Philip Johnson's Glass House and Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth House are very similar, but their small differences are dramatic. Each is a glass box with... more »

Philip Johnson was one of the most well-known architects of the 20th century, but also one of the most controversial — he called himself a whore, and he was a proponent of architecture styles but abandoned them easily. The 47-acre estate for himself... more »

Charles and Ray Eames were two of the most influential designers of the 20th century, having produced a number of iconic pieces of furniture that most modern homes cannot be without. The husband and wife team did not limit themselves to furniture, though.... more »

Along with Frank Lloyd Wright, Finnish architect Alvar Aalto stands out for being a modern architect with a highly personal style that blends the historical and the contemporary. But unlike Wright, who was born less than a decade after the end of the... more »

Along with Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright, Walter Gropius (1883–1969) is considered one of the masters of modern architecture. His buildings are not as widely known as those of the other three architects, but his role as an educator... more »

In the 1920s Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, 1887–1965) developed his influential Five Points Toward a New Architecture through articles in the journal L'Esprit Nouveau and a series of residential commissions. These culminated in 1931... more »

The early 20th century was a time of architectural manifestos — see, for example, the De Stijl group's manifesto discussed in an ideabook on a previous Must-Know Modern Home, the Rietveld... more »

In November 1918 the De Stijl group, headed by artist Theo van Doesburg, published its first manifesto, eight points aimed at abandoning tradition in favor of the organic combination of architecture, sculpture and painting. The name De Stijl, which is... more »

The Frederick C. Robie House in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood is often considered the greatest example of Frank Lloyd Wright's Prairie-style homes. In the first decade of the 20th century, Wright developed his own approach to architecture that responded... more »

Wood. If one word comes to mind when considering the houses of brothers Charles and Henry Greene, it is "wood." They used lots of it, from the structure (beams and columns) to surfaces (walls, ceilings, floors) and even the furniture they designed. Yet... more »

Every holiday season the Oak Park, Illinois, home of Frank Lloyd Wright is decorated as it would have been in the early 20th century. Led by "junior... more »

In Caroline Rob Zaleski's book Long Island Modernism 1930-1980 (W. W. Norton, September 2012), the preservationist documents significant modern buildings — many of them residences — designed by 25 architects. The book is part of a larger project... more »

Sam Ferris and his siblings have a passion for protecting the house where they grew up, in Spokane, Washington. Now that their parents have passed away, the family has worked hard to get the house in tip-top shape, document it, share it and obtain landmark... more »

In 1888 the young Frank Lloyd Wright borrowed $5,000 from his boss, Louis Sullivan, to purchase a lot and build a home for his family in Oak Park, Illinois. As many architects before and after did, Wright used his house as a laboratory to explore architectural... more »