I think I actually just died for a split second when I saw this house.. I would happily suggest you pay particular attention to the fact that in the third picture there truly is a classic picturesque boat sailing past. How can this be real? From freshome:
In 1961, the Boston Architect Henry Wood purchased this amazing island mansion with his wife for only $3,600 on Rhode Island’s Narragansett Bay. Today, the Clingstone House (designed by J.S. Lovering Wharton with artist William Trost Richards) is a warm all-wood home with a 360-degree view of the ocean. Three stories tall, the Clingstone House has a large center hall, ten bedrooms and total of twenty-three rooms total. It would be hard to find a deal like this on today’s market for that little money, despite the fact that the salt and water-wear from the surrounding ocean on the oak beams would make maintenance of this spectacular mansion ridiculously expensive. But hey, you do what you have to do to live in your own version of paradise!
Visual Acoustics looks like a wonderful visual treat full of breathtaking modernist architecture as photographed by Julius Schulman. Can’t wait for this film.
Ooh, The Eichlers! Such delicious morsels of Modern real estate greatness.
Joseph Eichler (1900 - 1974) was a California-based, post-war residential real estate developer known for building homes in the Modernist style.
Unlike many developers of the day, Joseph Eichler was a social visionary and commissioned designs primarily for middle-class Americans.
He hired the respected architect and Wright disciple Robert Anshen of Anshen & Allen to design the initial Eichlers, and the first prototypes were built in 1949. In later years, other Eichler homes by other architects emerged, including homes designed by the San Francisco firm Claude Oakland & Associates, the Los Angeles firm of Jones & Emmons, A. Quincy Jones, and Raphael Soriano. — Wikipedia
These stunning photographs are all Copyright © 2009 Hirofumi Inaba. Visit his website for more gorgeous architectural photography.
Original tipoff via @ilovetypography, via @typegirl on Twitter.
I was just watching the BBC’s Dan Cruickshank’s Adventures in Architecture. He visited the 18th Century Baroque style Catherine’s Palace which is just so beautiful, I wanted to see more and share! 
St. Petersburg Guide
the gray monk
The famed ‘Amber Room’, a replica of the original which was destroyed during WWII. In 1979, the Soviet government initiated the reconstruction of this Amber Room which was unveiled in 2003. Six tons of amber were used. flickr: sgmerie
Catherine’s innovative art arrangement. flickr: jimg944
I saw the amazing Villa 1 whilst flicking through Dwell magazine this morning (last month’s, of course - paying for the latest air freight issue here in Australia always seems slightly beyond reason). It’s set in the most breathtaking woodlands in Holland, and a majorly impressive feature is the beam bookcase that is erected as part of the structure itself. From their website:
Set in the woodlands of Holland, the program of Villa 1 is oriented optimal towards the views on the terrain and the sun. Half of the program is pushed below ground to meet local zoning regulations. This creates a clear dichotomy in the spatial experience of the house - a glass box ground floor where all mass is concentrated in furniture elements and a ‘medieval’ basement, where the spaces are carved out of the mass.
Some of the other images are just gorgeous so it’s well worth popping over and browsing through them all.
