American Houses

Townhouses designed especially for single-parent families, with a ""tot lot'' and a common laundry, are proliferating. For residents of the Sun City retirement community in Arizona, houses arranged in giant concentric circles impose a framework of interrelatedness. Housing aimed at well-defined segments of the population is one trend in the American housing industry explored in this survey. Based on his travels across the country, Langdon's report celebrates, in words and photography, the diversity of contemporary housesfrom mobile homes to modular Colonials, from superinsulated and passive-solar designs to mixed-use urban complexes. His upbeat style tilts toward journalese (``In the past few years, the front porch . . . has made a surprising comeback''), but Langdon, who developed this book from his article the Atlantic, skillfully covers the growing popularity of restoration projects, architects' and planners' battles with government regulations and the conversion of schools and factories into apartments. Architects Book Club and Interior Design Book Club selections. (June 17)