A New Children’s Book by MOS Architects Chronicles a Family’s Quest for the Perfect Home

In the whimsical hardcover “Houses for Sale,” a family visits the greatest homes in architectural history to find the right fit.

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Does the perfect home exist? In Houses for Sale, architects Michael Meredith and Hilary Samples of MOS Architects set out to answer the age-old question.

Houses for Sale was written and designed by Michael Meredith and Hilary Samples of MOS Architects in collaboration with Studio Lin. The book begins as the family of four strikes out to find the perfect home. 

Courtesy of CCA

The hardcover, 128-page children’s book illustrates a family road trip through the annals of architectural history in search of their elusive dream house (stops include Corbusier’s Villa Savoye in France and Frank Gehry’s home in Santa Monica). And when the family finally decides to build their own home with lessons gleaned from their travels, they discover that the journey still isn’t over. "No matter what we did," the book narrates, "it was never finished. It is the search that we truly enjoy."

The book was inspired by the architects’ experience building a multigenerational home in Upstate New York, which continues to evolve and proves that finding the perfect place to live is a pursuit that lasts a lifetime. 

Lina Bo Bardi’s 1950 Casa de Vidro in Brazil is just one stop along the way. Here, the family collects a few notes: "central void," "treelike," and "freestanding fireplace." 

Courtesy of CCA

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A stop in the great outdoors gives the family an opportunity to reflect on the designs they’ve seen. 

Courtesy of CCA

Houses for Sale

In Houses for Sale, architects Michael Meredith and Hilary Sample of MOS Architects invite readers on their family's quest for a new home through the annals of architectural history, exploring details and peculiarities from some of the greatest names in architecture. When they realize that there isn't any one house that suits them perfectly, they decide to design their own. In doing so, Meredith and Sample come to the conclusion that no building is perfect and that architecture is an exciting, ever-evolving project in which the process of bringing a new building to life through design and construction can be even more satisfying than the final product itself.

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More from MOS Architects: 

A Vivid, Hand-Shaped Home Holds an Extended Family in Upstate New York

Prefab Units Cluster Together in This Off-the-Grid Guesthouse

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