Working from the assumption that a distinct women's subjectivity has driven the development of the modern American home, this two part thesis examines the nature of that evolution. The first part shows how a women's perspective was capable of effecting the general development of the home from 1880-1920. By analyzing four houses that chart the evolution of the American home, the criteria that characterizes the women's house type is traced. The second part examines the initial movement towards the development of the women's home. Using the Ladies' Home Journal and The House Beautiful from 1890-1910 establishes the source of particular women's criteria that transformed the design of middle-class housing around the turn of the century. The conclusion demonstrates that the house's character has been two fold; while on the one hand it has been a means of oppression for women within our culture, and it has also been a means of liberation.