The house that sits behind the conservatory at Matthaei Botanical Gardens has all the trappings of a modern home: Stainless steel appliances, pendant lights, a mudroom at the front entrance and breakfast bar for informal eating that separates the kitchen from the dining room.
But with an aluminum skin that reflects the last rays of summer, a blanket of solar panels that wraps the exterior, a curved ceiling that distributes light evenly and two yellow doors that stand like sentinels, this modular concept house is anything but typical.