America’s Top 200 Residential Architects 2025 Methodology

“You employ stone, wood and concrete, and with these materials you build houses and palaces. That is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly you touch my heart, you do me good, I am happy and I say: ‘This is beautiful.’ That is Architecture. Art enters in.”

—Le Corbusier (1887–1965)

_{By Richard Olsen, Forbes Staff}

Inthe coming months, Forbes will debut its inaugural America’s Top 200 Residential Architects. Inclusive of all 50 states plus the District of Columbia in research and formal evaluation, the list will identify and call attention to those single-family-house designers whose work, region to region and state to state, stands apart for its elevated degree of overall excellence. “Construction” this work is decidedly not; it is, indeed, Architecture—an architecture in which we see the manifestation of a viewpoint on design-concept sourcing that is increasingly under threat in our one-world Web culture: that place is paramount; and that design solutions for the home, whether they be Modern, or contemporary, or Traditional in stylistic derivation, ought to stem not from trends sweeping the social-media universe or some other point of disconnection but from the unique physical and cultural ground of a specific locality.

While fundamentally concerned with demonstrating an acute awareness of the importance of architecture that addresses the factors of our rapidly changing climate, America’s Top 200 Residential Architects is not a “green” list. If you’ve noticed the patterns of extreme weather events worldwide in recent years, it should be evident that, in terms of architectural discourse, we’re past “green.” Now, the stakes are even higher.

Quite simply, we’ve arrived at a moment when we can no longer afford to overlook the critical importance of the role of the architect in society, particularly in relation to our houses. America’s Top 200 Residential Architects will be, if nothing else, a point of entry to that recognition—a world of enlightened strategies for living and for housing ourselves more intelligently. More specifically, America’s Top 200 Residential Architects will point to the architects to whom you can turn, no matter where you are across the nation, to help you create a house that meets both your personal demands and the outsized existential demands of our times.

America’s Top 200 Residential Architects, as with all Forbes lists, will be based on rigorous journalistic fact-finding and assessment, but with the noteworthy addition of direct involvement from an advisory board of leading experts on the American house. In our process, every American Institute of Architects–member firm with a web presence, a total of more than 18,000 offices, was assessed for the degree to which the single-family house is a part of their total repertoire. Those offices that advanced in the process were invited to submit up to three houses, each completed in 2019 or later, that the office believed to be “exemplary” for the ways in which the work addresses the particulars of place. Each submission was then measured in accordance with Forbes Architecture's three-tiered system. With our inaugural list, we will reveal the outcome—residential architecture’s most state of the art in 2025.

The Forbes Architecture System of Evaluation

Out of the more than 18,000 firms evaluated for the list, more than 750 were invited to submit up to three houses, each completed in 2019 or later, for formal consideration. The submitted projects were then evaluated conditionally, and according to Tiers 2 and 3, respectively, with each house receiving a numerical score according to merit. The highest scoring projects were advanced to the semifinalist stage, before being evaluated again, by both the Forbes Architecture editorial team and the Forbes Architecture Advisory Board, using the same system. The final 200 projects were collectively deemed to most closely meet the evaluating criteria.

Tier 1: General Professional Evaluation

a. Integrity of online presence (quality of photography; professionalism of display; informational value; awards; publication history; etc.)

b. Educational background of the firm’s principals

c. Work histories and mentorships

Tier 2: Evaluation of a single “Exemplary House”

a. Part 1: The measuring of Stability; Utility; and Beauty

Tier 3: Evaluation Relative to Forbes Architecture’s Residential Guiding Principles & Best Practices, the seven categories of which are as follows:

1. Siting and Local Context

· Respects and aims whenever possible to preserve natural landscape contours, while minimizing excavation overall

· Respects the solar envelope over its own site and, consequently, over that of the neighboring houses

· Strategic incorporation of existing land forms (berms, slopes, etc) and landscape to climatic advantage (for wind shielding, storm protection, etc.)

· Rooms planned according to the ideal solar orientation per function of the specific spaces

· Adapted to sea-level-rise and flood-risk projections

2. Architectural Form and Detailing

· Balanced expression of form and massing, conscious of climatic response in approach, while honoring the fundamentals of any origins that might be the basis of the design

· Honors cultural and environmental contexts

· Structural principles elegantly and honestly expressed

3. Building Materials and Craft

· A curated approach to selection and application primarily guided by the impositions of the local climate zone and the cardinal directions

· Meticulous attention to expression of architectural detailing—at the smallest levels, materials and geometry in alignment; thematic consistency, inclusive of variations; with emphasis on the relationship of parts to the whole

· Use of indigenous and locally sourced, or repurposed, materials and employment of local artisans

· Use of Forest Stewardship Council-Certified wood and wood products

4. Spatial Configuration

· Entry is prioritized, treated as an experience

· Adventurous, stimulating plan circulation, with movement decidedly choreographed, ideally with appropriate/effective moments of compression and expansion

· Integrative of any outdoor rooms and garden spaces—programmatic relationships between indoors and exterior context

