Judy Rose

Special to the Detroit Free Press

A prime example of a Mies van der Rohe townhouse came up for sale this week in Lafayette Park in Detroit, and it looks poised to set a new high price for a Mies townhouse.

“We’ve had this property up less than 24 hours, and we’ve had an extremely high volume of interest,” said Realtor Bill Swanson, speaking on the first day of the listing. “We’ve had seven showings already, and multiple showings a day for the rest of the week.”

Asking price is $313,000, which does not sound extreme today, but when real estate prices in Detroit were depressed, such townhouses sold for a fraction of that. Now, house prices rise fast in the city’s desirable neighborhoods. More important here, admiration soars for the iconic work of modernist masters like Mies. In the same block, a one-story co-op with an outdoor courtyard is said to have just sold for $550,000 cash.

Homes like this on private street in Detroit aren't for sale often

The Lafayette Park townhouses show the glass-curtain architecture Mies pioneered in the 1920s, when steel technology ended the need for wood or brick. Sheets of glass held by steel beams became the face of modernism. Mies called this “skin and bones architecture.”

Inside this townhouse, the front and back walls are two stories of glass. The view out each side is the 50-year-old landscape of Prairie School designer Alfred Cauldwell, which wraps the units in greenery.

Mies’ clean-cut floor plan has a large living room against one glass wall, a smaller dining area against the other and a galley kitchen in between.

Longtime owner Toby Barlow did a thoughtful remodel that honored the architecture but tweaked some details, especially in the kitchen and baths. He stole space from a closet for a big Sub-Zero refrigerator, which expanded the kitchen’s work area.

He built a large tiled shower where the tub had been and covered the main floors with cork. In place of a dining table, he put a long counter up against the front glass, so everyone eats facing out.

Barlow pointed out the extreme thoughtfulness that Mies and collaborators put into Lafayette Park. For example, there’s no visible trash outside. Instead, trash is collected in an underground tunnel each unit can access.

A lot of outdoor parking is available, but it’s all set down a few feet below the grounds, so that view is minimized.

The townhouses include blinds you can drop over the glass walls. To eliminate clutter, they retract unseen into a niche when not used.

“When you live in Lafayette Park, you recognize you’re living in a very thoughtful place,” he said.

Like most of Lafayette Park, the townhouses are co-ops, not condos, and not all banks give mortgages, although Talmer and Hantz banks do. Many buyers pay cash, Swanson said.

Monthly fees on a co-op are higher than they’d be for a condo, because they include a payment on the master mortgage and taxes, as well as maintenance, cable and water. The part of the fee that’s interest and taxes is tax deductible.

Barlow is moving just 30 yards away, he said, into one of the courtyard units. He didn’t want to leave the neighborhood.

“It’s imagination at its best,” he said. “You’re uplifted by the intelligence that’s all around you.”

Lafayette Park townhouse

Where: 1338 Joliet Place in Detroit

How much: $313,000

Bedrooms: 3

Baths: 1 full, 1 half

Square feet: 1,400

Co-op fee: $679, which covers mortgage payments on the master deed, taxes, water and cable

Key features: Glass walls; updated kitchen and baths; cork floors; landscaped, secluded setting; walking distance to Eastern Market, Comerica Park and Ford Field

Contact: Bill Swanson, O’Connor Realty, 313-506-5471