Saarinen House Tour

Sunday, June 13th 3:00pm - 4:15pm
Cranbrook Art Museum
39221 Woodward Avenue
Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304

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

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

About Saarinen House

 

An Art Deco masterpiece, Saarinen House is the jewel of Cranbrook’s architectural treasures. From 1930 through 1950, Saarinen House served as the home and studio of the Finnish-American designers Eliel Saarinen—Cranbrook’s first resident architect and Cranbrook Academy of Art’s first president—and Loja Saarinen—the Academy’s first head of the Weaving Department and director of Studio Loja Saarinen. 

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 the main bebroom suite. Learn more about the house and its history on the main Saarinen House page.

 

Advance ticket sales for each weekend close Friday at 10:00am Eastern Time. Tours regularly sell out. Tickets must be purchased online and cannot be purchased at the house. 

Spend the day in Bloomfield Hills and plan a visit to the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Smith House and Saarinen House. 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 scheduled through August 29, 2021, are currently limited to 6 guests, with the possibility of increasing tour sizes based on statewide progress combating the COVID-19 pandemic.  If tour sizes are increased, the information will be noted on the main Saarinen House page. If the tour sizes increase after you have purchased your ticket, you will be notified to confirm your participation. Tours through August 29, 2021, will not surpass 10 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 rugs 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.

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.

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

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.