Judy Rose

Special to the Detroit Free Press

Detroit architect Gino Rossetti, who designed stadiums and venues all over the world, designed this lakeside house for himself. Forty years later it is still an icon — one of the most unique homes in the Grosse Pointes.

The house is all glass and redwood with many rooms that are half circles. Living space is inventively set through five different half-levels, each a few steps up or down.

Different shapes of skylights in unexpected places send through shafts of light. Lake St. Clair laps up so closely, you’d think you could feed seagulls from a window. “It’s like waking up on a boat,” the owner said. The lake view stretches across to Canada.

Gino Rossetti is retired to Denver now, and his son Matt Rossetti runs the architecture firm. Meanwhile the owner who’s lived here 21 years is a friend of Rossetti and has had him back to visit.

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Bill Sumner said he has kept the house very original but for one big addition, a lavish wine cellar.

“I joked with Gino, ‘There’s one thing missing from your house, the wine cellar. Come on, you’re American-Italian.’”

He added another large element outdoors, an electronic gate on the long driveway, to protect the outdoor sculpture. This isn’t just any security gate; it is a tall round steel circle and its color is peacock blue — your first clue this house will be different. Rossetti approved of his changes, he said.

Sumner also put in the pool that’s next to the lake. It’s a salt-water pool, he said, which they can use into November.

The house is built out of steel, using Rossetti’s commercial standards, cantilevers instead of beams that would block the view.

No room is a cliché. The living room has a sunken seating pit around the fireplace and glass behind it. The theme of circles repeats in rounded rooms at each end of the house.

In the foyer a round tower is sided in redwood. At ground level this is a closet. On top it holds a seating circle for the TV.

“I love his architecture; I love his work,” Sumner said. “It’s a little edgy.”

The owner’s suite is especially striking, wrapped at one end with a circular bathroom around a circular red porcelain jetted tub. “Imagine how unusual that was in the '70s,” said Realtor Joseph Leto.

A red steel ladder here climbs to a skylight, so you can stand on the roof. Walk-out decks face the lake on three levels.

Sumner, who collects art, said the house makes a great gallery. “It’s wonderful for the high ceilings, the tall dramatic walls, the unique angles and all the hidden skylights,” he said. “The sunlight comes streaming in and it’s just gorgeous.”

Besides the four rooms set up as bedrooms, a fifth bedroom with one wall of glass is used as a workout room, with a commercial rubber floor. Another large room is set up as a games room with a pool table and small bar.

In back, a long wooden walk lies between the pool and the lake. A winch at shore lets it swing out for a movable dock.

Friends come up in kayaks or personal watercraft, and swimmers use it as a raft. There’s good walleye fishing in back of the house, Sumner said.

“We use the lake as much as possible,” he said. “This is just 15 minutes from my office,” in downtown Detroit. “Friends go up north and they have to drive home three or four hours in traffic.

“I’d like to have someone buy the house who will really enjoy it.”

Rossetti home

Where: 15822 Lakeview, Grosse Pointe Park

How much: $1,988,000

Bedrooms: 5

Baths: 5 full, 1 half

Square feet: 4,700

Key features: Stunning lakeside house built by Gino Rossetti for himself is “an original piece of architecture, built to commercial standards,” to quote the current owner. Unique, one-of-a kind home directly on Lake St. Clair, close to downtown.

Contact: Joseph Leto, Signature Sotheby’s, 313-418-2555.