stairs feature a custom steel banister and handrail with two monumental windows that flood the stairwell with natural light. The second-floor features identical bedrooms and en suite bathrooms mirrored around the stairwell. One bedroom overlooks the sunken driveway and knolls in the front yard. The other faces the pool terrace and rear yard.
Garage (1,150 sq ft) houses a 3-car garage with electric car charging ports and a ventilated room for trash and recycling bins with a door directly to the driveway. The laundry room is also housed under this roof but accessed from within the house.
Team:
Architect - Iannuzzi Studio (Detroit, MI)
- Design Principal – David Iannuzzi, AIA
- Architectural Team – Sal Asaro, Maureen O’Brien
General Contractor - Thomas Sebold and Associates (Bloomfield Hills, MI)
Interior Designer - Elizabeth Fields Design (Franklin, MI)
Structural Engineer - Robert Darvas and Associates (Ann Arbor, MI)
Civil Engineer - Nowak & Fraus (Pontiac, MI)
Landscape Architect - Environmental Artists (Leland, MI)
Custom Millwork and Design – Vogue Furniture (Royal Oak, MI) and Perspectives Cabinetry (Royal Oak, MI)
Photography: Rafael Gamo
Materials Used:
Wide plank oak floors, Arcadia windows, W14x48 rigid bents painted black.
- Kitchen: Taupe stained walnut, emerald green painted urethane and brush stainless steel
- Great Room Cabinetry: Gray stained rift cut white oak, white urethane
- Fireplace: Taupe stained cedar, blued plate steel
- Master Bedroom: Bleached walnut with light gray wash
- Powder Room: Purple stained walnut and bent corian
