Enjoy browsing, but unless otherwise noted, these houses are private property and closed to the public -- so don't go tromping around uninvited.

EERO SAARINEN, FAIA (1910-1961)

Eero Saarinen was born in Hvitträsk, FInland, and emigrated to the United States of America in 1923.   He grew up within the community of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills MI where his father Eliel taught. Saarinen studied under his father at Cranbrook and took courses in sculpture and furniture design. He had a close relationship with fellow students Charles and Ray Eames, and became good friends with Florence (Schust) Knoll.  Beginning in September 1929, he studied sculpture at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière in Paris, France. He then went on to study at the Yale School of Architecture, completing his studies in 1934. After that, he toured Europe and North Africa for a year and spent another year back in Finland, after which he returned to Cranbrook to teach. He became a naturalized citizen of the U.S. in 1940. Saarinen worked for the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during WWI, assigned to provide designs for the Situation Room in the White House. After his father's death in 1950, Saarinen founded his own architecture office.   He had two children from his first marriage, Eric and Susan.

In 1954, after having divorced his first wife, Saarinen married Aline Bernstein, an art critic at The New York Times. They had a son, Eames, named after his collaborator Charles Eames.

Besides architecture, Saarinen achieved fame as a designer of furniture.
During his long association with Knoll he designed many important pieces of furniture including the "Grasshopper" lounge chair and ottoman (1946), the "Womb" chair and ottoman (1948), the "Womb" settee (1950), side and arm chairs (1948-1950), and his most famous "Tulip" or "Pedestal" group (1956), which featured side and arm chairs, dining, coffee and side tables, as well as a stool.

HIs major commerical works include the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Dulles Airport, the TWA terminal al JFK Airport, the GM Technical Center in Warren MI, and corporate headquarters including John Deere, IBM, and CBS. His firm was located in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan until 1961 when it moved to Hamden CT. 

Saarinen died while undergoing an operation for a brain tumor at the age of 51. His partners, Kevin Roche and John Dinkeloo, completed his ten remaining projects, including the St. Louis arch. Afterwards, the name of the firm was changed to Kevin Roche John Dinkeloo and Associates, or Roche-Dinkeloo.

Drawing of the Saarinen TWA Terminal at JFK Airport, in 1962.


The Saarinen TWA Terminal at JFK Airport in the 1990's.

Additional Resources:  Finnish Cultural Institute on Saarinen

1938 - The Jesse F. Spencer House, Huntington Woods MI.  Commissioned 1937. Saarinen’s first built commission, independent of his father.  1700 sf.  garage has been converted to living space and the roof is now shingled.  The windows have been replaced and in some instances reduced.

1940 - The Charles J. and Ingrid V. Koebel House, 203 Cloverly Road, Grosse Point Farms MI. Commissioned 1937.  Designed with Eliel Saarinen.  Eero Saarinen's sister Pipsan Saarinen Swanson was the interior designer. Her husband Robert F. Swanson prepared final plans for the house in October 1939.  Other members of the Saarinen family provided additional design elements, including custom-woven textiles and art objects. The two-story, five-bedroom flat-roofed structure contains 5600 sf.

1941 - The Samuel Bell House, New Hope PA.  Unbuilt.

1942 - The Wermuth House, Fort Wayne IN.  Commissioned 1941. 
As of 2007, owned by Paul Gentile.

1942 - Designed to meet WWII needs for defense housing, The Unfolding House was two sections that could be shipped anywhere and "unfolded" to allow a interior modular system.  Never built.

1949 - The Entenza House, aka Case Study House #9, 209 Chautauqua Boulevard (originally Chautauqua Way), Pacific Palisades CA.  Designed with Charles Eames.  Commissioned 1945.   Has been remodeled.

1952 - The J. Irwin and Xenia Miller Cottage, aka Llanrwst, in Muskoka, Ontario, Canada.  Commissioned 1950.  Top photo by Ed Boutilier.

1957 - The J. Irwin and Xenia Miller House, Columbus IN.  Landscape architecture by Dan Kiley.  Commissioned 1953.  The house was given to the Indianapolis Museum of Art by the Miller family. The IMA did an extensive renovation and now it is open for tours.