Women and the Making of the Modern House

Hardcover monograph Women and the Making of the Modern House: A Social and Architectural History by Alice T. Friedman. Published in 1998. First edition, 240 pages. This important study presents a new perspective on iconic 20th-century houses—from the Farnsworth House and Villa Stein-de-Monzie to the Vanna Venturi House—through the lens of the women who commissioned them. Historian Alice T. Friedman explores how unconventional ideas about domesticity and independence shaped modern residential architecture. Based on personal correspondence, archival photographs, and design sketches, the book brings to life the deeply collaborative relationships between client and architect, and the political and social impact of the homes they built. “Featuring 140 illustrations, including 30 in full color, this richly researched volume connects architecture to biography, design history to gender politics. A foundational reference on the role of women in the making of modernism.”