The most beautiful American houses from the House & Garden archive
American houses have long held a particular appeal for House & Garden. Whether they exude old world grandeur or contemporary cool, the sheer variety in scale and in the relationship with the landscape which often characterises American houses provides a rich backdrop for design and decoration. So as the United States celebrates its 250th birthday, we took a look at how the designers of the 2026 House & Garden Top 101 and Hall of Fame – who are recognised for their work in Britain and beyond – have left a distinctive mark on projects across the United States, bringing their sensibility to settings that range from coastal retreats to city apartments.
The houses featured here offer a just glimpse of that rich cultural exchange. Hugh Leslie transforms a rambling former barn in Connecticut into a characterful country retreat, while Nina Campbell brings her assured elegance to a house on the coast of Maine. In Massachusetts, Max Rollitt applies his instinctive understanding of architecture and antiques to a quietly atmospheric home, while in a Hamptons new-build inspired by Lutyens, Bryan O' Sullivan create a beautifully layered space.
Elsewhere, designers respond to very different landscapes and contexts. Design duo Salvesen Graham took on a historic home in Colorado primed for outdoor living, while Stephanie Barba Mendoza creates a confident mix of mid-century, contemporary and neoclassical elements in a Miami house. Veere Grenney’s barn-style holiday house on the Long Island coast reflects the ease of seaside living, while in upstate New York, Rita Konig’s cottage for Deborah Needleman captures the warmth and informality that have become hallmarks of her interiors. In the city, Remy Renzullo’s former Upper East Side apartment reveals a refined approach to layering history and decoration.
Together, these projects show the sheer diversity of style, taste and architecture that dot the vast landscape of the United States and how designers in the HG101 continue to shape memorable interiors on both sides of the Atlantic.
American houses designed by the HG 101 2026
Ngoc Minh Ngo1/22Hugh Leslie brings order and beauty to a ramshackle former barn in Connecticut
After moving from London to New York with their three children, an American couple bought a ramshackle barn on a 50-acre property in rural Connecticut as an escape from the city. Rebuilt within its original footprint by Hugh Leslie with architect Oliver Cope, the house combines careful craftsmanship with pieces sourced in Britain. In the dining room, oak beams and panelling frame a Cox London chandelier above a bleached walnut table with Kaare Klint-style chairs in Le Manach fabrics, while a Max Ernst painting, ceramics by Kate Malone and Nicola Tassie and a carpet from Afridi Gallery add layers of character.
Ngoc Minh Ngo2/22Originally placed on the shady side of the house, the kitchen was moved by Hugh into the formal dining room, improving both the light and the flow within the rebuilt barn in Litchfield County. An island painted in Benjamin Moore’s ‘Dragonfly’ with a teak worktop sits beneath a Hector Finch light and Howe’s ‘Camembert’ stools, while mosaic tiles and a cabinet in Farrow & Ball’s ‘Oval Room Blue’ bring colour to the walls.
Simon Upton3/22An extraordinary Massachusetts house sympathetically decorated by Max Rollitt
Perched on a hilltop by the sea in the Massachusetts countryside, this extraordinary house, built in 1912 in the elaborate American Renaissance style, was sympathetically decorated for its current owners by Max Rollitt. In this sitting room, a glazed sliding door leads to the adjoining music room, the two spaces unified by curtains in the same Claremont silk. Fauteuils upholstered in Watts 1874 and Pierre Frey fabrics surround a George III mahogany breakfast table.
Simon Upton4/22The basement, originally given over to service spaces, was completely reworked by architect Peter Pennoyer and decorated by Max. In the kitchen, units painted in a deep green mixed especially by Max are paired with woodwork in Farrow & Ball’s ‘India Yellow’, while white tiles were made to match the original glazed brickwork of the nearby cold room.
