Modern houses photos, Modernist homes architects, 20C property images, Famous residential designs
Modern Houses – 20th Century Homes
20th Century Home Images, Examples of key Properties & Discussion on Modernist Housing Design
post updated 8 May 2024
Modern Houses Introduction
Modern Architecture became linked to a certain genre of building and thus over time wasn’t really ‘modern’ anymore. Thus Modern Houses (or Modernist Houses) suggests a certain style, not simply a ‘contemporary’ or ‘current’ construction.
Modern Architecture was associated with some great architects and some powerful countries and companies. It became the equivalent of the Classical Style in the Georgian period, ie the establishment architecture, the status quo. Since the seventies architecture styles have become more fractured and we have – amongst what could be termed contemporary architects – post-modernists, neo-modernists, deconstructivists, contextualists, expressionists and so on.
Modern American Houses – post from March 17, 2016
Further down this page we list classic Modern Houses by major architects, including Le Corbusier, Mies Van der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright, Alvar Aalto, Pierre Chareau, Adolf Loos, etc.
Famous Modern Houses
Philip Johnson Glass House, New Canaan, Connecticut, USA
photograph : Simon Garcia | arqfoto.com
Philip Johnson Glass House – various news updates
The Glass House was the start of Philip Johnson’s fifty-year odyssey of architectural experimentation in forms, materials, and ideas, through the addition of other structures. Today, The Glass House is still one of the most popular architectural attractions in Fairfield County Connecticut.
February 15, 2025
Modernique Home Mar Vista, West Los Angeles County, Southern California, USA
Architects: Gregory Ain
June 29, 2024
Topanga Skyline Studio, Los Angeles, California, USA
March 25, 2024
Case Study House 18, Pacific Palisades, California, USA
Architect: Rodney Walker
photo : Jimm Simmons
Case Study House 18, Pacific Palisades, LA
Los Angeles loves its mid-century modern homes. Starting in 1945, Arts and Architecture magazine sponsored some of the modern movement’s most famous architects, including Richard Neutra, A. Quincy Jones and Pierre Koenig, to create a series of home designs that could be easily replicated for the postwar housing boom.
November 3, 2023
Gordon & Hildred Goetschel House, Glendale, California, USA
Design: Ray Kappe FAIA
photo : Cameron Carothers
Gordon & Hildred Goetschel House Glendale
This 20th Century Southern California property has been meticulously restored by HabHouse, known for their sensitive rehabilitations of architectural treasures, preserving original details and revitalizing the pool with modern amenities.
September 15, 2023
Bronwood Home Remodel – hilltop mid-century modern home in Los Angeles, California, USA
Architecture: Blue Truck Studio
August 31, 2023
Harry Gesner’s Sandcastle Malibu Beach Home, Los Angeles, California, USA
Architects: Harry Gesner
July 23, 2023
Pasadena Mid-Century Home, Pasadena, California, USA
Architects: A. Quincy Jones
photo courtesy of Concierge Auctions
Pasadena Mid-Century Home Pasadena
One of the busiest architects of America’s mid-century modern school, A. Quincy Jones designed over 5,000 structures. He elevated the tract house in California from a simple stucco box to a carefully designed home integrated into the natural landscape.
Sep 7, 2022
Koenig Beach House, Malibu, Los Angeles, Southern California, USA
photo by Simon Berlyn, Courtesy The Agency
Koenig Beach House, Malibu
One of the world’s most famous mid-century modern architects, the University of Southern California’s distinguished professor, Pierre Koenig, got his bachelors from USC’s School of Architecture and went on to teach at the venerable institution for forty years.
Apr 15, 2022
Charles Du Bois Home, Palm Springs, Southern California, USA
photo Courtesy of The Agency
Mid-Century Modern Home Palm Springs California
Southeast of Los Angeles and northeast of San Diego, the desert oasis of Palm Springs has been a fashionable resort town since the early 1900s but experienced a modern architectural boom following World War II. Reflecting the optimism of the atomic age, the Mid-Century Modernist school of architecture is known for clean lines, geometric shapes, and functional materials with an emphasis on steel, glass, and concrete.
Mar 8, 2022
Richard Neutra Hilltop Home, Tujunga, Southern California, USA
Design: Richard Neutra
photo : Cameron Carothers
Richard Neutra Hilltop Home, Tujunga L.A.
Richard Neutra was one of America’s most important modern architects from the 1920s to the 1960s designing famous homes such as the Kaufmann Desert House in Palm Springs for Edgar J. Kaufmann (who also commissioned Fallingwater in Pennsylvania), the Julian Bond House in San Diego, and the Kronish House in Beverly Hills.
