Just in time for the July 4th holiday What makes a great house" And what makes a great house distinctly American" In our weekly series of original home tours, House Calls, the answer is often history?whether that history is architectural, personal, or both?spunk, and awe-inspiring environments and views.
From the beaches of Fire Island, New York, to the hillsides of Los Angeles, California, here are a few of our favorite homes, each of which feels like it could only exist in the U.S. of A.

Pernille Loof

A Fire Island house brings the spirit of sand and surf indoors
The oceanfront beach house of Britt-Louise Gilder, her husband Jamal, and their four children has the sand-and-surf spirit often found in residences on Fire Island in New York. The location was ideal and the circa-1968 home had character, but a renovation was in order. Gilder called on a firm she had worked with on a few projects in New York: Brooklyn-based Delson or Sherman Architects PC.
Sam Frost

Polishing a midcentury gem by architect Doug Rucker
Christopher Caparro and Susanna Musotto?s 1964 Doug Rucker-designed home in Los Angeles?s Laurel Canyon was ?a beautiful shell that needed to be cleaned up.? It even had enough architectural chops that Caparro was able to have it officially recognized as a Historic-Cultural Monument by the city.

Leela Cyd

California dreamin?
Richard and Cissy Ross?a photographer and a writer, respectiv...