Marcus Binney has spent 40 years looking for beautiful and little-known country houses to write about in 'Country Life' and 'The Times'. Here, he selects 500 dream houses dating from medieval times to the present day from all over Britain and Ireland.
A home of one’s own has always been a cornerstone of the American dream, fulfilling like nothing else the desire for comfort, financial security, independence, and with a little luck, even a touch of distinctive character, or even beauty. But what we have come to regard as almost a national birthright has recently begun to elude more and more prospective homebuyers. Where housing is concerned, affordable and well-crafted rarely exist together. Or do they? For years, founding editor-in-chief of Dwell magazine and noted architecture and design critic Karrie Jacobs had been confronting this question both professionally and personally. Finally, she decided to see for herself whether it was possible to build the home of her own dreams for a reasonable sum. The Perfect $100,000 House is the story of that quest, a search that takes her from a two-week crash course in housebuilding in Vermont to a road trip of some 14,000 miles. In the course of her journey Jacobs encounters a group of intrepid and visionary architects and builders working to revolutionize the way Americans thinks about homes, about construction techniques, and about the very idea of community. By her trip’s end Jacobs, has not only had a practical and sobering education in the economics, aesthetics, and politics of homebuilding, but has been spurred to challenge her own deeply held beliefs about what constitutes an ideal home. The Perfect $100,000 House is a compelling and inspiring demonstration that we can live in homes that are sensible, modest, and beautiful.
A #1 best seller for years, Bill Hirsch's Designing Your Perfect House: Lessons from an Architect has been called an essential read for Homeowners as well as Professionals. Bill's flowing style of writing makes you feel like you are sitting with him having a chat about your project. The philosophy behind design decisions is explained with stories, photos, sketches, and checklists. The book is divided into Twelve Lessons, with an additional Bonus Lesson ," Building Green, Naturally". You will learn how to evaluate your needs and work towards creating a suitable design, perfect for you and your family. The experience of home design and construction should be controllable, gratifying and enjoyable. With the valuable advice that Designing Your Perfect House: Lessons from an Architect provides, it can be.
From the acclaimed author and columnist: a laugh-out-loud journey into the world of real estate—the true story of one woman’s “imperfect life lived among imperfect houses” and her quest for the four perfect walls to call home. After an itinerant suburban childhood and countless moves as a grown-up—from New York City to Lincoln, Nebraska; from the Midwest to the West Coast and back—Meghan Daum was living in Los Angeles, single and in her mid-thirties, and devoting obscene amounts of time not to her writing career or her dating life but to the pursuit of property: scouring Craigslist, visiting open houses, fantasizing about finding the right place for the right price. Finally, near the height of the real estate bubble, she succumbed, depleting her life’s savings to buy a 900-square-foot bungalow, with a garage that “bore a close resemblance to the ruins of Pompeii” and plumbing that “dated back to the Coolidge administration.” From her mother’s decorating manias to her own “hidden room” dreams, Daum explores the perils and pleasures of believing that only a house can make you whole. With delicious wit and a keen eye for the absurd, she has given us a pitch-perfect, irresistible tale of playing a lifelong game of house.
This book is a sequel to "Question Marks". The poems are reflections of my thoughts. I may have found some answers but the journey is long and strenuous because the more I search, more questions arise. Hence the search continues. We all aspire for something. We are all in search of something. I hope it resonates with you.
"Palladio is the Bible," Thomas Jefferson once said. "You should get it and stick to it." With his simple, gracious, perfectly proportioned villas, Andrea Palladio elevated the architecture of the private house into an art form during the late sixteenth century -- and his influence is still evident in the ample porches, columned porticoes, grand ceilings, and front-door pediments of America today. In The Perfect House, bestselling author Witold Rybczynski, whose previous books (Home, A Clearing in the Distance, Now I Sit Me Down) have transformed our understanding of domestic architecture, reveals how a handful of Palladio's houses in an obscure corner of the Venetian Republic should have made their presence felt hundreds of years later and halfway across the globe. More than just a study of one of history's seminal architectural figures, The Perfect House reflects Rybczynski's enormous admiration for his subject and provides a new way of looking at the special landscapes we call "home" in the modern world.
Thirty-seven million Americans move during any given year. Millions more think about it. They all want the same thing—a perfect place to live. But most of us have only the vaguest idea of what makes us happy, home-wise, and don’t even know all the questions to ask. That’s where Marianne Cusato comes in. One of the most influential people in the home-building industry, designer of the Katrina Cottages, and go-to authority for the media on issues related to housing, she’s written a comprehensive, interactive guide to finding the just right home. This is the book that answers the plea she hears every time she gives a speech—“I wish I’d talked to you before buying my house!” By leading the reader through every step of choosing a home—from the broad strokes, such as city vs. suburb and buy vs. rent, to specific details of energy use and building materials—The Just Right Home helps readers understand not only what they want in a home but what they need. It shows why proximity—to work, to stores, to schools—trumps location, and what the difference means. Why a property’s live-in value is greater than its resale value. How to identify and assess the big three variables: function, cost, delight. How to get a realistic grip on budget, including factoring in maintenance costs. How to plan for future needs—children moving out, a parent moving in, or just growing old in a home. Why all square feet are not created equal. The ins and outs of zonings, covenants, home-owner associations. The five elements to look for when walking through a property. How much to pay an inspector. And so much more. Filled with sidebars, boxes, examples, anecdotes, and cheat sheets, it’s the book that helps readers answer all their questions about where to live and what to live in.
This book ensures Real Estate professionals are up-to-date on the latest Real Estate, web-enabled technologies. Real Estate agents are entrepreneurs by trade and look to establish an all-inclusive web presence around their good name. Given the array of web-enabled technologies currently on the market, this book provides a solid overview of core technologies that should be in an agent's tool-box. Web-enabled technologies highlighted include: agent websites, single-property websites, virtual tours, MLS/IDX/VOW/ILD technologies, neighborhood search, comparable market analysis (CMA) and automated valuation model (AVM) reports, electronic forms, online transaction management, and mobile technologies. Finally, independent contractors, such as virtual assistants, are highlighted as they can help maintain the web presence for top-producing, Real Estate agents. Real Products are showcased as case studies or examples; these products are from today's foremost technology providers for real estate professionals. Some of the products showcased include: ZipForm(R), RELAY
Located in historic Charleston, South Carolina, Ashley Hall has excelled in preparing girls for future endeavors since its inception in 1909. Founder Mary Vardrine McBee, a young woman with astounding foresight and determination, led Ashley Hall for 40 years and paved bright futures for thousands of girls.Ashley Hall reveals the school's long and storied past, detailing its place in Charleston history. A pictorial retrospective, this volume explores the academic and the social aspects of Ashley Hall that have made it one of the South's premier schools for girls. More than 200 archival photographs chronicle the evolution of the Rutledge Avenue campus, from the sole Witte House to a block-long city landmark. Furthermore, these vivid images introduce the faces behind the names that live on in the school's history-Mary Vardrine and Estelle McBee, Caroline Pardue, Marie Baker-as well as newer friends who shaped the school in both large and small ways. Readers will join students as they attend class during the World Wars and the Great Depression, participate in the annual Kettledrum Carnival, take outings around the Lowcountry, and compete in-and perhaps take home the trophy-for any number of sporting events.