Former Corvette Chief Engineer Selling Wright-inspired Detroit Home

Want to buy the house where Corvette Chief Engineer Dave McClellan has resided for the past 42 years?

McClellan and his wife Glenda, in an aim to downsize now that he is 75 and she is 69, have their Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired estate on 12 acres up for sale for $589,900, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The McClellans had been fans of Wright designs ever since they were newlyweds. Since Wright died in 1959, they had to commission his chief draftsman, John Howe, to design their house in 1970, which is based on the equilateral triangle.

The home features a 16-foot-high wall of windows facing southeast and stretching across the main living space that Glenda says is “great for storm watching. It’s beautiful all the time.”

Though the main home has only 2,682 square feet, the McClellans built an office and four-car garage in a separate 2,410-square-foot building in 1997 with a similar wall of windows and built-in desks, bookcases, and storage nooks. Inside that garage is a ZR-1 that was engineered by Dave.

The house and office together add up to 5,092 square feet of living space, and as you might expect from a car fanatic, there’s an additional two-car garage on the property. The main house was updated recently with granite countertops in the kitchen and bathrooms. Completing the picture is a heated pool and five patios. There’s even an adjoining lot with 2.2 acres for sale at $50,000.

“The architect operated at many levels,” Dave McLellan said. “It’s very well organized and detailed much like a yacht. That was John’s work and somewhat mine.”

By designing the home in the shape of multiple equilateral triangles, with all angles at 60 degrees, the walls end up following a hexagonal, or six-sided, pattern. As with Wright designs, most of the furniture is built into the structure and permanent, including the leather bench seating next to the fireplace in the living room and the Philippine mahogany dining room table.

The Free Press says a custom home like this will take a special buyer.

“It’s going to be someone who wants to enjoy the three-dimensional space and the outdoors,” Dave says. “And someone who has a passion for a modern house.” And perhaps someone with a passion for Corvettes.

Source:
Detroit Free Press

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