On Point: A Midcentury Modern Lake Michigan Home Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright

Location, location, location, you say? This Lake Michigan home has all that plus timeless Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired design going for it!

The three-bedroom house is set on a wooded lot on the tip of Lee Point, a unique landmark on the west arm of Grand Traverse Bay in northwestern Michigan. The home’s perch with waterfront exposure to the north, east, and south offers views that are extraordinary. With lake accessibility, privacy, and 500 feet of sugar sand beach, it’s a dream location for enthusiasts of boating, swimming, kayaking, and stand-up paddle boarding. Take a look at this secluded hideaway in one of the prettiest vacation regions in the country:

The Location

Located “between the little and ring fingers” of the catcher’s mitt-shaped state of Michigan, Great Traverse Bay is bisected into west and east arms by a long narrow strip of land called the Old Mission Peninsula. Spectacular boating, water sports, and wooded terrain have long drawn tourists to the region. For landlubbers, there’s hiking and other activities in natural areas such as Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park, home to immense sand dunes. A rapidly developing local wine industry in recent years brought with it a hot restaurant scene. The area is now routinely included on lists of up-and-coming foodie destinations, and the likes of Mario Batali, Tim Allen, Bob Seeger, and Madonna’s dad have summer homes here. When the seasonal tourism swell dissipates, locals find plenty to do in skiing, snow shoeing, snowmobiling, and ice fishing. With 15,000 residents, Traverse City is the epicenter of area population. It’s surrounded by boutique villages.

The home at 12570 E. Hendryx Drive is in the area known as Leelanau County. It sits on land which juts into the western edge of the west arm of the bay, just five miles from the village of Suttons Bay. It’s an easy boat ride from the home’s beach to the restaurants and wineries of Old Mission Peninsula and Traverse City. Imagine that lifestyle!

The House

Built in 1970 on a one and a half acre lot, 12570 E. Hendryx Drive, Suttons Bay, was designed by famed local architect Bob Holdeman, a disciple of Japanese and Frank Lloyd Wright-style organic architecture. This aesthetic is well displayed in this home’s clean, angular lines and integration into the landscape. In a split-level open floor plan with cathedral ceilings, the structure’s 2,682 square feet include a great room, which opens to the kitchen and formal dining room, a den/study, three bedrooms, one and one half baths, a foyer, and a mudroom. Unusual redwood and teak paneling, cabinetry, and bookcases amp the house’s Frank Lloyd Wright vibe. Granite stone graces the fireplace. Copper gutters rim the roof. Floor-to-ceiling and clerestory windows carry the interior flow to the extensive deck and surrounding evergreen landscape, which slopes gradually to the beach surrounding three sides of the structure.

The same family has used this property as a summer home for decades. The appliances and some surfaces could use some updating, yes, but oh, what a palette to work with! The house at 12570 E. Hendryx Drive is listed at $2.45 million by Mark Hagan of Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors. Here’s a look at the property, including a drone video of that beautiful beach and dreamy view: