It photographs well! I can't believe she didn't get a better shot of the bowling score-machine-cum-computer desk. In fact, it looks like it was moved aside so Wendell could bask in the sun and guard the neighborhood. (good dog!)
You can see it better in the flickr set she links to. That is the desk where everything on this site is written, and appropriately, it still smells like stale cigarettes, spiders, and cheap beer.
Wendell looks so handsome in your office. Dutch, what is the color (name) of your bedroom paint? It's just what I'm looking for for our son's bedroom. If you know, thanks! Great pictures.
Mar
I cannot believe you are a Jim!!!!! Of all things. I thought you went by JD.
My baby is James. Middle name David. Hubby wants to call him JD and I said no thanks, James will do.
Were you ever Jimmy?
And, someone asked last week, do you and Wood call eachother Dutch and Wood?
lovely.
Yes, he was called Jimmy when he was little. Maybe even Jimbo. Okay, I'll stop before he starts sharing my goofy nicknames.
Dutch has called me Wood for years -- my last name is the same as the crusty old judge who named Detroit's biggest thoroughfare after himself.
Cool Place.
Could use more kids
I love this. LOVE. And I called you guys one of my favourite blogs today on my blog.
The blogosphere is starting to make me wonder, Am I the only person who doesn't live inside a beautiful home design magazine? Am I the only one with mismatched hand-me-downs (many of which just look old or cheap rather than retro) and clutter scattered on every surface? Am I?
P.S. Are your bookshelves so perfectly organized and color coordinated all the time?
Glad I found you thru design*sponge! Great pics. Always nice to find other blogs to read
Next time The Junipers are in SF, they are invited to come stay at our house, rearrange and furnish things, and dress our daughter-to-be.
"We started using the goofy nicknames years ago because I didn't want people from high school finding the blog and making fun of me."
Am I the only one who's found you so far?
Wow. Serious midcentury home lust going on here ... and envy that Wendell apparently doesn't shed a single hair on those expansive sun-lit wooden floors. We have Chesapeake Bay Retriever tumbleweeds big enough to knock over the kid, and that's even with regular vacuuming.
yeah, he doesn't really shed. it's weird.
and molly, as far as I know.
Why am I surprised by Jim? You spin such fantastic tales that I would have guessed something downright 19th century for your name. Maybe if you went by James, I'd be satisfied. Care to?
worlds colliding.....!
I read only a very few things every day (like, four or five) and you and d*s are two of those. imagine the frisson of shock and pleasure when I went to grace's page today.
I'm not the least bit shocked that you have a fabulous home. and the fact that you all found each other restores some of my faith in humanity.
wow. I recently began wondering if your home was as beautiful as the few shots from this site aken inside allude to..it IS! what wonderful taste the two of you have, and what a treat that you shared it!
I also have a Juniper-are you fans of Donovan? She was almost a Saffron, because apparently I limited my choices to names that are featured in his music. I never considered Linda, though.
Fantastic house! It is always fun to see a ittle of a bloggers real life.
as i gaze around my cluttered, mismatched, carpeted, kitty-infested house i realize that pnuts house is the antithesis of junipers. ah, well. we'll never be (design)sponge-worthy! seriously, promise me that your clean and gorgeous home is perfect for press-kits only? because you're killing me. keeeeeling meeee.
love the colors on the walls. love the ginormous windows. love it all (except the painting over your bed- sorry).
can i still think of you as wood and dutch, though?
Lovely home, very calm feeling. I think most people associate Detroit with early 20th century architecture, so it's great to spotlight one of the modern treasures. There's a Frank Lloyd Wright house being renovated/restored near us along 7 Mile, and I think Mies van Der Rohe designed a house or two in Palmer Woods.
I love modern design but old houses (ours is a 1928 Tudor revival) so we end up with kind of a mishmosh of stuff. Kristen, you're not the only one who lives with old hand-me-downs. Some we love, some we tolerate, some we refinish.
How DO you avoid clutter with a kid? And a dog?
And did you buy that Eames chair at a church rummage sale in Rosedale Park? if so I may have to commence wailing and rend my garments--my parents got rid of one that looked exactly like that at a rummage sale for a church that wasn't even their church!!
I'm sure I'm the thousandth person to tell you this, but Detroit Public TV did a documentary on your neighborhood awhile ago. It was probably more than 10 years ago, but I remember it as being a very nice portrayal of your little enclave in the city.
congratulations on basically every front imaginable.
And good luck with that stair rail. tho overprotectiveness works just as well as plexi, mostly.
Beautiful! I loved this.
The picutres of your home brought tears to my eyes. It made me think of all my parents' beautiful Danish furniture, bought in Germany in the mid-60s, being destroyed in Hurricane Katrina. I would love to live in a home I could fill with modernistic, clean desgin, but we are in a 1920s bungalow that doesn't allow for it. Fortunately, I found a mid-century dining set at a junk shop that fits in well, so at least I have that.
