BY LISA BRODY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LASZLO REGOS
S
The
Community
House Birmingham
House Tour will be Tuesday,
September 16th, from 10
a.m.-5 p.m. A brunch featur-
ing a panel of building and
design experts will speak on
Building a Home: The
Creative Process at 9:30 a.m.
at The Community House.
Tickets for the tour are $25,
for the brunch and tour, $60.
Tickets for a special preview
party Monday evening,
September 15th, are $100.
Packages for all events are
available for $150. For more
information, call (248) 644-
5832.
12 • S E P 'I' E NI B E IL 2c00 3 • S
hirley and Jerry Gotthelf, of
Birmingham, never set out to have a
home that would be a showcase for
Michigan artists. It just happened while
they were enjoying life.
"Art collecting just evolved over the years,
because many of the artists were our friends, so
of course we bought," explains Shirley, a promi-
nent Birmingham realtor for many years.
"We've also bought art at art fairs over the
years."
The Gotthelfs' home, which will be one of
eight featured homes on this year's Community
House Birmingham House Tour on September
16, overlooks Quarton Lake, and was once a
dark, Mediterranean abode. When they moved
in, the Gotthelfs asked their interior designer
and friend Jeffrey King to open up the floor
plan and lighten and brighten the home.
"Jeffrey's philosophy is that you should live
in all of your home, so he opened it all up so we
could use every bit of it," says Shirley.
The foyer of the home is a prime example.
Filled with art, it is white and airy, with a glass and iron
stair railing, and natural
wood treads. King took
out the original ceiling,
opening the foyer to the
second floor, and adding
skylights. A series of
paintings by Bloomfield
Hills artist Bertha
Cohen winds its way up
the stairway. A bronze
Irving Berg sculpture
("He was a buddy," says
Shirley), called "The
Tumbler," stands near
an art-fair purchase.
High on an open shelf
in the foyer are wood
collages by Berg that he
made especially for the
Gotthelfs. "Irving found
some leftover wood
from the foundry at
Cass Tech High School,
where he was teaching
at the time," recalls
Jerry. "They were going
to throw it out, and
Irving thought that was
a crime, so he made
constructions out of them.
King widened all of the original doorways, allowing for
an open flow through the home. The kitchen, right off
the foyer, features a large island, black granite counter-
tops, a mirrored backsplash and honey-colored oak cabi-
nets. The kitchen is open to the family room, and its
L E A"1 "I' II E 1 N
giant "Wall Egg" by friend and artist Ted Striewski. A
colorful geometric area rug is by Susan Cobb, whom the
Gotthelfs discovered at an art fair. "I saw this rug and
said, 'this is us!'" says Shirley. They commissioned Cobb
to make all of the rugs in the house, and for their home in
Florida.
Once when the Gotthelfs were at a port in Texas, a
boat came in with a load of stained glass, which they fell
in love with. "We bought a bunch," says Jerry. King built
them into the walls between rooms.
In the living room, stained-glass windows were added
next to the fireplace. Originally a dark room, the walls
were troweled, and then painted white, the perfect back-
drop for the art and the baby-grand piano. Black leather,
chrome and glass furniture provides drama and comfort.
"The main reason I bought this house was the first-
floor master suite," notes Shirley. "Jeffrey put in frosted-
glass French doors. It's a film that looks like etched glass,
and it gives us privacy."
As with the rest of the main floor, the furnishings are
black and white. "That's our theme," laughs Shirley. A
wall of closets was mirrored to brighten the room, and a
large picture-window features a bold stained-glass piece.
"It was an art-fair piece, but I love it," says Shirley. The
master bath has chrome
cabinets, mirrored walls
and black and white
tiles. The shower fea-
tures mosaic glass tile
accents.
Shirley and Jerry
each have their own
home office. Shirley's
originally had dark pan-
eling. "Jeffrey broke
through, lifted the ceil-
ing, added a skylight,
and left the structural
beams. He had an assis-
tant take a hammer and
distress the walls, and
then he painted them
white. Now, instead of a
tiny, closed room, it's an
open, happy room,"
says Shirley. Stained-
glass windows in yel-
lows and purples add
color, and African masks
on the wall add drama.
A bronze Irving Berg sculpture
graces the foyer.
Their perennial gar-
den is also art-filled,
with Irving Berg sculp-
tures outside the front door. Ted Striewski benches and
fiberglass sculptures, which Jerry helped Ted make, nes-
tle among the flowers and Jim Nani sculptures nearby.
"I don't even remember where we got some of the
art," says Shirley. "You just accumulate what you like
over the years."