Editorial Review

Reviews

Best Treehouse Inspiration Book by Best Treehouse Author, April 12, 2009
Peter Nelson's treehouse books are always inspiring, voyeuristic, and FUN. This is his best book yet. Not a How-to (he's done those) although he does briefly touch on the latest in treehouse engineering and there is a wealth of contact information in the back of the book.

The photos are very clear, well composed, and this time we get a lot of views and angles. His last book was a bit stingy with the photos, leaving me wanting another page of pictures. This book gives it to us. The design quality of the treehouses featured is also unsurpassed. He doesn't just show us money-no-object projects but also beautiful aeries built by a homeless man or salvage junkies. The book's continuity comes from all of these treehouses being gorgeous works of art built with an artists eye. It seems that by placing a house in a tree, it frees the imagination (and the voice in your head who says "you can't do that"). More passionate architectural creativity is in this book than you can find anywhere else.

Pete narrates the book, letting the reader in on the impetus behind the owner's flight of fancy. His words add to the visual story and brings some details into focus.

The best Treehouse Design Book ever printed. Should be in every library.

Beautiful and Fun, April 7, 2009
This book is full of stunning photos that inspire and delight. The amazing variety of treehouses here means that you can spend hours admiring the human ingenuity required for their construction. If you have ever climbed a tree, or enjoyed looking at a beautiful tree, or spent time in a small treehouse as a kid, then this is a must buy. Highly recommended!

More Food for Dreamers, August 4, 2009
My love of tree houses has been life long, and since discovering Nelson's first tree house book some time ago, I have had to own each subsequent one. His newest book does not disappoint, and feeds the imagination with vivid photos and inspiring narrative. Although this is not a how-to book, Nelson does provide insight into how the tree houses, shown in a variety of cultures and settings, are designed and constructed. As a coffee table book, you won't find a more beautiful one. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Tree houses capture the imagination of the child in all of us, and they have never been more popular than they are today. This inspirational yet thoroughly practical guide shows even the most inexperienced weekend carpenter how to design and build a lifetime of memories for the entire family. With more than 200,000 copies of their popular Weekend Project Books sold, David and Jeanie Stiles have become America's First Couple of do-it-yourself woodworking. In Tree Houses You Can Actually Build, they explain basic building procedures through clear, simple instructions and non-technical line drawings that illustrate every step of the project, from the earliest sketches to the final cedar shingle. The authors outline five basic designs that can be adapted to virtually any set of conditions, and throughout the book, they emphasize safety for both adults and children. In addition to line drawings, the book contains a section of full-color photographs highlighting a variety of tree house projects, plus helpful building tips based on interviews with their owners. ... Read more

Reviews

If you can only afford one treehouse book let it be this one, May 30, 2002
My background as a residential/light commercial builder for over 30 years has given me the opportunity to construct a few tree houses along the way. With a large tree house project coming up and more than a few years since my last project I wanted to make sure I was on top of the latest technology. This book is great! It will show you how to construct a tree house in a single tree or using 2, 3 or 4 trees. There are several different approaches the book takes which will cover just about every project you may face.

I purchased "Home Tree Home: Principles of Treehouse Construction and Other Tall Tales" hoping to find what I was looking for and although it was a fine book it cannot hold a candle to this.

This book covers safety and construction issues that I never even thought about. It has good solid engineering and design. If you follow the books advice you, and your kids, will have a great time building your tree house and will enjoy it for years to come.

So if you are building your mother-in-law a place to stay while in town or just a simple platform a few feet off the ground for the kids to eat lunch on, this is the book for you.

Excellent Information on building a Basic Treehouse, November 19, 1999
I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants a step-by-step plan to building a basic treehouse and many fun additions on to the treehouse such as crows nests, rope ladders, pulleys, telephones,furniture and more. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow. If you want to build a more complicated treehouse(for example a treehouse with electrical outlets or more than 2 rooms) this book most likely isn't for you. For people who just want to browse pictures of amazing treehouses around the world I suggest Peter Nelson's Treehouses: The Art and Craft of Living out on A Limb.

The only tree house book you'll ever need!, October 29, 1998
The best book on tree houses! This is a great book for adults and children. David Stiles is the leading authority on tree houses and this beautifully illustrated book covers everything you need to know on how to build them. From conception to construction, this book will tap into your childhood dreams and set you to building the tree house that is right for you. Practical step by step instructions, and full color spreads of finished tree houses and huts. If you are even thinking about building a treehouse for your self or your kids, this is the only book you will ever need.

Great book - still timely, November 5, 2002
Like the 24 other reviews of this book I built a great treehouse for my kids in fall 2002. Many, many people ask me how I learned to build one and I simply show them the book. I even used an illustration to modify a one-tree tree house into a two tree treehouse that is 8 X 10 feet and 15 feet off the ground. My 8 year old daughter built a rope ladder and had a blast. I've since looked at several other treehouse books to see how this one compares - and for the price, it's well worth it.

An excellent, practical, and fun treehouse building guide!, September 15, 1998
We built a fantastic treehouse this summer using many of the ideas from this book. My 8-yr old son and 6-yr old daughter learned so much from the simple illustrations. The book helped us decide on a tree, a design, and gave us nuts & bolts instructions as well as many practical tips. We highly recommend this book!

You can do it, too., October 25, 1999
I have no construction background whatsoever, but after reading this book I was able to build a very nice treehouse for my kids. My only negative observation of this book is that occasionally the artist's renderings fail to accurately show how treehouse features would be sructurally implemented (ie. a roof support post coming out of the middle of the the treehouse floor, but no apparent structure under the floor to attach it to). Besides an occasional artistic oversight, I thought the book was well worth the price. Give it a try. You can do it, too.

Very Useful Book, July 25, 2000
I used the ideas and illustrations in this book to build my daughter a treehouse in our backyard. Although I used my own design, I used many of the tips for tree connections, platform supports, and other information the Stiles provide in their book. It is evident they have a real love for their subject. Since I have a lot more trees on the property, we have plans to continue expanding the treehouse complex. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for treehouse and accessory ideas.

Just Do It, September 26, 2001
It you keep in mind that building a tree house is not exactly rocket science, then you will see why this book is so useful. It's crammed full of practical ideas and schemes you can either follow through to complete a tree house or use as a jumping off point to make your kids their own customized getaway. You still have to be able to use power tools, measure correctly (so your tree house will not be out of square like ours), find the right materials, and have more than a few days to get the job done. Still, unless you plan to build a tree house for your permanent abode, this is the only guide you will need.

Perfect place to start, March 21, 2000
We used this book as a guide to building a treehouse last summer. You may not use the plans exactly as shown in the book, but it has enough ideas to get you through. Very well done!

A great help building a basic tree house, February 9, 1999
This book is terrific! I purchased it as inspiration to build a treehouse for my two kids (7 and 5 years old). The book includes many different designs, one of which fit our needs very nicely. The construction tips and material guides were very helpful, as was the list of extras that can make the treehouse that much more fun. My kids love the treehouse and I've enjoyed building it very much. ... Read more

Editorial Review

The setting might be a sparkling lakefront, a cool clearing in the woods, a breathtaking mountaintop, or an expansive beach, but the dream of a modest retreat from everyday life often includes a simple little cabin. In cabin getaways of the imagination, the cares of the world recede, time slows down, and the day’s pace is set by leisure and quiet activities.

Compact Cabins presents 62 design interpretations of the getaway dream, with something to please every taste. Best of all, these small footprint designs are affordable and energy efficient without skimping on comfort and style. The cabins range in size from a cozy 100 square feet to a more spacious but still economical 1,000 square feet, and all include sleeping accommodations, kitchen and bath facilities, and a heat source. Complete chapters on low-maintenance building materials, utilities and appliances, and alternative energy sources supply readers with the options for living efficiently in small spaces.

