The twentieth anniversary edition of the classic architectural study of the development of the connected farm buildings made by 19th-century New Englanders, which offers insight into the people who made them.
75 unique designs for attractive, efficient, environmentally friendly homes. Now available in paperback, this collection of 75 plans for small homes offers more than 500 usable blueprints and other illustrations for a variety of living spaces suitable for every environment and style, from a New England farmhouse to a sophisticated townhouse in the city to a Santa Fe ranch. The designs include site drawings, floor plans, elevation drawings, section drawings, perspective drawings, and exploded views. A brief introduction to each home describes its setting, the philosophy behind the design and its intended use, materials used, recommended landscaping, and more. Many of the homes come with money-saving and environmentally sound features such as solar panels and water heaters, wood stoves, ceiling fans, airlock entries, wind power alternatives, and natural gas heaters.
Have you ever found yourself asking, “Is this all there is to life?” Or wondering if this bigger life you have created is actually a better life? And do you wonder how it all got so out of control? In her groundbreaking bestseller The Not So Big House, architect Sarah Susanka showed us a new way to inhabit our houses by creating homes that were better–not bigger. Now, in The Not So Big Life, Susanka takes her revolutionary philosophy to another dimension by showing us a new way to inhabit our lives. Most of us have lives that are as cluttered with unwanted obligations as our attics are cluttered with things. The bigger-is-better idea that triggered the explosion of McMansions has spilled over to give us McLives. For many of us, our ability to find the time to do what we want to do has come to a grinding halt. Now we barely have time to take a breath before making the next call on our cell phone, while at the same time messaging someone else on our Blackberry. Our schedules are chaotic and overcommitted, leaving us so stressed that we are numb, yet we wonder why we cannot fall asleep at night. In The Not So Big Life, Susanka shows us that it is possible to take our finger off the fast-forward button, and to our surprise we find how effortless and rewarding this change can be. We do not have to lead a monastic life or give up the things we love. In fact, the real joy of leading a not so big life is discovering that the life we love has been there the entire time. Through simple exercises and inspiring stories, Susanka shows us that all we need to do is make small shifts in our day–subtle movements that open our minds as if we were finally opening the windows to let in fresh air. The Not So Big Life reveals that form and function serve not only architectural aims but life goals as well. Just as we can tear down interior walls to reveal space, we can tear down our fears and assumptions to open up new possibilities. The result is that we quickly discover we have all the space and time we need for the things in our lives that really matter. But perhaps the greatest reward is the discovery that small changes can yield enormous results. In her elegant, clear style, Susanka convinces us that less truly is more–much more.
Little Mouse and Big Bear live on opposite ends of the same road, and they both would like a friend. But every morning, Little Mouse and Big Bear pass by each other, unnoticed. Until one day, their eyes meet! It's a little awkward at firs—as most new friendships can be—but soon enough they're sipping warm tea together in Big Bear's cozy home, and making plans to meet again the following Sunday. When a nasty storm blows into town will it wreck everything they've built? This tale of friendship and bravery will warm your heart like a cookie and a warm drink shared with a friend.
The prison boom of the 1980's and 1990's, combined with the recent economic decline, has led to an interesting phenomenon: where towns once fought against becoming the home of a prison, they now fight to land oneùeven maximum security prisons. Some towns have put together lobbying packagesùsuch as land, utility upgrades, and even cashùto convince corrections departments to build prisons on their land. --
Faced with the sale of the century-old family summer house on Cape Cod where he had spent forty-two summers, George Howe Colt recounts returning for one last stay with his wife and children in this stunning memoir that was a National Book Award Finalist and a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. This poignant tribute to the eleven-bedroom jumble of gables, bays, and dormers that watched over weddings, divorces, deaths, anniversaries, birthdays, breakdowns, and love affairs for five generations interweaves Colt’s final visit with memories of a lifetime of summers. Run-down yet romantic, The Big House stands not only as a cherished reminder of summer’s ephemeral pleasures but also as a powerful symbol of a vanishing way of life.
From the founder of the Instagram feed @TinyHouse, comes a small, chunky inspiration book filled with photographs of the smallest abodes—from vans and boats to tree houses and cabins. A die-cut cover acts as a window onto a simpler world of lighter living and sustainability that never sacrifices function or design. Imagine living debt-free in an environmentally-friendly home. No mortgage, no clutter, and boundless freedom. This is the reality and dream of people all over the world thanks to the widespread momentum of the tiny house movement in recent years. Designed to fit on the tiniest of coffee tables, this book features 250 full-color photographs of the smallest, most efficient homes around the world, with interviews, features, and smart tips straight from the homeowners. From tiny mobile homes in California, Nashville, and Minnesota to a surfer-built tree house in Washington to a school bus that has been converted to a camper in Oregon, this lookbook is packed with big inspiration.
What are the challenges architects face when designing dwelling spaces of a limited size? And what can these projects tell us about architecture – and architectural principles – in general? In BIG little house, award-winning architect Donna Kacmar introduces twenty real-life examples of small houses. Each project is under 1,000 square feet (100 square meters) in size and, brought together, the designs reveal an attitude towards materiality, light, enclosure and accommodation which is unique to minimal dwellings. While part of a trend to address growing concerns about minimising consumption and lack of affordable housing, the book demonstrates that small dwellings are not always simply the result of budget constraints but constitute a deliberate design strategy in their own right. Highly illustrated and in full-colour throughout, each example is based on interviews with the original architect and accompanied by detailed floor plans. This ground-breaking, beautifully designed text offers practical guidance to any professional architect or homeowner interested in small scale projects.