Saarinen House Tour

Friday, October 2nd 3:30pm - 4:45pm
Cranbrook Art Museum
39221 Woodward Avenue
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304

Saarinen House Tours Depart from the Cranbrook Art Museum Peristyle. 
Tickets do not include admission to the Art Museum.

Saarinen House is Eliel Saarinen’s Art Deco masterwork and the jewel of Cranbrook’s architectural treasures. Designed in the late 1920s and located at the heart of Cranbrook Academy of Art, from 1930 through 1950 Saarinen House served as the home and studio of the Finnish-American designer Eliel Saarinen—Cranbrook’s first resident architect and the Art Academy’s first president and head of the Architecture Department—and Loja Saarinen—the Academy’s first head of the Weaving Department. 

Your tour will explore the main areas of the house—including the living room, dining room, and studio—and the restored private spaces of the home—the butler’s pantry, upstairs hall and breakfast nook, and master bedroom suite. Throughout the home you will see Eliel’s delicately veneered furniture, Loja’s sumptuous textiles, decorative designs by their daughter, Pipsan, and early furniture designs by their son, Eero.

Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, in partnership with Cranbrook Art Museum, is responsible for stewarding the collections of Saarinen House and opening its doors to visitors from around the world.


TOUR FEES
Adults: $20
Full-time Students with ID: $10
Cranbrook Art Museum ArtMembers: Free

Advance ticket sales for each weekend close Friday at 9:00am Eastern Time. Same-day tickets are not available. Tickets must be purchased online and cannot be purchased at the house. All tours start at Cranbrook Art Museum under the covered Peristyle. 

Spend the day in Bloomfield Hills and plan a visit to Smith House and Saarinen House, located near the Cranbrook campus just a few blocks away. Smith House tours take place at 1:00pm prior to all Saarinen House tours.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

When You Arrive
All tours of Saarinen House depart from Cranbrook Art Museum. Free parking is available in the Cranbrook Art Museum lot. Follow signs to the main entrance of the Cranbrook Art Museum; the tour begins outside on the Museum peristyle. 

You do not need to print your ticket. You will be asked to provide your name to the Collections Interpreter to verify your ticket.

SPECIAL COVID-19 INFORMATION
  • Don’t feel well? Stay home. Visitors showing signs of illness will be asked to return at a later date.
  • Wear a mask.  Face masks must be worn by all visitors inside Cranbrook buildings, at all times. Your guide will also be wearing a mask.     
  • Stay 3 to 6 feet apart. Physical distancing is required and will be enforced. Households may remain together. 
  • Be aware of space and people around you. Please be aware of the number of people in each space before entering.
  • Keep your hands clean. Hand-sanitizer will be available.
  • Be smart, stay safe. An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. Please observe the precautions above!

Tour Group Size
Tours are limited to 6 guests.

Tour Length
The tours are approximately 75 minutes in length and include stairs and two ten-minute walks on Cranbrook’s campus. Tours take place rain or shine.

Photography
Photography is permitted for personal use only. No special equipment or tripods may be brought on the tour.

Saarinen House Master Bedroom. Photograph by James Haefner.

Shoes
To protect the original carpeting and flooring in Saarinen House, you will be asked to remove your shoes and wear slippers that will be provided.

Children
For the safety and comfort of all visitors, children younger than eight years old, including infants and toddlers, are discouraged on this tour.

Accessibility
Due to the historical status and intimate nature of the house, many rooms and passageways are very narrow and therefore the house is not wheelchair accessible. All tours are walking tours and guests must be able to walk and stand throughout most of the tour. The entrance to the house includes seven steps and a tour of the second floor requires walking up and down the main stairwell. There are no places to sit down in the house itself.

Coats and Bags
Only small wallets and handheld cameras are permitted on the tours. Please leave all backpacks, purses, camera bags, camera equipment, and other cumbersome items in vehicles. This policy was created for the security and protection of Saarinen House and its collection of fine and decorative art.

Weather Concerns
Saarinen House has no air conditioning and can be warm. Please note that tours will be cancelled if the Cranbrook Campus is closed for weather-related emergencies. Visit cranbrook.edu or call Cranbrook Security at 248.645.3170 for campus closure information. There is a coat room inside Saarinen House.

Restrooms
There are no public restroom facilities at the house itself; please use the facilities at Cranbrook Art Museum before beginning your tour.

Refund Policy
Tickets are non-refundable. However, with at least three days advance notice, your ticket may be transferred to another tour date during the same tour season. Your ticket may be transferred to another participant for the tour on the same day and time as the original ticket. If your tour is canceled by Cranbrook because of weather or the COVID-19 pandemic, you will be offered the opportunity to reschedule your tour for a later date, convert the cost of your ticket into a donation to Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research, or request a refund.

SPECIAL COVID-19 INFORMATION

Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research is committed to the health and well-being of our visitors, staff, and volunteers. We want you to know the steps we are taking to keep everyone safe at our sites.

Cleaning Procedures
We have implemented increased cleaning and sanitation practices in all our spaces. Frequent touch surfaces will be disinfected regularly. Hand-sanitizer stations are conveniently located at our sites.

Saarinen House living room chairs. Photograph by James Haefner.

Social Distancing
We have reduced the frequency and size of our tours, one tour per house per day with groups of six persons per tour.

We have adjusted tour routes to help visitors maintain physical distancing.

Personal Protection
All staff and guests must wear face masks at all times. State law requires masks to be worn indoors and Center policy also requires masks to be worn outside. Guests will be asked to leave the tour if they are not wearing a mask.

Visitors can help us keep everyone safe by following physical distancing recommendations, practicing good personal hygiene, and following directions from Center staff.

Don’t feel well? Stay home. Visitors showing signs of illness will be asked to return at a later date.

Because of the dynamic nature of COVID-19, tour dates and hours of operation are subject to change. Please consult our website for the latest details before each visit.

If you have any questions reach out to us at center@cranbrook.edu. As we plan, evaluate, and implement changes we would love to hear your feedback and any suggestions to improve the visitor experience.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RISK

An inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present. COVID-19 is a contagious disease that can lead to severe illness and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, guests with underlying medical conditions are especially vulnerable. By visiting a Center-managed site, you voluntarily assume all risks related to COVID-19 exposure.

PRIVATE TOURS  

A limited number of Private Tours of Saarinen House are available May through October, with at least three weeks advance notice.

Private Tour Fees*
*There is a Minimum Private Tour Group Fee of $150
Adults and Seniors: $50
Students with ID: $25 

To inquire about the availability of a Private Tour, please call 248.645.3307 and leave a voicemail or email center@cranbrook.edu.

PHOTO CREDITS
Photography by James Haefner. Courtesy of Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research.

Registration for this event has closed.