An architect of exceptional vision, whose work is still relevant today, Bertram Grosvenor Goodhue (1869-1924) died at a crucial moment, when he was severing his ties to traditionalism and establishing himself as the leader of a new architectural style.

This book enlarges our understanding of Goodhue - neither fully researched nor justly appreciated until now - by examining his residential designs within the framework of his better-known ecclesiastical and secular projects. At the same time it takes a closer look at the man behind the drawing board.

Covered here are twenty built and six unbuilt houses that provide new insight into the evolution of Goodhue's architecture during the thirty-three-year period of his remarkable career. Although these projects made up only a small portion of his total work, they are rich in architectural expression. Goodhue's residential clients provided him with the opportunity to experiment with various interpretations of historical styles, to realize some of his romantic dreams, to put into practice the goals of the Arts and Crafts Movement, and to advance his search for stylistic freedom. By examining his domestic work, we see that many of his experiments found fuller expression in his secular commissions: for example, Waldron Gillespie's California estate was the proving ground for a Persian landscaping scheme that became Goodhue's signature in several civic and educational projects. Goodhue's residential portfolio also provides a unique glimpse of life in the early twentieth century, the era of the great industrialists and their grand estates.