10 Architectural Masterpieces You Can Rent for Your Next Vacation
If you like your accommodations to be just as inspiring as your destination, there are tons of vacation rentals with incredible architectural styles: Think Baroque villas in Italy, mid-century homes in Palm Springs, Mughal palaces in India, and countless modern marvels across the U.S. Even if you have a truly discerning eye—and a penchant for name dropping—there are options to explore.
On sites like Airbnb and Vrbo, you can find homes designed by some of history’s greatest architects—we’re talking Frank Lloyd Wright, Oscar Niemeyer, Le Corbusier, and more. These houses and apartments have been impeccably preserved from the time of construction, allowing guests to sleep inside buildings most of us can only admire from afar. Whether you’re a fan of stark Modernism or opulent Spanish Colonial Revival, here are 10 of the best architectural masterpieces to rent for your next vacation.
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- Renee Kemps
Villa Santanyi by John Pawson
Mallorca, Spain
You haven’t really experienced minimalism until you’ve seen a building designed by John Pawson. The British architect famously eschews all things cluttered and superfluously comfortable, opting instead for austere interiors and obsessively curated furniture. While that might sound a little too bleak for a vacation rental, Pawson somehow manages to imbue his creations with intimacy and personality—just look at Villa Santanyi, a Mallorca masterpiece with dusty rose walls, inventive windows, and outdoor spaces that let the azure skies take center stage. There is absolutely no artwork or decor accessories anywhere in the house (aside from a vase of flowers here and there), but you’ll be too busy swimming in the saltwater pool and strolling down to the private beach to even notice.
- Airbnb
Yoshino Cedar House by Go Hasegawa
Yoshino-gun, Japan
A collaboration between Airbnb's design studio, Samara, and Tokyo-based architect Go Hasegawa, the Yoshino Cedar House is nothing short of a masterpiece. The home was established to boost the economy of Yoshino, a rural town in central Japan, and was built entirely out of locally sourced and milled cedar wood. The resulting structure looks almost like the inside of a sauna, with warm-hued wood covering every surface. This listing is for two private rooms on the upper level, while the lower level is open to the entire town, so you can head downstairs and break bread with some locals.
- Alamy
La Cité Radieuse by Le Corbusier
Marseille, France
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (better known as Le Corbusier) was a pioneer of modern architecture, with 17 projects inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One UNESCO-recognized project is Unité d’habitation, a series of residential buildings that includes the influential La Cité Radieuse structure in Marseille. The apartment building is a paragon of Brutalist style (bulky, stark, made from concrete) and features a communal rooftop terrace, views of the Mediterranean, and 337 apartments with western-facing balconies. This two-bedroom duplex on Airbnb gives you a little taste of Le Corbusier’s original design—plus Wi-Fi.
- William Green
Point House by Brian Mackay-Lyons
Nova Scotia, Canada
Canadian architect Brian MacKay-Lyons is a master at creating homes that embody their surroundings, often learning about each plot’s history before ever breaking ground. The Point House, for example, was modeled after Nova Scotia’s unassuming fish shacks, with cedar shingles outside and light timber beams inside. The modern twist comes courtesy of the floor-to-ceiling wraparound windows, from which guests can comfortably watch the changing tides of the North Atlantic.
- Vrbo
Ravenscroft by George Washington Smith
Montecito, California
Though his architectural career only spanned about 15 years, George Washington Smith is one of the most influential names in West Coast home design. He is often credited for popularizing Spanish Colonial Revival style in the early 20th century, as seen in his sprawling mansions across Santa Barbara and Montecito. This gated, nine-bedroom estate on Vrbo has everything you’d hope to find in a Smith creation: opulent gardens, wrought iron fences, a white-tiled kitchen, and a living room so large, the original owner used to let her horses lounge in front of the fireplace.
- Guillermo Avello/Alamy
La Muralla Roja by Ricardo Bofill
Calpe, Spain
One of Catalan’s most famous architects, Ricardo Bofill was responsible for many social housing projects in Spain and France. One such project is La Muralla Roja in Alicante, a Moorish fortress-inspired complex with a striking red facade and series of labyrinthine staircases (anyone else getting major Squid Game vibes?). This five-star Airbnb lets guests explore beyond the individual apartment, including the building’s rooftop pool and countless photo backdrops.
- Airbnb
Ex of In House by Steven Holl
Rhinebeck, New York
About two hours north of New York, Rhinebeck is the perfect small town for citydwellers looking to escape—especially if you can snag a booking at Ex of In House. The house was designed by Steven Holl (an architect known for his large-scale projects, like the Kennedy Center in D.C.) in 2016, and it’s all about sustainability and immersion in nature. The structure is entirely solar-powered and it’s really more of a livable sculpture than a traditional house—there are huge circular windows and 3D-printed light fixtures, but no interior walls or designated bedrooms.
- Getty
Bosco Verticale by Stefano Boeri
Milan
Back in 2014, Milan made headlines when it unveiled Bosco Verticale (“Vertical Forest”), two high-rise apartment blocks covered with more than 20,000 trees and plants. The project was backed by Milan-born architect Stefano Boeri, who worked with horticulturists to create a structure that would improve the city’s air quality without having to plant space-consuming gardens; the plants themselves are sustained by filtered waste water, and both buildings are solar-powered. This chic and modern one-bedroom apartment on Airbnb is located in one of the Bosco Verticale towers, with a balcony surrounded by the famous greenery.
- Airbnb
Copan Building by Oscar Niemeyer
São Paulo
Oscar Niemeyer was best known for his modern architecture in Brasília (and his contributions to the United Nations headquarters in New York), often using concrete to sculpt beautiful buildings. You can see many of his aesthetic trademarks in São Paulo’s Copan Building, a towering residential complex with sinuous concrete facade; and you can really get up close to his genius by renting one of the building’s apartments, courtesy of Airbnb. This studio apartment is located on the 23rd floor, and the host will happily guide you to the bakeries and shops on the lower levels and show you how to take in the incredible views from the rooftop.
- Airbnb
Eppstein House by Frank Lloyd Wright
Galesburg, Michigan
One of America’s most famous architects, Frank Lloyd Wright designed this house for Samuel and Dorothy Eppstein in the 1950s. It’s one of the best-preserved examples of the Prairie School-style houses, which are defined by open interiors and horizontal lines. While the rental was fully restored in 2017 with updated bathrooms and kitchen (and Wi-Fi, of course), the house is furnished with retro artwork, a record player, and even the original dining room table that Wright designed for the home.