For every design, readers will find floor plans with detailed suggestions for designing the space for optimal use. These plans are flexible; many feature modular elements that can be mixed and matched to accommodate a particular owner’s needs or hobbies. Features such as an outdoor fireplace, covered porch, or external storage locker might work nicely in several cabin designs. It’s all about enhancing and maximizing small spaces to suit individual needs and preferences.

Build small. In this time of uncertain energy costs, global warming, and tighter budgets, building small is a theme that resonates with second-home owners. Gerald Rowan shows readers how to achieve their cabin dreams on a small footprint. ... Read more

Reviews

The best micro housing book so far, February 13, 2010
While recently there have been many books on micro housing this is the best. It is a book on the practical applications of the concept and not some architects exercise in the extreme with no real world applications. Many of the solutions in this book are adapted form the RV camper world. Also there are practical applications of alternative energy and gray water technology. While for most this represents a great way to do a weekend retreat it may also be the future of housing through out the world.

There have been a few reviews stating that this is not a plan book and that is true. There are no true construction plans. The floor plans are small and much like an RV. As a matter of fact much 12v RV technology is listed here. But the book is not intended as a full time living house book. It is a getaway and weekend house book. Though I still think the plans livable for the micro housing movement. Now some of the shapes are yurt like, Hexes, unusual geometry and the like but still very functional.

I'm glad I ignored the negative reviews., March 30, 2010
I considered buying this book on Amazon in 2009, but was dismayed by the negative reviews and so I skipped it over.

Fast-forward to 2010: I was having coffee at a physical book store (one of the major chains) last week and saw this book in the architecture/houses section. This book is LOADED with plans. I have no idea what some of the pre-2010 reviewers were talking about. Of course they're not actual house-plans they are FLOOR PLANS -- and they are highly detailed. That was enough for me, so I bought it on Amazon the following night -- can't beat free shipping and no taxes!

Virtually all of the pages are loaded with high-quality illustrations. The paper material is recycled and has a nice, rustic tan/brown quality to it. The ink is soy-bean based. The binding is solid and above average. If you have a habit of flipping through home-plans books and are dismayed by loose or ripped pages, you'll be very happy with the construction of this book. It's a high-quality, environmentally friendly product.

SO.... if you're looking for some great ideas on how to design a small house, this is perhaps THE BEST book I have found to date. Add it to your shopping cart. You won't regret it. I have bought dozens of home plan books and home-ideas books revolving around the them of "small". This is my favorite. It's one of those books you'll take to bed with you and keep on your night stand.

Best Cabin Design Book I Own (out of 20+), May 5, 2010
As the title says, I own over twenty cabin books. This is by far my favorite design/floorplan book. It has 50+ different designs. The review about it simply being a series of identical designs with "expensive bump outs" and "no use of lofts" apparently didn't look at more than a few designs, nor read the actual text of the book. In the second half, the author addresses adding more floor-space cheaply by using lofts for sleeping areas. There are only a few designs with bump-outs, and if you don't like them, turn the page!

My favorite thing is the way the book is organized, the cabins are arranged in sq/ft. order as you look through the first half of the book, going from just over a hundred feet to almost 1,000 (but most are 600 sq/ft or fewer). Each design gets a floor plan and an elevation (exterior drawing), covering two pages per cabin.

The second half of the book gives excellent overview-level information about green building, energy efficiency, off-the-grid ideas, incorporating garages, RV-concepts, and even a few designs using shipping containers!

There is a great chapter on using modular designed 12' x 12' sections to create a mobile living space, whereby you can truck in your cabin, add to it as you can afford to, and even design your own cabin using 20 or so "modules" that the author pre-designed and included in the book (i.e. 4 bedroom modules, 4 kitchen modules, 4 bathroom modules, living rooms, dining areas, etc.). It's a really fun addition to the book.

This is not a book to go deep into any one subject, but it is an excellent overview for the new reader who wants a LOT of survey-level information on cabin concepts. And the 50 designs rank among my favorites for their creativity and individuality. How many round, half-round, quonset hut or yurt-style cabins have you seen in cabin books lately?

Like I said earlier, best design book I own. Buy this book, you will NOT be disappointed.

Any cabin builder will relish the design specifics and insights, April 12, 2010
COMPACT CABINS shows readers how to build a getaway dream cabin, offering over sixty designs outlining the cabin and using affordable, energy-efficient styles. Cabins range from 100 to 1,000 feet but are high in low-maintenance building materials, utility choices, and alternative energy. Any cabin builder will relish the design specifics and insights.

Disappointment..., March 6, 2010
For some time now, I've searched for a tiny cabin design for a getaway spot. I've followed many blogs, and looked at some of the commercial designs, but always wanted a "DIY" type project. Thus, I eagerly awaited this book, hoping to find a design amongst the 62 that I would like, and enough guidance to build it.

Unfortunately, this book disappoints. Primarily, this is because the designs are just...unappealing. There are really just a handful of designs here...many of the "plans" are just larger or slightly different variations of others in the book. And unfortunately, the core designs are pretty weak. Although I like a few of the ideas (clerestory windows to "give a more open feel," or some of the space-saving ideas transplanted from RV living, for example...hence at least a couple of stars), I'm flabbergasted at how inelegant the designs are in general. The author generally abandons standard features like sleeping lofts, and instead tacks on an odd variety of bump-outs, violating the appealing clean lines of many small homes/cabins, and increasing building complexity and costs (or at least, theoretically...there's no evidence that any of these designs have acutally been built). It's almost like the main building was designed, and when a floorplan didn't work, a random bumpout was added as an afterthought. Unfortunately, I'd say most of the plans are like this.

I'm afraid I'll have to go back to the drawing board...

Small Functional Cabin Plans at at it's best, November 6, 2010
Simply and probably the best in class, this book shows by actual plan designs how a tiny to small space can be effectively used to create a living area. It clearly shows cabin floor plans (including loft designs) layouts and outside dimensions with a nicely drawn picture that can be provided to a good builder for a strong estimation of room size, joist/rafter size, roof pitch, etc....in fact a good builder can likely design plans for local building authorities (if required) from the overhead views, this can save a lot of money for plans. This book is not for the flamboyant esoteric types who want to see full color interior views with flowers and wall hangings abounding. If you do however want to really consider a small cabin without a lot of frills (KISS), this IS the book you want to start with. Solar type roofs are also noted. Though not immediately apparent the last section of the book gives micro designs that I was really impressed with. This book is a true plan value, it should cost much more for the number and variation of plans you get. If you love small simple places and are looking for small functional plans, get it.

Small Cabin Designs, September 3, 2010
This is a really useful book of designs for "small" cabins. I had been looking for a book of plans for some mountain land on which to build a small cabin which would be off grid and make use of a composting toilet. Aside from box style plans, the small home design books of cabin plans started at 2700 ft and seemed more designed for the housing boom and very fancy log style cabins. If you are looking for a book of plans for a small cabin 600 - 1200 ft2 you will be happy with this book.

Environmentally friendly but the floor plans are terrible, February 14, 2010
This book has floor plans and drawings of the exteriors of 62 small cabins, from 136 square feet to a palatial 840 square feet, meant as a guide for people to draw up their own blueprints. The author does not sell blueprints for his designs. All have a rustic feel with an emphasis on economy, energy efficiency, and making a small carbon imprint.

The floor plans are not well laid out. I wanted to change something in every design. The kitchens are poorly designed with little storage space, none has a laundry area, and there is inadequate closet space for clothing, linens, and utility items. The bathrooms are cramped, and often the bathroom doorway opens on to a tiny L-shaped kitchen so people using both will collide with each other. The beds are either tucked in a corner with access on one side and at the foot, or in an alcove with access on only one side so one person has to climb over another to get out of bed, which could create tension after a while. And the bed is often far removed from a closet and the bathroom. I wouldn't want to live in any of these houses.