Paul Raeside5/22Inside an elegant Maine house by our Lifetime Achievement award winner Nina Campbell
On the coast of Maine, a house that began as a modest cottage at the turn of the twentieth century has grown over generations into a much-loved summer retreat for the same family. Nina Campbell’s decoration embraces the easy rhythm of seaside living, with the porch acting as a natural extension of the interiors. Leading from both the sitting room and the dining room and slightly widened during the renovation, it is furnished with the clients’ octagonal centre table, repainted by Nina’s team, and lit by wall lights from Niermann Weeks.
Paul Raeside6/22In the same spirit of lightness, Nina Campbell conceived this striking bathroom with a playful nod to the house’s seaside setting. A bathtub fitted with a pair of portholes from the Water Monopoly, the London specialist in Victorian and Edwardian bathrooms, gives the space a gently nautical character.
Miguel Flores-Vianna7/22Rita Konig's design for Deborah Needleman's upstate New York cottage
In this late-18th-century Dutch Colonial house in the Hudson Valley, Deborah Needleman and her husband have shaped the interiors slowly over many years, later refining them with the help of Rita Konig. Known for her instinctive, quietly layered approach to decoration, Rita helped bring greater cohesion to the rooms. In the summer sitting room, a desk that once belonged to Bunny Mellon sits against walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s Slipper Satin, a space that captures the house’s relaxed, deeply personal character.
Miguel Flores-Vianna8/22Rita brought the same relaxed sense of layering to the primary bedroom. A vintage coverlet from Paula Rubenstein hangs behind the Charles H. Beckley headboard, while a sofa upholstered in a Nina Campbell fabric and a bed dressed in D. Porthault linens with a hand-loomed blanket by A Little Weather contribute to the quietly eclectic character of Deborah Needleman’s utterly charming home.
Lucas Allen9/22A barn-style holiday house on the Long Island coast with luxurious interiors by Veere Grenney
In this barn-style holiday house overlooking the sea on Long Island, Veere Grenney conceived interiors that capture the languid mood of long summer days by the coast. In the soaring living space, stainless-steel cross-bracing lightens the timber roof structure, forming an elegant armature above the sitting area, while a glassed-in study hovers among the rafters.
Lucas Allen10/22Veere carried his quietly luxurious approach into the primary bedroom, combining custom pieces with carefully chosen classics. The bed is his design, paired with bedside tables by the British furniture designer Terence Robsjohn-Gibbings, while a Giò Ponti chair sits beside a standard lamp from FontanaArte.
Derry Moore11/22Remy Renzullo lays claim to an old-world Upper East Side apartment
In a Beaux Arts building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, decorator Remy Renzullo has made his home in what was once part of a grand Gilded Age-style salon. Though the space was long ago divided into apartments, its lofty ceilings and stained glass still evoke the building’s past. Renzullo has embraced the room’s theatrical character, painting the walls in ‘Etruscan Red’ and filling the living and dining area with a personal mix of heirlooms and auction finds.
Derry Moore12/22In the bedroom, Remy continues the layered approach that defines the rest of the apartment, mixing storied pieces with family heirlooms. An antique quilt that once belonged to Lauren Bacall hangs above his antique English bed, while a Tiffany lamp from his mother’s collection casts a warm glow over the space.
Claudia Uribe Touri13/22A Miami masterclass in indoor-outdoor living by Stephanie Barba Mendoza
In this house in Miami’s Coconut Grove, Stephanie Barba Mendoza designed the living spaces to embrace the city’s effortless indoor–outdoor way of life, softening the home’s sharp architecture with warmth and texture. In the living area, the ‘Sennen’ sofa from Sedilia in bouclé sits beside a Milo Baughman swivel armchair found on 1stDibs, while a window bench and ottoman designed by Stephanie’s studio – the former with solid brass feet and Le Manach fabric, the latter upholstered in a Lawren Hwang textile via Miles with glossy ball feet by Orior – anchor the room’s relaxed yet polished atmosphere.
