Throughout his career, internationally acclaimed architect Frank Lloyd Wright was best known for his design of private residences. In 1955, Dorothy S. Turkel requested that he build the house of her dreams on the edge of the elegant Palmer Woods neighborhood. Now, more than 50 years later, it is undergoing extensive renovations by its new owners, who strive to pay homage to Wright’s 70-year legacy of creating designs that revolutionized the art and architecture of the 20th Century. The home is a currently an ambitious and impressive work in progress.

The Turkel House is the only two-story Usonian Automatic in the world and is Wright’s only building within the Detroit city limits. It is constructed with hollow, precast concrete blocks in more than 36 patterns, on a two-foot-square module. It is designed without a basement or attic with a flat roof and L-shaped configuration. The soaring, spacious living room, which Wright called the music room, has a two-story, 15-foot high ceiling, and more than 200 pierced, light-admitting blocks on two sides.
Philippine mahogany paneling provides a warm, textural counterpoint to the block fireplace and walls in the music room, which is connected to the den by a 48-foot gallery. Eight glass and steel doors open to a spacious terrace combing the inside and outside. An extension of the terrace originally designed by Mr. Wright but never built was recently constructed and includes a water feature.  The kitchen opens off the gallery. On the second level, eight doors open from the gallery to a balcony and overlook the gardens. An open balcony cantilevers over the music room below. A study, master suite and two additional bedrooms are also on the second floor.

Wright’s “Usonian Automatic” model was to be a low-cost building system. However, the original construction costs neared $100,000, no small sum in the mid-1950s. Wright’s method using precast blocks as basic building elements nonetheless created an elegant simplicity of design which remains timeless, stately and inspiring.
Now in the final stages of restoration, the existing original interior has been refurbished and furniture reproduced to original specifications achieving the owner’s goal of returning Turkel House to its original 1955 appearance. 쇓The home's current decorative attributes reveal the aggregate tastes of its six subsequent owners. The unique powder room off the foyer still reflects the original decorations, its wormy cypress paneling and vibrant coloration, providing an archetypal example of the French Country Formal style.

During the 1960s the noted Detroit sculptor Marshall Fredericks was commissioned to design the living room fireplace, while later owners updated the home, including fabric-covered walls, marble-clad foyer, lavish window treatments and renovated kitchen.

Despite is modern touches, the home provides a harmonious link to the past. The flow among the rooms across multiple levels is unhurried and elegant. Original second floor sitting rooms have since been converted into spacious bedrooms. The dining room boasts antique sconces and a unique chandelier with leather bulb coverings salvaged from a demolished opera house. Perhaps most intriguing is the secret passageway between the library and living room, whose entrance consists of a movable wall panel. In this tiny concealed space can be found a wet bar, a perfect architectural ploy during the age of Prohibition!