· Strategic mechanical-, electrical- and plumbing-integration consideration

· Accommodation for flexibility and change in use

5. HVAC and Tech

· Whole-house passive solar heating

· Electric radiant floors

· Electric-dominant, remotely controllable whole-house systems

· Use of architectural shading devices

· Inclusive of “smart home” lighting automation systems

· Thorough provisions for natural ventilation

6. Physical and Psychological Effects

· Emphasis on space perception

· Integration of sound-reduction strategies to control the interior environments

· Immersive, transformative, soothing environments

· Natural light harnessed as an instrument for mood creation

7. Environmental | Appropriateness to Region and Local Climate Zone

· Material circularity factor

· Green infrastructure

· Meets or exceeds green residential-building codes

· Raises bar of “responsibility” within its community for its example

· Designed and built to withstand extreme climate conditions

The Forbes Architecture Advisory Board

GEORGIA BIZIOS, FAIA, is an educator and architect in the Triangle Area, North Carolina. Bizios has practiced architecture as a consultant and established her firm, Bizios Architect, (1990-2019), focusing on residential architecture. She works collaboratively with colleagues, contractors, and clients in defining, assessing and addressing the clients' home needs, budgets, and sites. Bizios is Emerita Professor of Architecture at North Carolina State University, and has been recognized by ACSA as Distinguished Professor. She has taught architecture studios and seminars at all graduate and undergraduate levels, at Tulane University and North Carolina State University, over a total of 42 years. Her teaching and research interests include residential design, building/site relationships, and sustainable design. She initiated programs in Public Interest Architecture, integrating architectural practice in the curriculum, and collaborating with local architects and non-profit organizations and their stakeholders.

KEN BREISCH is an Emeritus Associate Professor of the School of Architecture at University of Southern California, where he founded and directed the Graduate Programs in Historic Preservation from 1997 to 2011 and taught courses in heritage conservation and architectural history until his retirement in 2022. Before that, Breisch held teaching positions at the University of Delaware and the Southern California Institute of Architecture. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has published widely on American architectural history, including three volumes on the history of American libraries. Breisch is a past president and board member of the Society of Architectural Historians and served on the board of the Vernacular Architecture Forum.

DANELLE BRISCOE is an academic and practitioner whose work focuses on incorporating flora and fauna into design of the urban environment. As an Associate Professor at the University of Texas at Austin, Briscoe has researched, published, and developed a pedagogical direction that questions the relationship of technology to nature, particularly regarding Building Information Modelling. As Principal of db_DESIGN, an Austin-based firm, Briscoe has advanced this direction further in the single-family, residential typology. Her former design experiences with Centerbrook Architects in Connecticut, Gehry Partners, and Marmol Radziner in Los Angeles give basis to this position and breadth of understanding. Briscoe holds a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University.

VIRGINIA CARTWRIGHT, associate professor of architecture and the director of the UO Baker Lighting Lab, explores light, form, and space through her research and practice, as well as in her design studios and seminars on the architecture of Alvar Aalto and on architecture in the cinema. Cartwright also teaches courses in daylighting, electric lighting, site and climate, and media. A long-standing focus of Cartwright's research is the relationship between light and form in the work of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto. Her research areas also include climate-responsive design and daylighting strategies, including atria, courtyards and light wells. Since 1998, Cartwright has focused on developing a small architectural practice, which was a recipient of a Meta Design Award in 2003. Cartwright's publications include chapters on daylighting in Architectural Design Portable Handbook, and Architecture 101: A Guide to the Design Studio and comprehensive illustrations in Sun, Wind and Light: Architectural Design Strategies. A visiting professor at Cornell University in 1995, Cartwright also taught at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Kansas State University prior to joining the faculty at the University of Oregon in 1986. Cartwright is a member of the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America and the Society of Building Science Educators.

TIMOTHY GRAY is an architect, educator, and environmental advocate with extensive expertise in sustainable design. In addition to serving as Principal of Gray Architecture, an award-winning Indianapolis-based practice, Gray serves as Professor of Architecture at Ball State University, where he has taught since 2003. Prior to that, Gray served as an Adjunct Professor of Architecture at the California College of the Arts and as a lecturer at University of California at Berkeley, where he earned his Master of Architecture with Distinction in 1991. Gray’s work with students and his practice has been recognized with national and international awards, including nine separate American Institute of Architects Design Excellence Awards.

