82 Distinctive Houses from Architectural Record

"The evolution, or perhaps revolution, which has been occurring in American house design is mirrored in this book. Here is inscribed the work of many of our leading residential architects, a coast-to-coast sampling that conveys, I believe, a significant picture of contemporary work. The best of our modern houses are rarely seen from highways of trafficked streets. There is more good modern than most of us realize because so much is deliberately screened from public view. This collection serves a useful purpose by bringing together as it does so many significant examples of good modern work. In this collection of houses selected for publication in Architectural Record over the past five years, no attempt has been made to prove a "trend" or a "movement" in American home planning or design. Yet it must be apparent that significant change has occurred. Comparison with a similar collection of as late as ten years ago would show a vigorous --- perhaps startling --- progression in design, planning, and in the basic concept of modern living as served by construction techniques. These houses show, it seems to me, a greater appreciation by architects of the hospitality of the out-of-doors. While providing the mechanical equipment, services, and comforts Americans value so highly, they also seem to place the family in much more direct everyday contact with nature, its trees, sunshine, and changing seasons. These houses are more direct, simple, and nature..." (from introduction by Joseph B. Mason, Executive Editor, Architectural Record [Signed])