Country House at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

The tradition of the country house is one of Britain's most significant architectural and landscape design trends. In recent years many striking new houses have been approved, yet with planning guidance currently under review, the future of the country house tradition is under threat.

Pays and Bernsen's own artistry as renovators first garnered notice after they spent three years redoing an English country-style home in Beverly Hills, and then sold it to actor Steve Martin in 1995. The house included a wine cellar, screening room and music room as well as a guest house made of stone. Doors were imported from England, and wooden beams originated in a barn in Connecticut. "It was just a great house. We went all out," Pays recalls.

Social settlements and parish houses were among the first popular efforts to house and supervise recreational and cultural activities for children and adults, Hull House in Chicago, established 1889, being one of the earliest and best known. One of the earliest of the organizations for youth, developed throughout the country, was the Young Men's Christian Association with its buildings usually including a gymnasium, game rooms and a swimming pool.