Major Modern Homes
Globally-important 20th Century Residences in approximate order of importance:
Villa Savoye, France : pictures of key Corbusier residence
Design: Le Corbusier
photo © Isabelle Lomholt
Villa Savoye – famous Modern House, in France
The house demonstrates the ‘Five Points’ that Corb placed central to his work, briefly piloti, fenetre longeur, free plan, active roof space and free facade. He was very focused on proportion of mass and space and keen to meld lessons from Classical architecture with modern technology exploited in cars, ships and planes.
Farnsworth House, Plano, Illinois, USA
Design: Mies van der Rohe architect
photo by Carol M. Highsmith, courtesy wikimedia commons
Farnsworth House
Tugendhat Villa, Brno, Czech Republic
Design: Mies van der Rohe architect
photo from architects
Tugendhat Villa Brno
Villa Müller, Prague, Czech Republic
Design: Adolf Loos architect
photograph : Martin Polak
Villa Müller Prague
High & Over, Buckinghamshire, England, UK : English 1930s house design
Dates built: 1929 – 1931
Design: Amyas Connell architect
photo : Morley von Sternberg
High and Over house – one of the first Modern houses in England
The design evolved as a Y-shaped plan to optimise views and sunlight for the property. There were no modern houses of quality in England at the time, but the architect had toured Europe and was aware of developments there.
Maison Louis Carré, Bazoches-sur-Guyonne, France
Dates built: 1956-1959/63
Design: Alvar Aalto architect
photograph © Martti Karpanen, Alvar Aalto Museum
Maison Louis Carré
In 1959, the French art dealer and collector Louis Carré moved with his third wife Olga into the house designed by Alvar Aalto about 40 km southwest of Paris. Combining architecture, furniture and landscape, Maison Louis Carré is the architect’s only remaining building in France and one of his most remarkable private houses.
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Dec 15, 2020
House of Tomorrow – Elvis Presley’s Honeymoon Home, Palm Springs, Southern California, USA
photo : Rodeo Realty
House of Tomorrow, Palm Springs
Jan 30, 2020
The Butterfly and the Dodecagon Residence, Southern California, USA
Design: Scrafano Architects
photograph : Catherine Tighe
The Butterfly and the Dodecagon Residence in L.A.
This is a mid-century modern residence, originally one-story and built in 1960, is located high in the hills overlooking the city of Los Angeles.
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Modernist Houses – Recent Home Additions
May 10, 2017
Midcentury Modern House, San Carlos, California, USA
Design: Klopf Architecture
photo © Mariko Reed
Midcentury Modern House
The previous owner of this 1960s modern home covered over the walls of glass with plywood and installed a massive awning at the rear of the house, blocking out most light and connection with the outdoors. The original interior had a maze-like layout starting with a small entry area and moving into too many hallways.
Jan 15, 2016
Norman Lykes Home, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
Design: Frank Lloyd Wright
Date built: 1959-67
image : Wikimedia Commons
Norman Lykes Home Phoenix
This curvaceous 20th Century Arizona residence is a good example of the architect’s late-career style, exemplified by the David and Gladys Wright home. The asking price is $3.6 million, and includes the original furniture.
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20th Century Homes – Modernist Housing
20th Century Homes – older posts from e-architect, some absolute Modernist housing classics featured!
Apr 20, 2012
Martin House Complex, Buffalo, New York, USA
Design: Frank Lloyd Wright
photograph : Biff Henrich / courtesy MHRC
Martin House Complex Buffalo
This is viewed as the most substantial and highly developed of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie houses in the Eastern United States – the property has National Historic Landmark status.
18 Nov 2011
Capel Manor House Guest Pavilion, Kent, England, UK
Design: Ewan Cameron Architects
image from architects
Capel Manor House
The brief was to design a guest pavilion comprising 2 bedroom suites that would sit adjacent to an Italianate orangery from 1860, on the grounds of Capel Manor House, an iconic modernist pavilion designed by Michael Manser in the late 1960s.
Jul 26, 2011
Houses of Sagaponac, Long Island, New York, USA
Bachman Wilson House, NJ designed by celebrated American architect Frank Lloyd Wright:
photo from Brown Harris Stevens
Houses of Sagaponac
Luxury real estate firm Brown Harris Stevens announces “Houses of Sagaponac,” a modernist residential development. This US residential project features a series of houses created by internationally recognized architects who were given the directive to achieve design excellence and push the envelope of contemporary architecture resulting in a community by and for thinking people.