Jim! Jim. Jim. I have to roll it around a little on my tongue. I got a little thrill of excitement when I read your name. Pleased to meet you; I'm Chris. I love your home. I bow down to your modern sensibility. I covet your spare, uncluttered living space. And I wish I could create the same! Greetings from overcast, rainy Vancouver Island, British Columbia!
Hey! I just turned 30, too. Was 1977 a great year for Classics nerds, or what?
It looks just as I imagined it would. I think my husband would love to have such a sparse environment, without stuff to "clutter" up the surfaces around here. But mostly, those floor-to-ceiling windows!!! Oh my word it must be lovely with the sun shining in.
I just have TOO MANY THINGS, and mostly they are weird, old but repurposed, funky and whimsical things. Which do NOT inherently go with such a sparse mid-century design anyway.
So we do the "antique" thing.
But I have great admiration for your style.
Thanks for sharing!
it was an honor to have your home on d*s- it was design geek/sweet juniper fan heaven for me.
grace
love it!
(and seriously? jim?! totally surprised but not really sure why.)
I love Wendell lurking in the bottom corner of the very last photo... like he edged his way in unnoticed.
Also, I am moving soon, please come and decorate my house!!! Have either of you ever taken art classes? How do you get your house looking so nice? ... I am hopeless.
You have a beautiful home and your decor does the design extreme justice. EXTREME. Well done and I feel just squidgy at getting a glimpse. Thank you for sharing.
Hi my name is motherbumper and I'm a architecture-a-holic.
also, I have to second the question about where in the world do you keep all your stuff? how does that work???
rest assured, there is a reason I didn't take pictures of our closets.
mies van der rohe, bless his heart, understand that more means less when it comes to closet space.
Great photos and a beautiful home. Thanks for linking to Design*Sponge.
I cannot even express how many thousands of times better this was than an episode of Cribs. Next time, though, we need to see inside your fridge. And also your three Porsches and your eight Bentleys.
I did have to resist the urge to write under the bedroom photo, "and THIS is where the Magic Happens. . ."
OMG!! Once again, you blow me totally away! And I love the name Jim, as I'm married to one. Your home made me salivate. I'm a mid-century mod nutcase. My Jim thinks I've lost it. He's not into decorating. Unfortunately, the area of the country I live in was more into Americana and no good finds to be found in the junk shops or anywhere else for that matter. I rely heavily upon Ebay. Anyways, you guys rock.
aw man, i preferred thinking your real name is dutch. you still rock though.
The house is gorgeous, and now I'm going to dream of a bowling score table as a desk for myself, because the coolness of that is huge. I'm going to break into the bowling alley some night and blame it on you, Dutch.
It really is beautiful. I, too, would like to know the color of your bedroom. Thanks for letting us peek into your fishbowl.
What color is that in your office, please?
That is so cool that you live in a mies van der rohe!!! Absolutely the coolest thing. Damn I wish I lived there, because we would definitely be friends! 
"This is where the magic happens...?" You aren't just cheesy, you're a stinky, blue-veined French cheese, best served with Pinot Noir at room temperature.
Maybe a baguette on the side.
Coolest house. coolest dog. coolest kid. coolest infinityeverythingetc. you win. you all win.
such a great place!
Welcome to Detroit from yet another D*S reader! I've often wondered what those townhouses looked like from the inside, and it's nice to hear from a resident who knows what a great place they have. (For the record, I live in a cluttered bungalow furnished with an eclectic assortment of Twentienth Century curb finds. One of my favorite things about Detroit is how much beautiful furniture can be yours for just the cost of elbow grease.)
Um....wow. I mean, WOW. It makes our Tokyo apartment look downright dowdy.
And congrats on turning 30, boy!
Stunning, stunning home.
My parents had a German wirehair and he only shed in the winter. He'd grow a thick coat for the outside, but would shed like crazy inside. Maybe Wendall will be the same?
(I thought you had outed yourself as Jim a long time ago? Back when you were quitting work? Maybe I'm crazy.)
WOW! Is that a calder mobile in the stairway? I saw the Calder exhibit at the SF MOMA way back when, and I was so blown away (no pun intended). Lovely -- thanks for the glimpse...
I love your place. And Juniper's room is where creativity and imaginations can run wild! What a great piece.
Such a great place. I don't think we have anything like that here. Or at least not anything under 1.5-2.5 mil and at best only a shoddy rip off of a reproduction. Sigh.
You have a beautiful home. And if it's alright with you, I will continue to think of you as Dutch, just as I have since I saw your name on Suburban Bliss...
And please do me a favor and do not come to my blog to see pictures of my home. Because, you might just block me from reading if you knew how uncool I am.
How do you keep your windows clean with a little fingerprinter?
Your home is beautiful, and I'm impressed (but not surprised) at the meticulousness with which you chose your furnishings, ie, carefully seeking out mid-century furniture made or designed in Michigan.
So what does a mid-century, Mies van der Rohe kitchen look like? Or, like the closets, is there a reason it was left out?
