Houses serve as alternative families, primarily consisting of Black and Latino LGBT individuals, and are meant to provide shelter, solace and safety for those who have often been kicked out of their original homes due to being LGBT. Houses are led by "mothers" and "fathers" who are usually older members of the ballroom scene, who are typically drag queens, gay men or transgender women, who provide guidance and support for their house "children". The children of a House are each other's "siblings". Houses exist in more than 15 U.S. cities, mostly in the Northeast. These include New York City, Newark, Jersey City, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., and Oakland, California. Houses that win a lot of trophies and gain recognition reach the rank of legendary. Notable houses include the House of Ebony (founded by Richard and Larry Ebony), the House of Ninja (founded by Willi Ninja), the House of Aviance (founded by Mother Juan Aviance), the House of Xtravaganza (founded by Hector Valle, and chiefly run by Hector Xtravaganza and Angie Xtravaganza in the 1980s), the House of Princess, the House of Infiniti, the House of Mizrahi (founded by Andre, Jack, and Heidi Mizrahi), the House of Gucci (Founded by Father Dr. Will Gucci and Mother Meechie Demetrius) (1995) the House of LaBeija (founded by Crystal LaBeija, and chiefly run by Pepper LaBeija in the 1980s and 1990s), the House of Dupree (founded by Paris Dupree), the House of Amazon (founded by Leoimy Maldonado), the House of Mugler (founded by David, Raleigh and Julian), the House of Balenciaga (founded by Harold Balenciaga), The Iconic House of Khan (founded by Lowell Khan), the House of Lanvin (founded by Kenny Evisu and Meechie Lacroix), the House of Garcon (founded by Whitney and Shannon Garcon), The Iconic House of Allure (founded by Al Allure & Okio Allure) and The Iconic House of St. Laurent (Founded by Robbie, Chris & Terry St. Laurent). Typically, house members adopt the name of their house as their last name. Historically, four categories of gender have existed within houses: butch queens, femme queens, butches and women.