Best new small cabin book in years, May 15, 2010
I've been flipping through or reading these types of books for over twenty years now and this is the best IDEA book I've seen in over ten years. You won't find the perfect cabin here or detailed building plans, just plenty of ideas to choose from. Mix and match ideas to create your own design. If you are tired of the run of the mill junk how to books on the shelves today, pick up a copy of this (or be cheap like me and read it at the bookstore).

Lots of great ideas, February 17, 2010
This book encompasses a wide variety of floor plans and designs for tiny homes, I especially liked the modular section, because it helps you make up any design you want or need. There is even a small section on shipping container homes.
No one book can thoroughly cover every design concept for tiny homes, but this one does a nice job. Adapting the floor plans to your own needs is very simple.
This is a very useful book to keep in your library. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Great GREEN Remodeling Book Too!, March 9, 2009
It's almost a good thing Remodeling the Not So Big House wasn't out during my remodeling project. I think I would have slept with it under my pillow! I got so much out of a different book in the series that I had to run out and get Remodeling even though my remodeling is done!

It is as well-written, organized and photographed as the other books in the series. I am an EcoBroker Certified real estate agent so I was eager to review the green chapter. I agree with Susanka that, really, the whole book is a green book. The concepts go hand in hand...less space is more green, getting more out of every inch is green, making something beautiful so it lasts is green.

The concepts from the other books carry over. The Not So Big House made such a difference in the plans for our remodel. We were feeling really stuck because the idea of the 5th bedroom that our builder and architect suggested felt so wrong to us. We learned is that if you ask someone like that how to solve a problem they will solve it with a bigger blueprint or a bigger hammer. Not So Big Hosue gives a voice and confidence to the resisting going bigger to solve problems.

There were two outcomes in our design that I directly credit to inspiration from the books. First, we have this fantastic closet that solved our problem of creating a master bedroom in about 1/3 of the space. The bonus was that it also gave us the opportunity to do a facelift on the front exterior. Second, we were trying to maximize the kitchen space. One of the options to get an island in there was to close off the entry between the kitchen and the dining room. After reading the book I realized we would essentially be cutting off 400 square feet of space as we'd never have reason to use the dining room or the living room. Instead we decided to _open_ a doorway between the dining room and the hallway and remove sliding doors between the dining room and the living room. Finally we opted for a peninsula that forces flow between the dining room and the kitchen. Wow! The dining room is now this central gathering and landing space. And, it elevated the living room to more of the grown up family room. The end result is that we use the entire first floor all day long and will probably never have to finish our basement. And all you need is two preschoolers to tell you the flow works. They zoom around as if there are two connecting figure eights in the house...the dining room/kitchen/family room loop and the dining room/living room loop. Such great energy in the house. It's amazing how the whole thing fits together, yet gives us space when we need it. And now that we are done I realize it is the soffits that make the spaces work. We didn't consciously plan them but now that things are painted and assembled so we have rooms again I can really see it in action.

We are so grateful for the insights and inspiration we were hunting for! I'm sure you will find great inspiration in Remodeling the Not So Big House as well.

Sustainable remodeling, April 21, 2009
With Not So Big Remodeling: Tailoring Your Home for the Way You Really Live Sarah Susanka and co-author Marc Vassallo employ the mantra "build better, not bigger" to present a go-to resource book on sustainable design for homeowners and architects alike.
Using her own classic Cape style house as an example Susanka offers three options for efficient remodeling: work within the existing footprint; consider a small bump-out and lastly build an appropriate addition. Often minor changes are all that are needed to fix an awkward layout or improve flow within the house and the authors always emphasize integrating the old with the new so the house is cohesive and aesthetically pleasing.
The reader is challenged to really consider the way they live within their homes and although most of the book is dedicated to making small spaces more useful Susanka also tackles large houses that are out of proportion to the human scale and offers smart solutions to make them more comfortable.
Not So Big Remodeling is glossy enough to keep on the coffee table yet packed full of plans and blueprints and I would be happy to own it for the photography alone. Many of the houses featured have beautiful natural wood trim and doors with a Craftsman feel that is immediately appealing. But there's so much more to this book than obvious visual appeal, it contains tips and ideas on every page that can be incorporated into any remodeling project - large or small - including the updating of my house.

Not So Big for the rest of us!, September 15, 2009
Finally, a Not So Big optimized for those not stick-building their own home. Not only is revamping an existing home a greener option than building new (no matter how sustainable), it's often more financially feasible. Great overall update ideas as well as practical approaches to usability and beauty.

Anybody Can Do It, March 21, 2009
I ordered my copy of Not So Big Remodeling long before the release date. As soon as it arrived I flipped through every page. Then I began a thorough reading. Each floor plan prompted a good hour of study and comparison. As I revisit a particular passage for further understanding, there are more tidbits to be gleaned. Sarah Susanka and Mark Vassallo have done an amazing job of pulling together the aesthetic, the practical, and the economical aspects of transforming an existing house into one Not So Big. Sarah has invited us into her own personal spaces. By imagining her processes of living, working, creating, being in the settings pictured and described in the new book, she inspires images of our own Not So Big lives. I think of Sarah Susanka's collection of books as one story printed in several volumes. Maybe the collective title would be Solutions for Creating a Not So Big Life by Design Inside and Outside a Not So Big House.

A great resource, October 3, 2010
Other reviewers have already covered many of the things I admire about this book. I'd simply like to add a few other points.

The layouts are beautifully done. Having worked in publishing, I realize this never happens accidentally but is the result of careful planning and editing. The result here, which combines text, beautiful photos, blueprint-style sketches, helpful captions, pull-out quotes, sidebars, and bulleted lists, is so masterful it could serve as a textbook for graphic designers.

Sarah Susanka introduces many design concepts, such as "moving toward light" and "patterns," within the context of particular situations to show exactly how to make them work in existing spaces.

It's also obvious that her co-writer, Marc Vassallo, helped to keep the text lean yet expressive. Susanka herself confessed (in the preface to "More Not So Big Solutions for Your Home") that she has a tendency toward wordiness. That's not a problem here. Each section features a beguiling lead and then gets right to the point.

This book is a classic that I've turned to again and again whenever I need inspiration. And although we haven't moved any walls or done anything that's usually considered "remodeling," this book helped my husband and I redo several rooms -- with immensely satisfying results.

Great ideas to look at your home in a whole new way!, April 5, 2010
My family lives in a small, 90+ year old house and we are at the point where we need to decide to put a significant investment into upgrading the property or to dress it up for sale and buy something else. We love the location and the lot, but were having a hard time seeing how we could go another 15+ years in this house without a second bathroom or additional space.

This book opened my eyes to the possibility of keeping our home and rethinking how to make better use of its existing structure - without a major addition project. It is amazing to see where small, thoughtful changes could make HUGE differences (i.e. breaking through a wall to add a much needed breakfast bar & open up the kitchen to the dining room or the possibility of taking a piece of the three season porch and creating a first floor powder room).

I can't wait to sit down with my architect and discuss some of the solutions presented in Not So Big Remodeling!

If you are thinking of selling your "not so big" house, check out this book first. It may help you realize that you need to improve your existing space rather than add to it.

An excellent survey of modern design challenges and solutions, July 18, 2009
Tailor a home for the way you really live with this companion to THE NOT SO BIG HOUSE. It covers small changes that can be made in a home to change it, challenges modern remodeling wisdom to go beyond just square footage concerns, and encourages 'thinking better' for more efficiency and workability. An excellent survey of modern design challenges and solutions, this is a pick for any library catering to homeowners and apartment dwellers alike.

very disappointed!, March 30, 2009
I ordered this book with much anticipation....only to be let down when it arrived. I have her book the Not So Big House and love it and was hoping that this book would build on that one. Unfortunately it just rehashed that one and was WAY too heavy on the verbiage and preaching and light on the pictures, sketches, ideas, designs that I was looking for. Do yourself a favor and buy the Not So Big House and skip this one!!!

