The magnificent builders and their dream houses

Abstract

An architectural look at expensive private homes from the past and present and the motivations of their builders.

Contents

Rulers in search of glory: Louis XIV, Marie Antoinette, Henri Christophe, Philip II -- Kings for their pleasure: Hadrian, Diocletian, Ludwig II, George IV, Francis I -- Architects for themselves: Frank Lloyd Wright, Juan O'Gorman, Herbert Greene, Philip Johnson, Richard Foster, Paolo Soleri, John Soane -- Inspired women: Diane de Poitiers, Elizabeth Shrewsbury, Sarah Winchester, Sarah Churchill, Isabella Gardner -- Artists as builders: Mark Twain, Sir Walter Scott, William Gillette, Frederick Church, Peter Paul Rubens, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Horace Walpole -- Eastern potentates: Darius the Great, Shah Jahan, Maharana Jagat Singh, Ibn al-Ahmar -- Princely Americans: Thomas Jefferson, Haller Nutt, The Vanderbilt family, George Boldt, John Ringling, William Randolph Hearst.