Picasso’s cubism, Benny Goodman’s “Swing, Swing, Swing”, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Oklahoma”, and the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright, Richard Neutra, Meis Van de Rohe, and Alden B. Dow ushered in new artistic expressions of the mid 20th century modern age.  

By 1939, Alden Dow had designed over twenty unique and different homes in Midland, many for family and friends.  To his wife, Vada, it seemed as if everyone else in town had a house designed by her husband but her. Their family now totaled four and it was time to make the structural drawings a reality…it was time to add their family home.  This residence was completed in 1941 but continues to awe the imagination.  

The Dow’s home feels like a garden in every room.  Just like a garden path, surprise is around every corner.  Reflecting colors, textures, shapes, and balance of nature, the home opens into a variety of flowing, colorful spaces, grand in scale yet conveying intimacy and comfort.  As you step in from a low and sheltered entry, your first view of the interior takes your breath away – two walls of windows, color, a vaulted ceiling and expansive views of the terraced garden beyond.

(For photography credits, see the photographer page.)