The write up is great as are the photos. Viva the midwest. Please tell me there's some crappy cluttery toy-filled mess somewhere off-camera.
I'm with you on the photgenic sperm thing, although I managed to squirt two out.
Very cool on the fishbowl being featured. Kudos.
Thanks again for sharing the pictures of your home - looks wonderful!
Seeing your place on Design*Sponge makes the blogosphere seem like a little village, as you are both my favorite blogs that I check daily.
LOVE the photos over your sofa. I wasn't sure if you took them, but if so, will you sell some prints?
I have to leave a comment about this post. I have now been reading your blog for a few months: I landed here following a link from Motherhood Uncensored that led me to a link that led me here and I'm so glad it did! I moved to Detroit 8 years ago, and then 1 year ago left for Seattle (where I am now). I never considered Detroit "home", being from NY, but your blog has really made me realize that I AM homesick for the chilly mitten! Very unexpected. I am currently debating between MFA programs at Columbia Chicago and Cranbrook, and the scale keeps tilting toward Cranbrook no little bit because of the beautiful images of the city that you keep posting. Your pictures keep top-of-mind what it is that I loved about Detroit for 8 years: the unique beauty that most people really don't understant. Anyway, in looking at the images of your home I was reminded of driving by those townhomes and my boyfriend was telling me how a lot of the faculty at CCS live there because they were designed by this famous architect-- yadda, yadda, yadda. (I used to tune most of his designer-babble out.) We also have our own pair of the Marcel Breuer's Wassily Chairs in brown which my boyfriend found at an auction in Virginia for $25 apeice! Anyway, I shall continue to list your blog as one of my absolute favorites!
Beautiful photos! Although we do not have similar taste, I very much admire the cohesiveness of your architecture and furnishings. It seems so soothing! My husband and I are still trying to undo the do-it-yourself projects that previous owners really shouldn't have undertaken....ugh!
amazing photos! congratulations.
Both of my grandfathers are Jims. Nice to know your real name.
To be fair, Logan outed you on Flickr awhile ago. He would make a terrible spy. Or a really easy spy to defeat in spy-on-spy battle.
Your place looks wonderful--but Junie and Wendell upped the decorating quotient to incredible!
The pictures of the pad are all fantabulous (no shock that I'm jealous of your pad in D town vs my shit ass apartment in the Dtown burbs)...BUT...the real show stopper...break my heart with beauty...
...that picture of your daughter with the dandelions. My god.
Can I please print that, blow it up, and use all my "spare time" to plaster it over every natty billboard around?
Seriously, spectacular.
Hope to see you at the Isle one day.
Msmelle
Nice link, and great house!
I love the vivid colors.
My father spent the better part of his career at the Tech Center, which meant I spent some time there while growing up; feeding the geese, plucking a few trilobite stone fossils from the man-made ponds to add to my collection.
Wow, what a great space! And so much better than 500 sq. ft.
I, too, just never thought of you as a Jim. The Jims I know smash beer cans on their forehead and play pull my finger. They would never use a poetic phrase like "the parabolas of age" or some of the other beautiful things you've written. That's gonna take some getting used to.
Your place is gorgeous. I live in a relatively cute late 30s bungalow in a little city just north of the D-town border, but those clean lines and all that glass have me salivating with envy.
Your bookshelves are organized by color? No, I mean "your bookshelves are organized by color!!"
I fucking love that. I think you may have changed my world.
Truly beautiful use of space. The picture of your bedroom looks like the cover of a book.
My wife is now drooling over your new digs, even though we have a fancy new condo on the way. Here's hoping your style-enabling won't cause us to go into unrecoverable debt before we ever get pregnant.
I have a question: how do the rest of you organize your books?
I just assumed everyone did it that way.
love. hate. jealousy. covetousness. tredipation. fascination. awe. surprise.
we're in the throes of this new house thing. seventh new house in 6 years. we keep trying and never get it right. you guys do it right the first time.
depressing. i've officially given up. i'm hiring someone to think for me. now i'm thinking maybe it should be you guys.
not an artist? ha. you're not "just a(n)" anything, dutch. you guys make beautiful everything together.
off to granny's party. thanks for satisfying a *deep* voyeuristic itch that i didn't even know i wanted to have scratched.
xobmc
Jim? I should have known. My hub is a 'Jim' and my son is Jamie. Three of my best high school friends also married 'Jims.' Deep down, most Jims are very deep! I'm more shocked by your age(although it's not new information)--30? And such an accomplished writer? Jeeze, now I feel bad.
I just discovered your blog over at Design*Sponge. I love the photos of your house. Thanks for sharing.
p.s. Welcome to Detroit!
Wow, you came out with your real name(but I think melissa s. spilled your beans a while back.)
I'm spending all week in the library this week working on my dissertation.
I've been here long enough that I have fallen in love with the chairs they have at their computer stations. Who are they by? Hermann Miller. Thanks, Dutch. Without you I wouldn't have known to be impressed.
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