Ever since Thomas Jefferson built Monticello, American architects have used their own houses as laboratories, testing new ideas and putting a fresh spin on the old. To select the best of our own era, Michael Webb traveled coast to coast, talking with 150 architects, and looking for houses and apartments that respond creatively to the challenge of site, context, and budget. He chose 41 recent examples, and six modern classics. Together they demonstrate how rich is the idea of "house".