A Great Addition to the Series, March 31, 2009
The whole "not so big" series is wonderful. This is a great addition and especially relevant today when the McMansion trend is not as in favor. Live like royalty in your own small house! ... Read more

Editorial Review

The only step-by-step guide to building log cabins and log furniture—Pioneer style

There are other manuals on building cabins, but W. Ben Hunt's is the only one to show you how to build and furnish an authentic pioneer cabin-the easy, natural way, using only hand tools and the woods around you. Our ancestors used logs and hand tools to build durable, dry, windproof, and protective dwellings; and they fashioned chairs, tables, branches, and bushes. In this day of power saws, lumberyards, and high prices, it's good to know that you can build in the same way.

How to Build a Log Cabin
Part One provides complete directions for building cabins of three sizes: one-room, one-room and lean-to, and three-room. Just follow the clear instructions on every step of construction from choosing the site, clearing the tract, and building the foundation to installing fixtures, heating, and lighting.

How to Furnish a Log Cabin
If you're not ready to build an entire cabin, you can try your hand at some of the small furnishings such as lamps, fences, and candlesticks. Part Two tells all you need to know to build and finish rustic furniture for an entire home: benches, tables, chairs, beds, cots, shelves, candelabras, gates, arbors, wayside stands, even road signs and birdhouses.

"Two Books in One"
There are really two books in one here: Building a Log Cabin, published in 1947, and Rustic Construction, published in 1939. These two classics have been reproduced exactly as they first appeared, with the drawings and photographs that W. Ben Hunt selected and produced for the original editions. ... Read more

Reviews

Good But Incomplete, September 12, 2006
I built a log cabin in the 1980's using this book and two others. The cabin is still dry and clean and will probably stand for another 100 years, especially after adding a steel roof 8 years ago.

There is some very good information on various parts of the cabin. The book falls short in a few areas, however, because of newer technologies and available materials that can help keep a cabin strong and insect free for much longer. For instance, the use of "oakem" and mud for chinking which would always need replacing, perhaps yearly. A much better lifetime product would be PermaChink which you can find on the internet. Another example would be the building of cement piers without instructing about the use of a termite shield. A simple piece of angled flashing will keep termites from ever touching any wood of the cabin as long as the sill is at least 2 inches from the soil.

But these are things that COULD be added in an update. The info that was used looks like something from the 50s, so it's no surprise that the book is dated. However most of the log construction methods are solid. The tools may have changed but the concepts are basically the same.

If you are truly interested in the grueling-yet-fun experience of building a log cabin, I would also seek out "How to Build Your Home in the Woods" by Bradford Angier, as well as "Building a Log Cabin From Scratch" by Dan Ramsey. Each of these would help round out your education and the latter is the most modern and complete of these.

NOTE: Be prepared for HARD WORK over several months. This is not something to be attempted by lazy people!

Natural, rustic and simple, March 15, 1998
This 'older' book shows you in simple diagrams how to build rustic log structures and furniture the original way. I have used the methods to build a fantastic fence from trees harvested from my own property. I have also built most of the birdhouses. This book is not really for building a log cabin. It is the greatest book of folk art for rustic log furniture and structures I've ever seen.

great book, September 15, 1999
great book for beginners easy to read information lots of step by step details

A good book for sure; more req'd than what's in the woods around you though...., August 17, 2009
I loved the book. It will help you gain a better understanding of many of the details that must be considered when building a log cabin, from tools, to site selection, to the joints used in joining log corners, to the installation of windows and doors.

I will say though, that the part of the title "using only hand tools and the woods around you" is total bull. He calls for all kinds of things that cannot be foraged from the woods, like portland cement and 20 penny nails to name a couple.

I wish I could find a book that took that title to heart and actually used only natural materials; if such a book does exsist this is surely not the one.

VERY GOOD, December 18, 2008
I bought this book not planning to build a log cabin but just for general knowledge. The book is quite sound in it's advice although somebody building a log cabin today would certainly use some more modern techniques. However, I will say that if you needed to build a log structure basically by hand this book could probably get you through it. It may not be a resort but it will be dry.
I particularly liked the section on rustic furniture and fence building. I built several of the projects and they turned out quite well. This book is good for any fan of the outdoors and rustic building. Just amazing to think that not too long ago this is basically how things were done.

Great reference., January 13, 2008
One dream of mine & my boyfriend is to pull up stakes & move to a serene, remote area of the country. This book tells us everything we need to know to handle the housing portion of that dream.

It was a big hit here, January 23, 2007
I got this for my 12 year old son who was fasinated with the PBS special showing the man who built a cabin in Alaska. It was a big hit! He has been reading it ever since Christmas morning. He says it really tells you how to build and furnish a Log cabin - and what tools you need.
Anything that gets a 12 year old excited about reading is good in my book.

Cabin fever, January 30, 2010
Book is well written with outstanding illustrations on preperation and construction of a basic to complex log cabin. It also includes a section on furnishing a cabin, which is also one of his other books 'Rustic Construction', so its like getting two books in one. If you ever had a desire to build a cabin, this is the one book to get.

How to Build and Furnish a Log Cabin, January 9, 2010
I bought this book as a Christmas gift. The person I bought it for was very pleased with it.

cool, September 6, 2009
cool book in need of some more details but if your looking to dream about building a cabin this is a dream builder to start with ... Read more

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

The Big Book of Small House Designs is a collection of more than 500 drawings illustrating all aspects of 75 small homes of various styles, from a New England farmhouse to a sophisticated steel frame to a Santa Fe ranch. Each design includes detailed floor plans, section drawings, elevations, and perspectives, as well as a description of the materials used and landscaping around the home. Keeping in mind that a chief priority for a small home is often energy efficiency, most of the plans incorporate some energy-efficient element. There are dozens of plans suitable for every environment and climate in the country. The designs are all a direct result of several international competitions that solicited from architects the best homes of 1,250 square feet or less. Contact information for the architects is provided in the back of the book. ... Read more

Reviews

Too easy, September 18, 2004
While containing a number of intersting plans for small homes, this book falls short on several accounds. First, there is almost no text save what is on the inside of the jacket. That's right: no introduction, no methodology. There is no explanation of which competitions the plans were taken from or what awards they won. (Amusingly, I went to show my neighbor one of the plans that I liked. He said he liked it too but that it was an old plan from a competition in the early 90's. And would you believe that he happened to have a copy of the competition from which the plan was taken!)
Secondly, as to the plans themselves, dimensions are rarely marked and often unclearly. In the case of two or three of the plans this makes them nearly unintelligable.
The lack of wall sections or descriptions of materials used for the majority of the plans makes it impossible to understand the particulars of what makes the houses energy effecient.
In short, the book far from lives up to its description and isn't worth spending the money for a handful of plans since a person can look at plans all day long for free online.

Short on information and poor layout, June 6, 2005
The layout looks as if the home plans themselves were photocopied from elsewhere, often too small and without accompanying information about materials, why and how certain layouts work in the context, labels, etc; thus even as a catalogue of disparate houses that happen to win an architectural contest, this is not very useful. Further, despite being plans of 1250 sq ft or less, there was little in the way of explanation of how this space is designed to accomodate living. Because of the topic, I expected to see a variety of houses designed to fit various contexts (urban, rural, etc) and living situations within the 1250 sq ft. I'm sure there are better books out there on this topic; not being an architect I don't know if this book would be useful to help brainstorming ideas or whatnot.

Not even nice pictures, November 19, 2006
A compilation of few interesting ideas and very hard to see illustrations. Poor quality reproductions. No measurements at all. Furthermore the contact information in the back was not cross-referenced with the designs & listed no phone or web contact, just mailing addresses. Seems like the authors took the cheap and easy way out with a good idea.

Taunton Press's "The Cabin" is a much more inspiring & informational book.

I do not recommend this book.

Be aware that the sizes may not be accurate., August 1, 2006
This is an exact copy of a letter I received from Don Metz when I complained about one of the sub-1250 sq. ft. plans (from a different book) not being under 1250.

