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trees move in the wind, the shadows appear to show birds in flight.
Wright’s homes reflect his regard for simplicity — they have
open plans, a hallmark of his style,
and most have large windows to
let in natural light.
At the Palmer House, its current owner Jeffrey Schox told
Concentrate Media, the angled
rooms prevent sound from traveling, giving a quiet and serene feel.
It has small, solitary bedrooms,
and upon entering the great room,
“you’re drawn out through the
great room and into nature outside,” Schox said.
“Simplicity and repose are the
qualities that measure the true value of any work of art,” Wright said.
The Palmer House urges visitors to take in its hidden features
and surroundings, and its owners
do, too. Gary Cox, caretaker of the
home and owner Schox’s father,
said they require minimum stays
of two nights so guests “spend
some serious time in the house,
see it in the morning light and the
evening light.”
“The more time you spend in
the house, the more riveting it becomes,” Cox said.
Schox fell in love with the
Palmer House when he was an en-
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gineering student at U of M. He
would go on runs through the arboretum, and there he caught sight
of the house’s unusual cantilevered
roof. He spent the next two years
visiting other Wright homes.
After eventually becoming a
patent attorney, Schox and his
wife Kate moved to San Francisco,
but he often returned to Michi-
That was the first of
our ‘holy shit’ moments.
We had just acquired a true
American icon.”
gan to visit family and meet with
clients. When the Palmer House
went up for sale in the midst of
the housing downturn, his mother
Sue sent Jeffrey an email with the
listing to “his” house. At Christmas, they sat down as a family to
consider the option.
“It was a back of a napkin kind
of thing, and we talked about it
for an hour or so,” said Gary Cox.
They wrote a letter to the son of
the original owners. Mary Palmer
passed away in 2011 after living in
the home for more than 50 years
and then stayed in an assisted living home in the last years of her