These 12 architects and the 10 inspirational homes they’ve designed are the culmination of their visions and their clients’ dreams.

The journey to create a truly beautiful home begins long before the architect is hired; it starts in childhood. Architecture requires both art and science, drawing and math, three-dimensional design and limitless imagination. That’s why architects are born, not made. They join a secret society in elementary school, constantly drawing, viewing the world through a different dimension than the rest of us. Perhaps there’s even a secret handshake.

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Meet the Bluestones. A couple designs an energy-efficient home when most of us thought a "carbon footprint" was related to fossil dating.

It started with a PennySaver and a dream, at the dawn of the new “green” age. Real estate developer Steve Bluestone found a small ad for 3.75 acres of gently rolling land in the hills of Croton-on-Hudson. It was uniquely developed: a shack, an outhouse, and a propane tank. The landscaping was also quite singular, mainly bare dirt with mounds of boulders liberally sprinkled with trash.

A Chappaqua Tudor’s ingenious design suits homeowners who receive frequent guests yet are protective of their privacy.

Homeowner, philanthropist, and gourmet chef Agnes Hassell has the confidence to do things her own way. “I don’t cater,” she says.

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She means it—literally. Guests at the frequent formal sit-down dinners she hosts each year for banking executive husband Gerald’s clients and employees, as well as holiday parties and buffets she holds, are treated to her home-cooked meals.

If you really want to get to know someone, don’t walk a mile in her shoes. Instead, spend 90 minutes interviewing her in her closet.

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