Special Projects

Alden B. Dow Home and Studio

“A National Historic Landmark”

The Alden and Vada Dow Family Foundations offices are located in the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio. Design of the Home and Studio began in 1934 soon after Alden and Vada Dow returned to Midland after participating in Frank Lloyd Wright’s newly formed apprentice program in Spring Green, Wisconsin. The Home and Studio is the finest example of Alden Dow’s own unique style of organic architecture. Having been cited by Architectural Digest as “one of the two most beautiful contemporary homes in the United States, (the other being Wright-designed Fallingwater), the Home and Studio is an outstanding example of man and nature creating together.

In 1986, Vada Bennett Dow and her children established the Alden and Vada Dow Creativity Foundation. The mission of the Alden and Vada Dow Creativity Foundation is to preserve, share and encourage exploration of the philosophies of Alden B. Dow through public access to educational programs, tours and research opportunities provided by the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio, a National Historic Landmark, and the Alden B. Dow Archives, the repository for Alden Dow’s architectural legacy. It was the wish of Mrs. Dow and now her children and grandchildren that the Home and Studio be used as a community resource to educate and inspire all who experience it. Today, the Home and Studio offers public tours, educational programs and tours, and research opportunities in the Alden B. Dow Archives. For more information regarding the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio, please visit their website at www.abdow.org or call toll-free at 1-866-315-7678.

Mid-Century Modern Midland

Midland, Michigan has over 400 Mid-Twentieth Century Modern homes, churches, commercial, educational and civic structures woven throughout the city.  Due to the quality and concentration of these structures, Midland is recognized as one the most architecturally significant communities in the United States. 

Mid-Century Modern Midland, committed to documenting, preserving and celebrating Midland’s  architectural heritage, has created a mobile app and web site to share this unprecedented collection of Mid-Century Modern structures.

Beginning in the early 1930s, Alden B. Dow, F.A.I.A. introduced modern architecture to Midland, Michigan.  As part of the Mid-Twentieth Century Modern movement, Mr. Dow challenged thinking and helped to redefine how we design and use buildings.  His innovative, functional and dynamic work inspired designers and architects like Francis Warner, Jackson Hallett, Glenn Beach, Robert Schwartz, and others, to create modern structures that are integrated into the Midland community.

The Mid-Century Modern Midland app introduces you to the architects and designers who contributed to Midland’s architectural landscape.  It allows you to search any Mid-Century Modern structure in the City of Midland by the original owner’s name, address or architect who designed it and gives you a photo and documented information about it.  It offers a number of predetermined tours, but also allows you to create your own customized tour by selecting the architect and building type.  The app will then route you to the structures you selected.  To download the app, go to Apple App Store or Google Play Store and type Mid-Century Modern Midland.

The website can be accessed at www.midcenturymidland.org