CARLOS JIMÉNEZ pursues scholarship through design—integrating drawing and writing with the making of buildings and architectural spaces. In 1983, he established the Houston-based Carlos Jiménez Studio, an innovative design practice that focuses on the endurance and refinement of form and space. He has taught at numerous universities in addition to frequently acting as lecturer, juror, and visiting critic at academic and cultural institutions in the U.S. and internationally. Jiménez was a long-term (2001–2011) jury member of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the most prestigious architectural prize in the world. Notable built commissions include important cultural institutions such as the Central Administration Building for the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; the Houston Fine Art Press; the Spencer Studio Art Building at Williams College; the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Philadelphia; and commercial enterprises such as the Evry Housing Tower in Evry, France; and the Saint George Hotel in Marfa, Texas. Jiménez has won several awards for excellence in design and teaching, most notably National Academy of Design Academician (2023), DesignIntelligence’s Most Admired Educator (2013), Rice University’s George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching (2013), AIA Houston Educator of the Year (2009), and the Charles Duncan Award (1996). Jiménez’s works and writings can be found in Carlos Jiménez: House and Studio, Carlos Jiménez Buildings, as well as in monographic issues such as 2-G Carlos Jiménez, A+U “Carlos Jiménez” No. 306, and AV No. 196 “Carlos Jimenez 30 Years / 30 Works.

JOANNA LOMBARD, AIA, LEED AP, is a registered architect (Florida) and Professor at the University of Miami School of Architecture, with a secondary appointment in the Department of Public Health Sciences at the Miller School of Medicine. Lombard serves as co-chair of the Faculty Advisory Council of the Leonard and Jayne Abess Center for Ecosystem Science and Policy and Faculty Ombudsperson for the Coral Gables and Rosenstiel campuses. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture from Tulane University and a Master of Architecture from Harvard University Graduate School of Design. She is a member of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture College of Distinguished Professors and a founding member of the UM Built-Environment Behavior & Health Research Group with funded projects in the area of urban design and health, currently studying the impacts of streetscape-greening and park access. Lombard is also author and co-author of articles, books, and book chapters and a member of the University of Miami U-LINK teams exploring a Hyperlocal Approach to Climate Adaptation and Climate Resilience for the Spinal Cord Injury community. Professionally she is a member of the national research and design collective Practice Landscape. Lombard works on strategies for healthy communities, consulting with healthcare systems to develop new and retrofit existing campuses, and with DPZ CoDesign in the areas of education and healthcare campus planning and community design.

WILLIAM MORGAN is a Providence-based architectural writer and photographer. He has taught at Princeton University, the University of Louisville, and Brown University, and is the author of numerous books, including The Abrams Guide to American House Styles; Academia: Collegiate Gothic Architecture in the United States; and Monadnock Summer: The Architectural Legacy of Dublin, New Hampshire. His study of the Cape Cod cottage will be published this winter.

KEVIN D. MURPHY is Andrew W. Mellon Chair in the Humanities at Vanderbilt University, where he is also professor and chair in the Department of the History of Art and Architecture. Murphy was previously on the faculty of the Graduate Center of the City University of New York and the School of Architecture at the University of Virginia. He has published widely in the fields of modern art and architecture and is the author of The Houses of Greenwich Village, The American Townhouse, and Colonial Revival Maine and co-author, with Mary Anne Hunting, of the forthcoming Women Architects at Work: Making American Modernism.

LISA D. SCHRENK, Ph.D. is Professor of Architectural History at the University of Arizona and co-founder of the global Institute for the Study of International Expositions. She is a former Education Director for the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Studio Foundation and has served on the Board of Directors for the Society of Architectural Historians. Her book publications include The Oak Park Studio of Frank Lloyd Wright and Building a Century of Progress: The Architecture of Chicago’s 1933-34 World’s Fair.

DAVID SELLERS, AIA, ’65MArch Yale University School of Architecture, is founder and president of the Warren, Vermont-based Sellers & Company, a pioneering environmentally focused design-build firm now celebrating its 50th year of practice. Sellers & Company is a past Architectural Digest AD100 listed firm, for its houses, and a winner of multiple American Institute of Architects awards for design excellence. For three decades, Sellers has worked with Patch Adams, M.D., and The Cousteau Society to design and build eco villages, medical clinics, and hospitals in poverty stricken and ecologically threatened areas of El Salvador, Haiti, Mexico, Peru, Senegal and beyond. As an industrial designer, Sellers founded or cofounded, since 1975, Northern Power Company Windmills, Vermont Iron Stove Company, and Mad River Rocket Company, in addition to creating product designs from golf clubs to a human-powered passenger train. As an educator, he’s held positions including Director of Goddard College’s Design-Build program and Studio Head of Yale University’s School of Architecture.

EKATERINI (KAT) VLAHOS is a licensed architect and Professor of Architecture at the University of Colorado Denver, where she held leadership roles as Chair of the Department of Architecture and Director of the Center of Preservation Research (CoPR). Vlahos specializes in exploring cutting-edge technology and developing methods for documenting, analyzing, and preserving vernacular architecture and cultural landscapes in the American West, bridging historical knowledge with contemporary sustainable practices. She is the recipient of the Preservation Leadership Award, the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture Collaborative Practice Award, and, through research developed in CoPR with graduate students, the Stephen H. Hart Award for outstanding projects in historic preservation throughout Colorado. Kat serves as Vice-President for North America of the ICOMOS/IFLA International Committee on Cultural Landscapes and holds leadership positions on the National Council for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) and the Colorado Historical Foundation boards.

As with all Forbes lists, no fee or payment of any kind was required for candidates to be considered or to make the list.

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