Dear Mr. Measuring Things Very Carefully,

Your letter was surely the most self-righteous, missing-the-point piece of work I've ever recieved. Frankly, it would please me no end if you did indeed become "very skeptical of any books that you or the other judges publish in the future because of what I perceive as incompetence." That way, I won't have to read another of your whiny little responses ever again. If you are so obsessed with measuring things, I suggest you try measuring your capacity to understand that the book is meant to feature and promote compact house design. What defines a compact house? Size, mostly. What size? Take your pick, Mr. Measuring Man. Small? Not big? Modest? Efficient? I couldn't care less if the houses featureed are a bit under or over the 1250 advertised -- and if your so-called "architectural background" had anything to do with anything other than the nit-picky measuring of things, (as if that were somehow crucial to the importance of architecture) -- you wouldn't either.
As for owing you an apology, I owe you nothing but my bemused contempt.
Sincerely,
Don Metz

P.S. Any response to this letter will be deleted, unread.

While I admit that I did use the term incompetence, I should also point out that the inability to accurately measure a house in a competition with a square footage limit is, in my opinion, incompetent. So I feel it was justified. If curious, here is the letter I wrote.

I would prefer if Mr. Metz would contact me, because this comment is very specifically directed at him and therefore he can most accurately respond.
I own the title New Compact House Designs and have a major complaint.
I have an architecture background and am currently designing a house that when finished will be sub-1250 square feet. I purchased the book to give me some ideas about what I might do to squeeze the most out of the space. I was pleasantly surprised to see the winning design was very full featured. It was only when I attempted to apply some of the concepts in the house that I realized that it is not even close to 1250 square feet. The back cover of the book states that these houses had the following guideline: "design a single-family house with a minimum of two bedrooms whose gross floor area does not exceed 1250 square feet." Gross floor area is the covered area within the exterior edge of the exterior walls of a minimum ceiling height of 7'6" (typ.) not including areas that are open to the elements such as porches. I suspect that the winning house would not even qualify if you measured based on the interior of the exterior walls. The only way I think it can come close is if you subtract all the interior and exterior walls. I have not checked all of the other house plans, but I will be very curious to discover how many followed the requirements of the competition.
My questions are the following. 1) Why did you not check the designs to make sure they fit the size limit? 2) Do you plan on doing a second printing retracting those designs that failed to meet the size limits and ask that the ineligible winners return any sort of award they received? 3) Does this fiasco not shoot your whole small house attitude in the foot if you yourselves prefer larger houses and award larger houses instead of small houses in your own competition?
I will be very skeptical of any books that you or the other judges publish in the future because of what I perceive as incompetence. I think that you owe an apology to anybody who purchased this book and especially to the architects who submitted designs that followed the rules and lost.
I will be very curious to hear your response, and in the meantime I will very carefully measure the designs.


Just thought I would share my experiences with this editor.

Waste of Time, April 20, 2008
I knew the book wouldn't be a great resource but I thought it might have some reason for having been published other than the author and publisher just trying to cash in on the "not so big" / "green" trend.

There is really no redeeming quality in this book. Most of the houses are severely outdated and are poorly proportioned. Except for one or two, they don't even look designed by an architect, they just look like run-of the mill cracker boxes, some with poorly planned additions. There's no useful information on how to best economize space or anything. The "design" information is useless because the illustrations are so bad they are painful to look at. Some are so muddy, it looks as if the book were published using water damaged drawings and a broken Xerox machine.

I apologize for not editing this review, but this book has already wasted enough of my time. If you're looking for something more current, try James Grayson Trulove's 25 Houses Under 1500 Square Feet. It's more design oriented, even if does have a lot of filler. It's not a 5 star by any stretch of the imagination. At least his illustrations are legible and the photos make the book look produced by professionals that actually care about design and architecture.

Some excellent ideas, some not so good., October 27, 2005
This book contains a collection of small, unique house plans and BLACK AND WHITE DRAWINGS (no photographs). Some of the homes are up to date and very creative. Others seem dated. There are a few problems including the one on page 5 where the illustration for level two is exactly like level three. I guess I could have seen it; this page is in the Amazon preview pages.

Overall, I'm glad I bought the book for the many unique floorplans, but need to buy a magnifying glass to go with it. The illustrations are fairly small.

Author's apology, August 19, 2010
As one of the putative "Authors" of this book, I'm dismayed at Black Dog and Leventhal's sloppy work and failure to involve -- or even notify me -- that they were publishing this thing back in 2004. They essentially scrambled houses from two books I'd previously done with Storey Publishing and presumably -- I've never met or spoken with the other four "authors" -- used their ideas as well. I recieved one modest check after the book was in production and haven't seen a cent since. Nasty business and a pretty useless book, I'd say. I'm ashamed to have my name on the cover.
Don Metz

Bait and Switch, June 22, 2009
From the Misleading cover - I surmised I would be looking at many recent designs. Instead the book is full of recycled house designs that appear to be right out of the Grocery Store "101 exciting house plans" . Many were probably "contemporary" in 1978? After carefully searching the book - I discovered the fabulous house on the cover is merely a stock image from Getty and is not in the book [ nor anything like it.] The house designs that are included lack any meaningful information - actually less than the Grocery store books. I judged the book by its cover - my bad.

Just what I was looking for, April 10, 2007
This book is a great source for small house designs. Has great plans and elevations of what the house looks like from the outside. It has a nice variety of styles and ideas that you could actually use. They also use a variety of materials used on the houses..Giving you the option to use other things like metals and woods in unconventional ways.

good book, needs overall measurements, November 10, 2006
good book, needs overall measurements in diagrams, square footage of first floor not always easy to determine ... Read more

Editorial Review

It seems that almost everyone likes treehouses. Smiles of recognition turn into grins of enthusiasm as more people discover them and dream about making their own private retreats or family play spaces. And it's nice to remind ourselves that treehouses are built into the oldest and most forgiving, living things on earth. Also, history records treehouses as being built as deliberate follies, as challenges forarboreal designers, for merrymaking, and for keeping the spirit of fairy tales alive. But treehouses can also be social places. We will visit many that were built to entertain, to hang out with friends, or as guest houses. Trees welcome all types.

Master treehouse builders Peter and Judy Nelson, with David Larkin, have embarked on yet another treehouse-discovery expedition across America, this time adding the investigation of backyard playhouses to their agenda. Now, in The Treehouse Book, they reveal their findings, illustrated and described in the most complete volume yet. From casual treeshacks made from discarded lumber to multitiered feats of fancy, they found shelters representing myriad builders-interesting characters ranging from childhood fanatics grown up, to weekend carpenters, to those who want their grandkids to have the best clubhouse on the block.

Detailed how-to information, including plans and drawings, is woven with behind-the-scenes tales of each structure's occupants and stunning interior and exterior photographic explorations. ... Read more

Reviews

Excellent coffee table book, February 27, 2006
This book has some excellent pictures of treehouses. I love it! It is one of my favorite treehouse books. It is not for someone looking to build a treehouse; for that, i recommend "Home Tree Home", by Peter Nelson. Back in 1999, I built my own treehouse, primarily using ideas from "Home Tree Home" and prior treehouse building experience. I lived in it for 5 years.

Out on a Limb, September 14, 2000
This book might look good on a coffee table, but that's about all. It gives little information on how to build treehouses and lacks the genearal knowledge of other treehouse authors. If you want the best book on treehouses, check-out the original, The Treehouse Book, by David Stiles. His book gives detailed designs on how to build many different treehouses and helps you decide which one is best for you. Mr Stiles has written on the subject for over thirty years and has published several other books on treehouses, including, Tree Houses You Can Actually Build. These books enlighten and inform, rather than just visually stimulate. Anyone interested in learning about or building a treehouse would do well to pass on this book and go straight to the source--Mr Stiles--the treehouse guru.

