Architectural Record, the premier architectural journal in America, has a devoted following among architects, designers, and the general public. Drawing from the roster of award-winning houses that have been featured each year in Record Houses, the magazine's popular and prestigious "best of" annual issue, this book showcases the most innovative residential architecture of the past four decades, touching on many groundbreaking achievements along the way. Professionals and laypeople alike, and especially anyone who lives in - or dreams of living in - an architect-designed house, will be captivated by this array of spectacular houses. Here are many of the most loved, most debated, and most influential American houses of the last forty years. Among the highlights are important works by Richard Meier, Philip Johnson, Paul Rudolph, Charles Moore, Gwathmey Siegel & Associates, John Lautner, Antoine Predock, Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown, Duany and Plater-Zyberk, Frank Gehry, Franklin D. Israel, Fernau and Hartman, and many others. . An introduction by Clifford A. Pearson, an editor of Architectural Record, and essays by noted critics Thomas Hine, Robert Campbell, Suzanne Stephens, and Charles Gandee provide illuminating commentary on developments and trends in house design from the 1950s to the present. Each decade is represented by a stunning portfolio of houses, comprising a total of more than 200 superb photographs and numerous plans and drawings culled from the pages of Architectural Record. Inspiring and informative, this book chronicles a fascinating period in American architecture.