What Are America’s Most Iconic Homes?
According to the National Building Museum, these houses, more than most, have impacted the way we live
- By Megan Gambino
- Smithsonian.com, April 27, 2012
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(Model by Studios Eichbaum + Arnold, 2008. Photo by Museum staff.)
Sea Ranch, Condominium One
Sea Ranch is community of homes on 10 miles of Sonoma County coastline in northern California. Organized in clusters, the structures, begun in the 1960s, were built with a particular awareness to their environment. Their roofs are sloped for strong ocean winds to sweep over them and their wood siding is unpainted and naturally weathered. Any landscaping is restricted to native species.
“It runs counter to the idea that houses have to be individual, or on their own property. This had an enormous impact,” says Mellins. “The very dramatic geometries of the roofs become a kind of signature of vacation houses across the country.”
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Comments (4)
Ah, the East coast bias. California's Sea Ranch influenced nothing. The Greene and Greene houses set the standard for the style that would be come a "California Craftsman" home. Individual G&G homes may be hard to put on the list, but they are neither less deserving nor less iconic than those on the list. Look only to the Robert R. Blacker house ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_R._Blacker_House ) or the Gamble house ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamble_House_(Pasadena,_California) ) for examples. Indeed, the Gamble house is a public museum, and one of the best examples of the style, form, methods, and techniques that would come to define West coast style for the next century beyond its construction. How many houses on this list can say the same? --Thom
Posted by Thomas on May 15,2012 | 01:18 AM
Agree with most on the list but Richard Morris Hunt's contributions with the Vanderbilt's "Biltmore" in Ashville, N.C. or "The Breakers" in Newport, R.I. can hardly be ignored. Probably America's first most influential but if not tragically passed-over architects Benjamin Latrobe's "Decatur House" in Washington, D.C. was home to many powerful early American lawmakers. Julia Morgan's "San Simeon" also known as Hearst Castle could also stand shoulder to shoulder with Vizcaya!
Posted by Marc Legris on May 10,2012 | 07:56 PM
Um, I think you missed Falling Water in the list, Arline.
Posted by PTBoat on May 7,2012 | 10:09 AM
I don't disagree that these homes are quite iconic and impressive, but I cannot fathom a list of iconic homes not including one of the Frank Lloyd Wright homes. Maybe not as old or as big, but certainly one of the, if not The most iconic of homes.
Posted by Arline Esposito on May 3,2012 | 06:12 PM