Magical Craftsmanship and Time to Dream, September 20, 2000
I have read every one of Peter Nelson's books, and he is not only a beautiful writer, but also a gifted craftsman. If you want to dream about living in the trees or even make it a reality...each of these books will give you a wonder-filled ride through the pages as well as technical information and all the motivation you might need to build your own. The stories and photographs are breath taking and alive. I have been lucky enough to witness Peter Nelson's craftsmanship in person, but it also comes alive through the pages of all three of his books. Go buy each one of the books right away and see for yourself the wonder of "living out on a limb". Fantastic!

The World of Treehouses, June 29, 2000
This book opens up a world that for most of us has been closed since childhood, a world of playhouses nestled in and among trees. With brilliant photography the authors have arrayed for us a variety of unique playhouse conformations in settings that are startling in their beauty and bewildering in their design. Especially notable are the play structures by the artist, Barbara Butler. This book is a bountiful source of ideas and inspiration for those contemplating something special for their children. Or, for that matter, for anyone who has a hankering to spend some time a little closer to nature in a less than conventional setting.

You can judge a book by its cover!, March 8, 2007
This book along with Treehouses of the World are inspirational page after page. If you are a fan of treehouses, this book is a must in your collection.

The Treehouse Book, June 24, 2000
The book was very well writen. It was very descriptive and I would reccomend the book for anyone who wants to design a treehouse. It was packed full of information. I would read over and over again. It's really a great book.

Review for the Treehouse Book, May 9, 2008
I really liked the whole book, but I especially liked the part about kids treehouses. Some of them were homemade, and some of them were built by an artist. Before I read the book, I was wondering what different treehouses look like. I thought the treehouses with a loft and a ladder would be lots of fun to explore. Some of the treehouses were hotels. One of the treehouses was built by a robber! He had used it as a place to store his disguises. I thought it was a very good book.

might just blow your mind, March 2, 2008
This is the third book from Peter Nelson of Treehouse Workshop. His previous two delved in depth into treehouse construction. This work is more a survey of the many wonderful treehouses to be found throughout the world. It is crammed with quality color photographs and, unlike a previously reviewed work, has a unifying narrative throughout.

Peter starts you off with a very useful section entitled "Choice of Tree". There he briefly touches upon suitability of various tree species to treehouse construction and provides a mini sketch of each tree species with a treehouse. Immediately after comes some very accurate arboriculture advice from Jonathan Fairoaks. It's nice to find a treehouse book that gets this part right for a change.

For me, the real value of this book is in the tour it takes you on of many notable treehouse. I bring this book to meetings with clients so they can see the many incredible things possible. And for those who've never considered it possible that a treehouse could be any more than a small, roughly built box, this book will blow their minds.

What this book lacks is building advice. It's not a "how-to" book. There really is no great "how-to" book out there. Even so, highly recommended.

The treehouse book, July 5, 2007
This book has the best pictures and if your looking for ideas
and inspiration, this is the book to buy.

The Treehouse Book Review, January 11, 2007
This book is just as good as the front cover picture suggests: pie-in-the-sky treehouses. The kind that you dreamed about as a kid? Its obvious from this book that some adults still think about and make their dreams become beautiful structures in reality. If you ever wanted a pictoral book of treehouses representing your wildest imaginations, this is the book for you! ... Read more

Editorial Review

Reviews

Better than The first book, October 11, 2000
It's rare that a sequel is better than the original. This was one of them. Where The Not So Big House was pretty and pretty much content-free, this book provided real floorplans, and real houses, which I feel helped to communicate Susanka's ideas more clearly.

I also found this book far less irritating than the first, and therefore more useful, in no small part because some of her hard -- and alienating -- positions have been considerably softened. No longer does she claim that dining rooms are obsolete because "nobody uses them" (I do). She seems much more willing to accept that there are lots of different lifestyles out there, and a house should be built to work with the lifestyle of its owners.

If you are in the planning phases for a new house, or are just looking for ideas on how to make your current house more liveable, this is an excellent resource. In fact, I would suggest that you skip the first book altogether.

Not so big book..., September 18, 2000
This is a beautifully illustrated book that seeks to demonstrate, that when it comes to homes, smaller may be better. The book is well organized and thoughtful, presenting key concepts for creating the 'not so big house.' If I have any regrets, its that the book doesn't go far enough--all but two of the featured houses are over 1,000 square feet, and the majority of the concepts still require large budgets to execute. I was hoping to see more affordable concepts and solutions illustrated. Still, for anyone looking for ideas for implementing the concepts of smallness, this book is worthwhile.

More great ideas from Susan Susanka, May 29, 2001
Here, Susan Susanka picks up where she left off in The Not So Big House. In some places, it seems that this book is almost a response to the negative reviews in this forum of her first book. One of the most important additions is a sidebar on page nine, where she clarifies the meaning of Not So Big:

". as a rule of thumb, a Not So Big House is approximately a third smaller than your original goal but about the same price as your original budget. The magic is that although the house is smaller in square footage, it actually feels bigger. I'm not advocating that people live in small houses and get used to feeling cramped. A Not So Big House feels more spacious than many of its oversized neighbors because it is space with substance, all of it in use every day."

In summary, this is not a way to save money, but a way to use the existing budget more effectively. The money saved on square footage is invested in the little things that make a house a home: built i!n bookcases, storage solutions, clutter areas, reading nooks, and other architectural features which most designers omit.

In principal, there is no reason these ideas could not be applied to any style and to any budget. Susanka unwittingly raised the first question in her original book, when many critics complained of the sameness of design. She answers it here. The bulk of the work is a survey of 25 projects of other architects from around the country. Because so many designers are represented, we see a much greater variety of styles in this book.

If there is a common thread among these projects, it is the use of partial walls, which divide spaces while keeping sight lines open. Rooms are constructed on a modest scale, but seem larger because of the design. Spaces are also defined by variations in ceiling heights, a device which can be as inexpensive as a soffit. The designers also put a lot of thought into built ins and other little touches which make a big di!fference everyday living. There is also a great deal of good design here, and some (but not all) of the ideas can be achieved without a large budget.

The organization of the book invites browsing. One tends to pick out sections in random order rather than cover to cover. There is a great deal in this book which doesn't appeal to me as an idea for my own house, but I still enjoy the range of ideas which are represented here.

In her final chapters, the author raises, but does not settle, the second question: whether such designs are possible for a project on a tight budget. She talks at great length about the factors which add to the cost of a house. In the two final examples, both from her own firm, she presents two versions of the same house: the Back to Basics House, and the Whole Nine Yards House. The two use the same basic footprint, but there the resemblance ends. The first uses inexpensive materials and a minimum of detailing. Visual interest was added with !careful attention to paint color and occasional lowered soffits. The second house makes extensive use of wood and stone, bump-outs, a shed dormer and other features which double the price of the house. It is a fascinating discussion, and by itself worth the cost of the book.

Since the source of her material is other architects, the projects presented here tend to be on the expensive side. If money is the ultimate concern, it is hard to justify an architect's fee. In addition, the construction of homes follows the same economic laws as the manufacture of any other product, whether it be computers or automobiles. Truly affordable products are produced in large quantities on an assembly line. As customization increases, so does the price. Even though homes are built one at a time, tract home builders (who build the homes that most of us live in) find economies of scale which allow them to compete on price. The projects featured here involve quite a bit of design, and that !alone places a limit on their affordability.


The plans for many of these houses are available by mail order. That is a major step in the right direction. If a tract home builder ever picks up on these principles, that is when we will start to see a major impact. That is something we can all look forward to.

Overpriced for what it is..., September 21, 2000
Although this book shares some interesting ideas and several spectacular design solutions to severe space constraints, I have two complaints about the format. The first is that you really need to have read the first "Not So Big House" book to understand the concepts illustrated here; as such, this book is really a supplement, and, I think, doesn't justify the hefty price tag. Second, many of the houses shown are built by people with, apparently, ample budgets; it would have been nice to see a discussion about how much the projects cost, to give those of us who aren't lawyers or executives an idea of what we can expect before consulting an architect.

