The most beautiful American houses from the House & Garden archive
American houses have long held a particular appeal for House & Garden. Their scale, openness and easy relationship with the landscape often encourage a relaxed way of living, while also offering a rich backdrop for decoration. In this year’s House & Garden Top 101, several designers recognised for their work in Britain and beyond have also 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 glimpse of that 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.
Elsewhere, designers respond to very different landscapes and contexts. Veere Grenney’s barn-style holiday house on the Long Island coast reflects the ease of seaside living, while Stephanie Barba Mendoza creates a confident mix of mid-century, contemporary and neoclassical elements in a Miami house. In upstate New York, Rita Konig’s cottage for Deborah Needleman captures the warmth and informality that have become hallmarks of her interiors, and Remy Renzullo’s former Upper East Side apartment reveals a refined approach to layering history and decoration.
Together, these projects show how designers in the HG101 continue to shape memorable interiors on both sides of the Atlantic.
Ngoc Minh Ngo1/14Hugh 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 Ngo2/14Originally placed on the shady side of the house, the kitchen was moved by Hugh Leslie into the former dining room, improving both the light and the flow within the rebuilt Connecticut barn. 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 Upton3/14An 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 of Westminster and Pierre Frey fabrics surround a George III mahogany breakfast table.
Simon Upton4/14The basement, originally given over to service spaces, was completely reworked by architect Peter Pennoyer and decorated by Max Rollitt. 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 Raeside5/14Inside 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 Raeside6/14In 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-Vianna7/14Rita 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-Vianna8/14Rita 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 Allen9/14A 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 Allen10/14Veere 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 Moore11/14Remy 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 Moore12/14In 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 Touri13/14A 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 Touri14/14Extending 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.
