37 Historic Homes And Objects Proving They Really Don’t Design Them Like They Used To
Somewhere along the way, we all agreed that homes should look like waiting rooms. Grey walls, grey couches, grey laminate floors — an endless sea of “greige” punctuated by the occasional word-art sign telling me to Live, Laugh, Love.
I’m sorry, but I refuse.
Because I’ve seen what we’re capable of. I’ve seen hand-carved staircases that took craftsmen years to complete. Front doors in Paris and Ghent so ornate they stop you mid-stride on the sidewalk. Sunken conversation pits wrapped around fireplaces, built for actual human connection instead of resale value.
There was a time when a lamp could look like a praying mantis, when a bookcase was a piece of art, when architects designed houses shaped like bubbles just to see if they could.
That spirit isn’t dead — it’s just been buried under a few million coats of “agreeable gray.”
Thankfully, communities of design lovers like Design History are keeping the flame alive, sharing spaces and objects from eras when detail, craftsmanship, and personality actually mattered.
1. The Norman Lykes House (Circular Sun House), Designed By Frank Lloyd Wright, Phoenix, Arizona, 1959
2. Parisian Door
3. “Praying Mantis” Floor Lamp, Designed In 1950 By François Rispal, Paris, France
4. Beautiful Door In Ghent, Belgium
5. Akhavan Historical House In Kashan, Iran
6. Experimental Modern Architecture, Mario Galvagni, Italy, 60s/70s
7. Royal Greenhouses Of Laeken, Brussels, Belgium
8. Beautiful Staircase, Maison Hannon, Brussels, Belgium
9. Staircase At House Of Scientists, 19th Century Neo-Baroque Building, Lviv, Ukraine
10. Cosy Balcony (Garden City Neighbourhood), Cairo, Egypt, 1905
11. Palais Bulles Designed By The Hungarian Architect Antti Lovag, Built By Pierre Bernard, Théoule-Sur-Mer, France, 1984
12. Copley House, Accord, NY, USA
13. Sculptural Space Age Garage Doors, Brussel, Belgium, 70s Era
14. Charlotte Perriand “Maison Du Mexique” Bookcase, 1953
15. Dorothy H. Turkel House In The Palmer Woods Neighborhood Of Detroit, By Frank Lloyd Wright, USA, 1956
16. Casa Praxis In Mexico City By Agustín Hernández Navarro, 1975
17. The Sheats Residence Designed By John Lautner, Los Angeles, USA, 1961 – 1963
18. Brion Tomb By Carlo Scarpa, Venice, Italy, 1968-1978
19. Retro-Futuristic Interior Design, 1970s
20. Casa Amalia (Or The Hernández House), Residential Masterpiece Located In The Santa Fe Area, Mexico City, 1969 – 1973
21. Espace Niemeyer By Oscar Niemeyer, Paris, France, 1978
22. Mailboxes, Paris, France, 70s
23. Elegant Staircase At The Salime Hydropower Plant In Asturias, Designed By Joaquin Vaquero Palacios In 1954
24. Pied-A-Terre By Janette Laverrière, Paris France, 70s
25. Pierre Paulins’s Home With The 60s Déclive Sofa And The 50s Butterfly Chairs, Paris, France
26. Surrealist “Dalí Theatre And Museum,” Figueres, Spain, 1974
27. Alexander Calder’s House And Studio In Saché, France, Mid 60s
28. Ford House By Bruce Goff, Aurora, IL, 1950
29. La Laguna, Former Textile And Yarn Factory Restored Into A Creative Hub, Mexico City, 1920s
30. Villa Planchart By Gio Ponti, Caracas, Venezuela, 1956
31. Milanese Entrance With Stone Cladding By Pietra Di Vicenza Gialla, Italy, 1950s
32. Mid Century Modern Sunken Conversation Pit With Fireplace, USA, 70s
33. Mid Century Modern Wall Panelling With Dramatic Staircase, USA, 70s
34. Nino Gabrio And Stefano Bini, 1970
35. Brutalist Sculpture Door Mount Or Wall Mount, 70s Era
36. Playful Modernism Evens House By Harris Armstrong, Missouri, USA, 1951
37. Marcel Breuer’s Iconic Whitney Museum, Now Known As The Met Breuer, New York, 1966
