Courtesy Airbnb
If you’re looking into a vacation rental, chances are you want to live like a local. But what if you could also live like an early-20th-century Social Realist painter, a design patron, or even Frank Sinatra? With Airbnb, it’s possible, and you don’t even have to leave the country (or break the bank) to do so. We’ve scouted out the chicest, most unique home rentals in the U.S., many of which have architectural significance, a storied past, or interiors (and designers!) worthy of a glossy magazine. Whether it’s a digital desert detox you seek or a few nights in a Steven Holl–designed retreat, these 15 unique Airbnb listings are destinations unto themselves.
Pioneertown
California
United-states
New-york
Japan
Kennebunk
Maine
Brooklyn
Palm-springs
Rhinebeck
White-house
District-of-columbia
Before there is architecture, there is red tape.
That’s certainly the case in Los Angeles, where the simple act of securing permits to build an average granny flat in an average backyard can turn into an epic back and forth with the city’s Department of Building and Safety over tweaks to drainage and electrical systems.
A new initiative organized by Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office in collaboration with Building and Safety aims to change that while inserting a bit of high design into a housing stock whose aesthetics generally lie somewhere on the continuum between box and shed. Imagine, instead, a playful studio in the form of a flower, or a contemporary two-story apartment that offers minimalist chic at a backyard scale all available as designs that have been preapproved by the city for construction, thereby shaving weeks off the permitting process.
Miami
Florida
United-states
Santiago
Regióetropolitana
Chile
Venice-beach
California
Newport-beach
Spain
San-francisco
Spanish