T

he first time I saw this house I knew
there was something special about
it," recalls Lynda Rae Charfoos,
president elect of the Michigan
Chapter of the American Society of Interior
Designers (ASID).
"At the time I had no idea who designed it or
had lived there because it was vacant for over a
year. After five minutes of walking through the
.., ..

6 • SEPTEMBER 2001 • STILE AT THE J.N:

house I asked the realtor, 'Whose house is this
because this is not just anyone's house?"
Both Lynda and Ron Charfoos agree it was
well worth the 7 1/2 years of house hunting to
discover this architectural gem in Bloomfield
Hills designed and built by Minoru Yamasaki in
1974 for his wife and himself. The house had
7,000 square feet on two levels, with five bed-
rooms and four and a half baths. An indoor swim-

sith
ming pool was addseveral years later.
"The house itself is unassuming, but it was
the architectural bones that made an impression
on me," says Lynda. "Ron was impressed with
how well the house was built, its design that
combined art with construction, and the wonder-
ful location of the property overlooking a small
lake."
The infrastructure of the house was designed