Claudia Uribe Touri14/22Extending the house’s easy dialogue between indoors and out, the pool terrace continues Stephanie’s relaxed, sun-soaked scheme. Sun loungers by Janus et Cie in turquoise and coral stripes sit beneath a pink-and-white striped parasol from Business & Pleasure, while a playful reconstituted stone side table from Mecox, shaped like a draped tablecloth, adds a lighthearted note beside the pool.
Simon Brown15/22Inside a British expat’s comfortable Colorado house revitalised by Salvesen Graham
In this historic home in Boulder, Colorado, Salvesen Graham designed the spaces to make them fit for family life while respecting house's listed status. They built robust joinery in the entrance hall to provide the family with storage for coats and shoes and offset the orange undertones of the original wood floors and mouldings by using Farrow & Ball’s Olive, a calming, soft green, for the walls.
16/22The client, a British expat who had recently moved from to Colorado from California was homesick for window treatments. Mary and Nicole, known for their thoughtfully layered and quintessentially English interiors, responded with careful consideration of every window, dressing them in pleated floor-to-ceiling drapes, and neatly folding Roman blinds. Even in the primary suite, a ruffled valance and curtain surrounds the headboard. In the sitting room, pictured here, the curtains and blinds feature Soane Britain’s ‘Qajar stripe’ fabric.
17/22A beautifully layered Hamptons home inspired by the style of the legendary British architect, Sir Edwin Lutyens
This newly-built Hamptons home nestled on five acres near the coast is blessed with high ceilings and well-proportioned rooms made for entertaining. Bryan O'Sullivan delivered classic elegance and youthful whimsy in equal measure. One room hosts a cocktail bar enveloped in crimson brocatelle fabric, with a swooping velvet banquette to match. In the living room, two custom circular sofas make a statement.
18/22The dining room, and adjacent living room, have been clad in wood paneling painted with a geometric mural by Marisa Redondo and open into a sunlit orangery-style gallery. Bryan designed a wooden table with an elegant fluted base and chairs upholstered in rosy-taupe tweed. The Serin pendants hanging above are from his own lighting collection.
Ngoc Minh Ngo19/222026 Hall of Fame inductee David Bentheim brings a sense of permanence and harmony to this Californian new-build
The clients originally planned to build a Spanish Colonial Revival style house in Palo Alto before David persuaded them to construct something a little more European. With its terracotta roof and white exterior, and arched doorways and beams inside, the house was infused with the Iberian vernacular, with which David, owning a villa in Mallorca, was quite familiar.
Ngoc Minh Ngo20/22A shopping trip to Morocco inspired the approach the house takes to colour and pattern. A stop at Popham Design in Marrakech unearthed an eclectic range of floor tiles featuring vintage David Hicks designs, which have now been jumbled up in a striking, graphic way in the dining room. Similarly, in the son's bedroom blocks of wood were stained in a variety of colours before being laid in a parquet style for a rustic, motley effect. The aim throughout was to soften the modern with a been-there-forever charm and the result is a charming balance of old and new.
Andrew Wood21/22From the archive: Hall of Fame inductee Nicky Haslam conjures up 18th-century grandeur in the old quarter of New Orleans (2000)
Nicky Haslam describes the eighteenth century as having been his ‘watchword’ when designing this home in New Orleans. The mix of European nationalities drawn to the city also served as inspiration. Wallpaper came from Germany, French ironwork influenced the balustrades and Russia was represented in the small, book-lined library-cum-dining room, its ceiling painted with clouds and its narrow columns based on those taken from the tsar's bedroom at the Catherine Palace.
Andrew Wood22/22In the primary bedroom, bed hangings and wall hangings are made from the same fabric, a hand-printed cotton by Georges LaManach, used reversed on the walls. This was an idea borrowed from Swedish interior design. The effect of Nicky's mix of European influences and nod to the 18th century is a house that is a visual delight, full of a relaxed lived-in glamour and grandeur.
