Top 10 favorite American houses

To celebrate their 150th anniversary, the American Institute of Architects put together a list of 150 favorite buildings of Americans. From that list we gleaned a top 10 buildings designed as family homes, the most admired American masterpieces of residential architecture.

1º-

Biltmore - Asheville, North Carolina
Architect: Richard Morris Hunt

Year built: 1895

For: George Washington Vanderbilt II

Design: French Renaissance Chateau style. It's the largest privately owned house in the United States. The grounds were designed by Frederic Law Olmsted, who also planned Central Park in New York.
2º-


Monticello - Charlottesville, Virginia
Architect: Thomas Jefferson

Year built: 1808

For: Thomas Jefferson

Design: Neoclassic with Palladian elements. Jefferson's design grew out of his political, religious and educational philosophies and his regard for all things classical.
3º-

Fallingwater - Bear Run, Pennsylvania
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

Year built: 1935

For: Edgar J. Kaufmann, a department store mogul

Design: International style. This summer home poised on top of a waterfall came later in Wright's career. It was named America's best all-time work of architecture by AIA members in 1991.
4º-

Taliesin - Spring Green, Wisconsin
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

Year built: 1911, rebuilt 1925

For: Frank Lloyd Wright

Design: Prairie. The residence wing was rebuilt after a tragic occurrence in 1914, when a servant set fire to the home and murdered Wright's mistress, her two children and four other people.
5º-

Hearst Castle - San Simeon, California
Architect: Julia Morgan

Year built: 1947

For: William Randolph Hearst

Design: Mediterranean revival. Morgan supervised construction on the 40,000 acre ranch for 28 years. Hearst constantly tinkered with the project and many structures were torn down and replaced on his say-so.
6º-

Gamble House - Pasadena, California
Architect: Charles Sumner Greene and Henry Mather Greene (Greene and Greene)

Year built: 1908

For: David B. Gamble of Procter & Gamble

Design: Arts and Crafts.This style is characterized by use of high quality materials and great craftsmanship. It was heavily influenced by Japanese esthetics.
7º-

Glessner House - Chicago, Illinois
Architect: Henry Hobson Richardson

Year built: 1887

For: John J. Glessner, an executive with International Harvester

Design: Blend of Romanesque and American colonial. Richardson used pink-gray granite and a muscular design, which he equated with the power and vigor of a growing, expanded nation.
8º-

Dana-Thomas House - Springfield, Illinois
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

Year built: 1904

For: Susan Lawrence Dana, an heiress

Design: Prairie. Wright marked his interiors with open spaces and low, horizontal lines. Reflecting the personality of its ebullient patron, the house was built to welcome guests in an expanding series of larger rooms.
9º-

Taliesin West - Scottsdale, Arizona
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

Year built: 1937 - 1959

For: Frank Lloyd Wright

Design: Organic, international. Wright built this as a home and school, using natural materials, such as boulders, and poured concrete.

10º-

Douglas House - Harbor Springs, Michigan
Architect: Richard Meier

Year built: 1973

For: James E. Douglas, a trucking company owner

Design: Modern. Built on the bluffs overlooking Lake Michigan, this is a prime example of early Richard Meier, who later designed the Getty Museum in Brentwood, California. The stark white and geometrical lines contrast with the surrounding, dark green pines.
Bye