Los Angeles has seen more trends in design, architecture and decoration this century than almost any other American city. To Tim Street-Porter, this is America's design laboratory, an exciting architectural landscape with a kaleidoscopic succession of vistas, vegetation and houses in a variety of styles. Arranged chronologically, this book presents some 50 houses from all periods, representing many well known names in architecture and design - from the early 20th-century houses of Charles and Henry Greene and the Modernist designs of Frank Lloyd Wright, to the adventurous, radical creations of Frank Gehry. The book examines and describes not only the history and architecture of these houses, but also their stunning interiors, and in some cases their landscaped gardens. A concluding chapter takes us into the houses of some of the best-known interior designers and decorators working in L.A. today, and into the palatial residences of America's rich and famous - Madonna and Bette Midler among others.