12 Jun 2011
Villa La Roche, Paris, France
Date built: 1925
Design: Le Corbusier + Pierre Jeanneret
photo © Karavan
Villa La Roche : Le Corbusier design
This Modernist city home was designed for a Swiss banker and art collector: it is a good example of Le Corbusier’s architecture. The entire building is an art gallery, an ‘architectural promenade’ – a theme inspired by Le Corbusier’s visit to the Acropolis in 1911.
May 2011
Miller House, Columbus, Indiana, USA – opens to public
Design: Eero Saarinen
photo Courtesy of the Indianapolis Museum of Art
Miller House Columbus : Eero Saarinen design
Miller House is one of the country’s most highly-regarded examples of mid-century Modernist residences and was designed by Eero Saarinen, with interiors by Alexander Girard, and landscape design by Dan Kiley. Members of the Miller family donated the house and gardens, along with many of its original furnishings, to the Museum.
Modern houses often feature sleek, minimalist designs that blend functionality with aesthetic appeal, and a well-constructed deck is a key element in extending the living space outdoors. You may check the Deck Builders in Toronto on how they specialize in creating custom decks that complement these contemporary homes, using advanced materials like composite decking.
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Modern Houses Selection
This property is a bit different from most on ths page, in that it is not a private house, nor is it in the pre-dominant International Style:
Casa Mila, Barcelona, Catalonia, north east Spain
design by Antoni Gaudí, Architect
photo © Adrian Welch
Casa Mila La Pedrera
20th Century Homes Selection
Arango Residence, Acapulco, Mexico
design by John Lautner architect
photo : Sara Sackner
Arango Residence
Zimmerman House, Manchester, New Hampshire, USA
One of many Modern houses by Frank Lloyd Wright
picture © Adrian Welch
Zimmerman House
Frognal Road House, Hampstead, North London, England, UK
design by Max Fry Architect
picture © Nick Weall
Frognal Road House
Photos only, no links to pages:
Beckhard House, Glen Cove, USA
design by Herbert Beckhard
photo K. Wheeler
Rebhuhn House, Glen Cove, USA
design by Frank Lloyd Wright
photo : Erik H. Neil
The Rink, Gifford, East Lothian, Scotland
Design: Campbell & Arnott Architects
picture from houseowner
Lismhor House, Edinburgh, Scotland
Design: Kininmonth & Basil Spence
More Modern houses online soon.
Modern House : Key architects + titles of some Classic Modern Houses.
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Modernist Housing Design
New House Designs : contemporary houses as opposed to simply 20th century property
World Architects – principal designers:
Marcel Breuer, Le Corbusier, Antoni Gaudi, Arne Jacobsen, Philip Johnson, Edwin Lutyens, Rennie Mackintosh, Richard Meier, Jorn Utzon, Mies Van der Rohe
Comments on the Modern Houses page welcome : info(at)e-architect.com
Prague Modern Buildings – Modernist house by architect Mart Stam:
Modern Houses – No Images
Maison de Verre, Paris, France
Date built: 1932
Design: Pierre Chareau, Architect
Maison de Verre : aka Maison Dalsace / House of Glass – this Modern house appears in most key books on the History of Architecture
This page is about ‘Modern Houses’, not simply ‘Contemporary Houses’ or ‘Current Houses’. However, below are selected contemporary buildings (these now appear in full on the New Houses page).
More Modernist houses online soon
Modern Cambridge Houses, England, UK
photograph © AW
Cambridge House – for more properties
European Modern Houses
Personal Note from the e-architect Editor:
My visit to Aalto’s Villa Mairea, finding the owners of the house were on holiday (shown round by the gardener) on a scholarship to study Modern Finnish Architecture in 2001 at the age of 19, has to be the highlight of my years as an architecture student.
Later, whilst working for Eva Jiricna Architects a group of us visited the office’s work in Brno and to see one of Mies van der Rohe’s best houses, the Tugendhat Villa. Mies designed many houses earlier in his career whilst in Europe. The Tugendhat Villa is one of the best modern houses I’ve visited. Adrian Welch, Architect
Architectural Designs
How to become an architect in UK
Major Architects + Titles of some Classic Modern Houses – property additions welcome
1960’s Modern House, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
Design: Jamison Architects
60s Modern House on Gold Coast
‘60s Modern’ is a renovation project. It is the upper unit of an original early 1980s duplex building.
Martini House in Palm Springs, Modern Home
Modern Hollywood Hills House
Design: Mutuus Studio
Modern Hollywood Hills House
An unusual 20th Century property design in Barcelona:
Casa Batllo, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain
A celebrated Catalan house by Antoni Gaudí architect
Casa Batllo
Modern Houses in British Columbia, Canada
Buildings / photos for the Modern Houses – 20th Century Properties page welcome.