LeRoy Smith and his family lived in Highland Park, Michigan, but owned land along the St. Clair River near Algonac for summer trips. In the late 1930’s, they decided to build a summer house on the property to take advantage of the river view. Mr. Smith wrote to...
Lynn Townsend was two years into his long tenure as head of the Chrysler Corporation in 1963 when he approached Alden B. Dow about designing a home for his family in Bloomfield Hills. Following a visit to the property, the architect wrote to Mr. Townsend, “Even...
The Charles W. Bachman Residence in East Lansing was designed by Alden B. Dow in 1936. Charles Bachman was the football coach for Michigan State College from 1933 until 1946. The two-story L-shaped structure is situated at the top of a rise in the...
Louis Butenschoen joined the Dow Chemical Company in 1935 as a member of the sales staff. During his career, he would develop the sales market for dry cleaning solvents and eventually became the manager of the new solvents unit. In 1941, he contacted Alden B. Dow...
Alden B. Dow began the design of the Methodist Church of the Dunes in 1957 and completed the working drawings in 1960. Construction bids amounting to $276,468 were accepted and the ground-breaking ceremony was held on April 2, 1960. The completion of the church...
Occupying an entire city block on a busy corner of Main Street in downtown Midland, the First Methodist Church was designed by Alden B. Dow in 1947. “The architecture of this church, he wrote, “is to inspire the concept of growth…growth beyond ourselves, beyond...
Mid-Century Modern Midland (MCMM), a project of the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio, has been recognized by Docomomo US, as one of 10 winners of the 2019 Modernism in America Awards. The MCMM’s project to document and share Midland’s unique contribution to the...
Herbert H. Dow II was the grandson of the founder of the Dow Chemical Company. He began a 39-year tenure with the company in 1953 at the age of 25, progressing through a number of positions and eventually becoming Corporate Secretary, Vice President, and member of...
The first unit block house to be built was the Sheldon B. Heath house, designed by Alden B. Dow in late spring of 1934. This four-bedroom home on West St. Andrews Road was one of the first to be located in a new residential development near the Midland Country...
James Duffy was the President of the Port Huron and Detroit Railroad Company, once considered the most profitable railroad per mile of track in the United States. Mr. Duffy also owned one of the most opulent private railroad cars that would have been the envy of...
Alden B. Dow regarded St. John’s Lutheran Church on East Carpenter Street in Midland as one of his most significant religious structures. Designed in 1953, the nave of the church accommodates 600 people with no one in the congregation more than 60 feet away from...
Joseph L. Sherk was the son of Dr. Joseph H. Sherk, the personal physician for Herbert H. Dow and his family. In 1954, Mr. Sherk acquired two lots from Alden B. Dow bordering the golf course of the Midland Country Club and commissioned him to design a home for his...
