The Taylor House, an award-winning, sustainable vacation home in the Bahamas designed by Raleigh, NC, architect Frank Harmon, FAIA, has been included on a list of “the most influential and inspiring houses built during the past decade.”

The Wall Street Journal recently asked celebrated “green” architect Michelle Kaufman of Oakland, California, to compile a list of what she felt were the best houses built during the housing boom, which WSJ considered officially over by the end of 2008. Kaufman decided to make her own list of 10, “almost all of which are terrific examples of sustainable design.” She posted her list, which includes the Taylor House, on her blog -- blog.michellekaufmann.com/?p=1733  -- on December 30th.

Kaufman describes Harmon’s design for the house at Abaco, Bahams, as “Eco Luxury: The entire roof of this Caribbean vacation home slopes inward like an upside down umbrella, directing rain through a central spout running through the center of the house. The roof design allows the house to harvest up to 16,000 gallons of water on the ground floor, and helps naturally cool the house via the venturi effect.”

Among the other architects and their work represented on Kaufman’s list are Pritzker Prize winner Glenn Murcutt of Sydney, Australia; Larry Scarpa of Pugh + Scarpa on Santa Monica, California; and Rick Joy of Rick Joy Architects in Tuscon, Arizona. Not only does Harmon greatly admire these architects work, but they have joined him on the podium for his popular “Architects Discuss America’s New Regionalism” seminar that he has presented at four of the American Institute of Architects’ National Conventions.

“This is really fantastic,” Harmon said after learning his design made Kaufman’s top 10. “We're in the company of some great architects.”

He noted his regret that his client, the house’s owner, passed away this summer before Kaufman posted her list. “She would have been delighted to hear the news,” he said.

Completed in 2000, the Taylor House has received five design awards. It has been featured in the New York Times, in a number of national magazines and books on sustainable design, and it was used for the cover of James Truelove’s 2001 book “Tropical Modernism. The Taylor House was also included in a special exhibit of “green” architecture at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. and in the accompanying book The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture by Alanna Stang and Christopher Hawthorne.

“The purpose of this list is to celebrate the brilliant achievements of our talented and dedicated colleagues,” writes Kaufman, whose firm Michelle Kaufman Designs received a 2008 Leadership Award from Residential Architect magazine.

For more information on Frank Harmon and more details and photographs of the Taylor House, visit www.frankharmon.com