What’s it like to live in Mies van der Rohe’s historic Lafayette Park? That’s the question we were seeking to answer when we visited the enclave back in 2009. To celebrate our 25th anniversary this year, we’re resurfacing some of our favorite homes from our archive, like Keira and Toby’s. – High rise superblocks and identical clusters of row houses set apart from the urban grid have been much maligned as some of the major wrongdoings of modernism, but Detroit’s Lafayette Park—the first urban-renewal project in the United States—tells a vastly different story. Within a sprawling, decentralized city that has suffered serious decline, the enclave has not only aged gracefully but flourishes with life. When we visited them in 2009, residents Keira Alexandra and Toby Barlow were two of Lafayette Park’s (and downtown Detroit’s) most fervent supporters. Within the minimal shell of Mies van der Rohe’s design, the eclecticism and vibrancy of the couple’s renovated home is apparent. Hand-me-down ...