A House for my Mother: Architects Build for their Families

Building a house for one's parents is a time-honored way for many architects to begin their careers, to showcase experimental ideas, or simply to honor the people who raised them. From these houses we can gain clearer insights about the designers' ideas on form, space, style, and place. These houses offer rich insight into the client-architect relationship, and they give elegant architectural expression to ideas about home, family, and childhood memories. A House for My Mother features 25 houses designed over the last 50 years by various architects for their mothers, fathers, in-laws, and extended families. Included are the well-known works of recognized designers as well as early works from promising young architects. Extensive interviews with the architects and their families reveal the joys and difficulties of these very personal commissions. The houses offer innovative and affordable designs, in a variety of styles and building materials, for homes ranging from city dwellings to beach houses and mountain retreats. As the architects were generally given broad control over the design, these homes showcase the ideas that characterize their work. The architects in this collection include Natalye Appel, Peter Bohlin, Walter Chatham, Charles Gwathmey, Steven Izenour, Donna Kacmar, Robert Kahn, Mark and Jean Larson, Joanna Lombard and Denis Hector, Robert Luchetti, Suzanne Martinson, Richard Meier, Charles Menefee, Mark Simon, Laurinda Spear and Bernardo Fort-Brescia, Robert Venturi, and Paul Westlake.