Sarah Susanka - The Martha Stewart of Home Design, October 6, 2000
I have read this book, as well as Ms. Susanka's previous book, The Not So Big House, and I have found this latest edition particularly clarifying for me in the concepts of the NSBH. It has concrete example after example of the design principles that Ms. Susanka discusses in her first book, then reviews these principles at the beginning of Creating the NSBH so that if the reader hasn't read the first book, they can still follow along very intelligently and get some great ideas for their own NSBH. As a residential builder/developer, Ms. Susanka has put forth a new paradigm in residential architecture, on the cutting edge much in the same way as does Martha Stewart promote in her various media outlets, and her passion for hearth and home is as strong or stronger than Martha's is. Whether or not you like Martha, she is the expert in homemaking in America today, just as Ms. Susanka is the expert in residential architecture that feeds the soul and creates a balance of quality vs. quantity, and cost vs. being cheap. I highly recommend this book as well as her previous book. I also agree with the previous reviewer's comment that A Pattern Language was written for design professionals and is generally too technical for the average lay person. Our company is employing the design principles Ms. Susanka promotes in her books, and to date, we have had good success with them.

Beautiful, but not revolutionary, February 25, 2001
This is a lovely book, with luscious color photography; the houses depicted are beautiful in every detail. There is some overlap with other Taunton books, e.g. Fine Homebuilding's More Small Houses, but at least they haven't recycled the text to accompany the houses. As a dream book, it succeeds wonderfully. But there are some disappointments for the practical-minded. "Not So Big" turns out not to mean much for those of us on a less than astronomical budget; it seems intended primarily as an alternative to the suburban McMansion phenomenon, for those with more than a quarter million to spend. Some of the houses in this book are 3000 sq. ft., for goodness' sake! While there are some little gems by the architects Ross Chapin and Robert Knight, for example, many of the houses presented are not really small houses at all, just smaller than the architects' clients could have afforded. Fans of affordable housing may want to look elsewhere for a practical vision; the rich and tasteful will be pleased.

Beautiful, November 25, 2000
The photos in this book are really gorgeous! The creative use of wood, stone, color and decorative touches make small spaces both functional and visually appealing. There are numerous unexpected storage spaces which help keep small areas tidy-looking. There are also examples of renovations which help make small spaces look bigger. Small doesn't have to mean dark, drab and crowded. This would be a great gift for a pack rat or anyone who lives in a small home.

A Great Supplement, December 14, 2000
A terrific book, though only as a supplement to the original, which might be necessary to have around to understand some of the ideas. To that extent it might be considered a bit overpriced. But that aside, the theme of making a lot out of smaller space couldn't be presented better. The illustrations are fabulous and helpful, and while some of the houses appear to have been built with more than a modest budget, the ideas can easily be converted to a smaller monetary scale. A great idea mine for turning your small house into your dream home.

More depth than her first book, October 5, 2000
I'm a big fan of the Not So Big House and had great expectations for more from Sarah Susanka. Creating the Not So Big House really lived up to my expectations. I agree with the reviewer who said many of the ideas came from A Pattern Language. But as good as that book is, it's ideas are mostly hidden from homeowners (non architects like myself) because of its density and eccentric character. And A Pattern Language also doesn't speak to me in language I can understand, with examples I can relate to. Creating the Not So Big House translates these timeless ideas into real houses that were built for real people. It helps me see how a good house works.

Beautiful to look at......, January 2, 2002
.....but hard to achieve unless one has lots of money to spend.

Ms. Susanka has written another lovely-to-look-at book, with many good ideas which other reviewers have more than adequately described. I too wish that more home designers put some thought into the aesthetics of what they are creating.

The problem with this book, and with her previous one, is that the "look" and "feel" she espouses are so far beyond the realm of financial possibility for most people. I wish that her next book would be more realistic and address the issues of how to achieve such aesthetics without spending a fortune. That kind of book would be a BIG help to most home buyers.

I liked that this book traversed the United States and that many architects were represented in it.

I have been lucky enough to have built four custom-designed homes over the past 25 years. This kind of home is incredibly pricey to build. I incorporated some of Ms. Susanka's ideas from her first book in the last house which I built and they were great ideas - but very expensive to achieve.

One previous reviewer mention McMansions and their cookie-cutter designs....Perhaps this book will give some buyers- who have the wherewithall to build such houses -the confidence to spend some of their money on a better design. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Building small can be a sign of higher ambitions, and those who take the time to peruse these pages will undoubtedly grow to appreciate that creating a small home can be an amazingly positive and creative act, one which can enhance life in surprising ways.

THE VERY SMALL HOME presents stunning design advances in Japan. Eighteen recent houses, from ultramodern to Japanese rustic, are explored in depth. Particular emphasis is given to what the author call the Big Idea—the overarching concept that does the most to make the house feel more spacious than it actually is. Among the Big Ideas introduced here are ingenious sources of natural light, well-thought-out atriums, snug but functional kitchens, unobtrusive partitions, and free-flowing circulation paths.

An introduction by the author puts the house designs in the context of lifestyle trends, and highlights their shared characteristics. For each project, the intentions of the designers and occupants are examined. The result is a very human sensibility that runs through the book. a glimpse of the dreams and aspirations that these unique homes represent and that belies their apparent modesty.

The second half of the book is devoted to illustrating the special features in the homes, from clever storage and kitchen designs, to ingenious skylights and nooks. As with his earlier SMALL SPACES, Azby Brown has given home owners, designers, and architects a fascinating new collection of thought-provoking ideas. ... Read more

Reviews

Architecture book celebrating the Japanese Modern Mini, June 3, 2005
Japan is a country with a large population and very limited living space. Due to its mountainous geography, there is a tradition going back centuries for comfortable living in small areas. A classic of Japanese literature is Kamo no Chomei's "Account of a 10-Foot-Square Hut." Traditional Japanese homes are built to be convertible, to maximise space with collapsible furniture that can be stored and multipurpose rooms that can have walls removed to create bigger spaces when necessary.

Building on this need and tradition is the current architectural Small House movement, where new homes are built on miniature lots, maximizing the space with a surprising efficiency. There are TV shows and books galore on the topic in Japan, and the ideas are starting to creep over in to the US as well, with book such as "The Very Small Home: Japanese Ideas For Living Well In Limited Space."

"The Very Small Home" is a showcase for some of these architectural marvels, eighteen of them to be precise. Each building begins with a different problem to be solved; an ancient tree that must be accommodated by law, a tiny lot in Tokyo that needs to fit two houses. My favorite is the family who each inherited a portion of their parents home. One child inherited the driveway, and needed a long, thin house where he could live in on his section of the land. Going for a traditional feel, the architect created one of the most beautiful homes in the book, complete with tiny garden and a luxurious traditional bath. Many of the solutions are quite ingenious, and the photographs of the homes are beautiful to look at.

What the book is not is a guide to better utilizing existing small-space homes. These are definitely architectural solutions, not interior design or decorating solutions. A lot of money went into these houses, and unless you are willing to completely tear down and rebuild your little living space, there won't be much here for you.

For what it is, however, the books succeeds very well, and those interested in architecture as well as those looking to build a small home of their own will probably be amazed at the creativity and beauty of these buildings. The homes are much more modern than traditional, featuring the sparsity of modern Japanese design. I can't help but think of a master-crafted piece of sushi, reverently sitting on a pristine white plate. Small, but incredible.

