American Houses

While each architectural design firm has their own unique approach to their work, it is important to find a home architect that has architectural services that fit your needs. You need to be clear on your needs and goals when you are searching for the right architectural design company for your project. This way, you'll be sure to get the architectural services that you need. Some of the main questions you need to answer when looking for a residential architect include: do you need more space? What activities will go on in the new space? What is your budget for the project and how will it be financed? Will you be doing some of the work yourself? Once you have your questions answered and you know what you need and want, you can begin the process of choosing the right architectural services for your project.

Building Your List of Architecture Firms That Do Modern Design

Now you need to start building your list of architecture firms that can do the project you need. You can start by looking at the architectural design firms in your area that specialize in modern design. If you are seeking a residential architect (rather than building an office), search specifically for residential architects. Contact your local chamber of commerce for recommendations, speak to friends and relatives, or contact the American Institute of Architects. Any of these areas are great ways to find good architectural services for your project.

Custom Homes Architects or Residential Architects?

All custom homes architects are residential architects, but not all residential architects are custom homes architects. Some residential architects design homes for developments where none of the homes are custom - they are all the same.

Once you have a list of potential architecture firms that you want to interview, start at the top of your list and start interviewing. You should be able to tell right away if the chemistry is right between you and the architectural design firm that you are interviewing. This means that they should be able to answer all of your questions about modern home design, such as: luxury home plans, green design, minimalist architecture, and even postmodern architecture. If they cannot answer your questions to a degree that makes you feel comfortable with their architectural services, then they are not the architecture firm for you.

About the Author: Lydia. This informational article is provided to you by one of the most highly-regarded architecture firms in Asheville, NC: Carlton Architecture. Please visit their web site at Carltonarchitecture.com

Rendering of a new house in Orinda, California, a proyect of Ogrydziak/Prillinger architects. Has a 100´ long bar (Hundred Foot House) is for a young family moving from the city to the country, an essentially transparent house.




Maximize the exposure of the interior of the house. The first design decision was to elongate the primary program into a 16'-wide 100'-long bar, increasing the perimeter adjacent to the outside.

The exterior space penetrates the interior, and the procession from ouside-in-and-outside-again is monumentalized as a fully transparent slot, stitching the house into the landscape.

This house in Sarasota - FL, was a model home for a new development (1953) on Lido Key. It became an icon of mid-century modernism, the most recognized example of the Sarasota School of Architecture. Paul Rudolph architect. 2,000 sqft to explore modernism in a sub-tropical context.


Built before air conditioning, its north and south walls are constructed almost entirely of jalousies which open to allow breezes from the Gulf and Bay to cool the house. The house and pool were originally shaded from the intense Florida sun by a trellis structure, which quickly became known as the Umbrella. Take a look from the Umbrella House web site.

Below a video clip about a new Umbrella House concept in California.

Video on demand >

Existing 4000 square foot residence built in the 1970´s in Bird Key, Sarasota Bay, 1,700 square foot addition, redesign of the main entrance, enclosure of an existing terrace, addition of a second floor wing. From Seibert architects

This is the first Frank Lloyd Wright house in Los Angeles, 1921. Hollyhock House. Built between 1919 and 1921 for oil heiress Aline Barnsdall, is the Frank Lloyd Wright’s first project in Los Angeles.



Hollyhock House. Its namesake is abstracted and geometricized in much of the house’s design, including exterior walls and interior furniture.


Barnsdall Art Park, 4808 Hollywood Boulevard - Los Angeles, CA 90027

Sarasota in Tampa Bay is a nice place with great architecture. In this pics some old houses: Bungalow (1920), two-story Dutch Colonial and Midget house. From Flickr





More information: Sarasota School of Architecture