Yes, They Are Small, February 27, 2006
While I would agree that the 18 homes profiled in this beautifully designed and produced book are very stark and modern for most people's tastes (I certainly couldn't imagine living in any them), I want to clarify a misrepresentation one of the reviewers made. 11 of the 18 houses featured here have floor plans of under 1,000 square feet, and another 4 are right around 1,200 or less-- the smallest is "T-Set House" at 618. About half of the homes are occupied by couples, and the other half are by families of three or four. So, it does have a lot to show one in terms of living in a small space. Of course, a lot of the living solutions cater to the Japanese format of futons on tatami, which are then put away so that the space is usable the rest of the day, so it's not exactly brimming with solutions for the average person. Still, for design or architecture buffs, or just house porn afficianados, each house gets a nice 5-10 photos and is well-explained with cutaway and 3/4 view diagrams. And if one is really interested in the style, the homes profiled are all in the greater Tokyo area and their addresses (and architect contact info) are all listed in the back.

Rethinking square footage, June 13, 2005
Brown has given us rare access into the homes of Japanese architectural trendsetters. The footprints of these houses may be small but what they lack in floor space is compensated by an airy ambiance. There are translucent walls that fill spaces with light, walls that open like huge shoji screens to merge the inside living space with the outdoors. Clever storage units tuck everything away, leaving clean uncluttered expanses that seem spacious even by Mac Mansion standards. The book definitively illustrates that less is indeed more.

The Spiritual Home, August 8, 2005
Azby Brown's skills just might finally be realized in his native country. What a breath of fresh air he brings to housing! This country needs less of the expensive mega-residences and over-priced, dysfunctional condos and townhouses. We need more "small communities" of creative villages consisting of Brown's beautiful and functional little houses that could be afforded by the first-time buyer and appreciated for its simplicity by the retired. I loved his Small Spaces, love The Very Small Home more, for the perceptive color photos and exceptionally detailed drawings.

Although the Engawa House is the perfect home, ranch style, and the Home in Kyodo the ultimate family home, my favorite remains Koizumi's Sumire-Aoi House. As a retiree, I'd love to own this house with one modification, a disappearing bed, Murphy style. There is a deeply spiritual quality to Brown's houses that bring a sense of peace and contentment just looking at them, over and over. To live in one of the houses in this book would be to live on a spiritual plane far above the mega-millionaire!

John Viveiros
Las Vegas, NV

Homes of magic and wonder, June 3, 2005
Did you ever have a tree house as a child? I did. It was set in a weeping willow tree. The play of light from the leaves over the canvas cover was magical. The Very Small Home by Azby Brown evokes the same feelings in me... feelings of magic and wonder. Brown explores modern the fascinating world of modern Japanese architecture with a seasoned sense of style and design.

The book is beautiful. The images are gorgeous. It is truly fascinating the way these modern Japanese architects have used light among other techniques to create small homes with that appear so open... so roomy. Yet, at the same time they have a coziness that can not be matched by their larger Western counterparts.

Brown gives all the details architect buffs want - floor plans, elevations, coding, etc. without boring the casual reader. The photography is first class - a work of art in itself.

The second part of the book is filled with practical applications of design elements gleaned from these amazing homes.

Whether you are an architect buff, an aficionado of Japanese culture or just someone who wants ideas for creating more space in your home, this book is a must-buy. (It looks great on your coffee table too.)

Popcorn reading, August 1, 2005
One thing that stood out from this book offering would be Kengo Kuma's essay defining and exploring the definiton of living well in limited space. Credit goes to the author of choosing small homes of different themes. I would have to say that many of homes featured here wouldn't be conducive to day-to-day living from Westeners' point of view. As everyone would be aware of, land is a precious asset in Japan and thus, many of homes here are actually going upwards instead of spreading flatwards. Those that are spreading flatwards are mainly built in the occupants' families' land which I'm sure would go back centuries. Whilst it's a novel idea to challenge the ideal of building small homes, it doesn't necessarily mean that savings can be actualised. Rather, suffice to say that this challenge fall into the realm of the intellects and cerebrals who are testing the limitation on architecture. Detailing plans are provided with amples of photos. Readers are pledged to read this book with an objective mind and there are bits and pieces that can be implemented elsewhere but in many instances, some ideas are totally unique to Japanese setting. Still, an enjoyable reference book to have. Commendable reading.

Origami you can live in, or at least marvel at..., May 28, 2008
I LOVE this book! I don't think I could live in most of these houses... But, oh wow, would I love to spend a weekend.

In the truest Japanese tradition, these very, very small homes are morsels of perfection. No detail is too small; no corner neglected.

Somehow, ancient Japanese design seems modern. So these "modern" homes, in the Japanese context, carry on tradition.

My favorite house may be the little gem squeezed into what was a long, narrow driveway. It manages to be private, spacious, light filled and warm, AND incorporate a charming courtyard between the kitchen and traditional bathhouse.

There are so many ingenious ideas packed between the covers of this book. If you love architecture or small houses or big houses or live in a house or apartment or refrigerator box (especially the box--it's roughly the size of some of these houses) you may enjoy this book.

My main objection to these designs, is that I would require more privacy for the master bedroom. Many of them were open loft types, many of them barely segmented from the children's space. But, I still marveled at these tiny wonders. Some had the aura of cathedrals.



Highly recommended.

Exceptional insights, December 13, 2008
As I work through the major renovation of my 750 sqft loft I've bought and closely reviewed the design strategies and tricks from about 20 books on small apartments and lofts. Beyond a doubt this book has provided more practical, cost effective insights than any other (also see "Small Lofts"). In particular, this book contains engaged descriptions that go far beyond the typical coffee table book of merely impressive photographs.

This book is about the specific challenges found in Japanese home design including air rights issues that I doubt exist in most of the USA, but the solutions to these foreign problems are just as useful here (for solving other challenges) as they are in Japan. I strongly recommend this book!

Fun book, well put together, June 12, 2009
This is a fun book that can be perused many times without getting tired of it. It is well put together. It features twenty small Japanese houses (including two in the introduction) in the Tokyo area, all of contemporary architecture. There isn't much available land in Tokyo so the architects had to use their imaginations to put everything in a small space. Four pages are devoted to each house, two for photos, one for large 3-D floor plan drawings, and one for the text and a cross section drawing of the different levels or stories.

The rooms appear spacious because they are sparsely furnished, as the Japanese value simplicity. Living areas often have only a dining table and chairs and sometimes a couch or a bookcase, and the bedrooms only have space enough for a bed, storage, and sometimes a desk. The kitchens save space with compact appliances that until recently were not made in the USA. And the toilets are usually put in tiny cubicles separate from the bathing area, which has a tub and/or a shower with a curtain but no stall. The tiniest house has a footprint of less than 18' square and only 533 square feet of floor space, including the loft, and a family with two children live there.

To bring nature to an urban setting where there isn't a tree in sight, several houses are built around a garden courtyard that also illumines the interior rooms that would otherwise be dark. One house has a separate bathing house with grass growing on its roof and views of a private garden. Another house has all its rooms in a row with sliding glass doors that can be pulled back so every room is open to the small yard, including the bathroom that has no door!

informative/inspiring, February 5, 2009
The original description from Amazon was very accurate. I found the book informative and beautiful to look at. The details at the back of some of the houses were terrific. I liked also that they were built to fit in a certain space. The draw back for me was that everything was virtually custom made so the expense had to be great. I am always looking at tiny spaces for living coupled with a modest cost. It was a good book for storage ideas also, there were some wonderful storage solutions shown. ... Read more

Editorial Review

On a farmlike compound near New Hope, Pennsylvania, George Nakashima, his family, and fellow wood-workers create exquisite furniture from richly grained, rare timber. Tables, desks, chairs, and cabinets from this simple workshop grace the homes and mansions and executive boardrooms of people who prize such excellence. In this lavishly illustrated volume, George Nakashima allows us in intimate look at his artistry, his philosophy, his life. It is the portrait of an artisan who strives to find the ideal use for each plank in order to "create an object of utility to man and, if nature smiles, an object of lasting beauty."

The author's search for the meaning of life took him as a young man to Paris, Tokyo, and Pondicherry, India. In India, he found the inner peace for which he had been searching and began to find ways to work with timber. He writes movingly about the grandeur of ancient trees and stunning figured woods and explains how he selects and prepares his materials. Above all, he impresses us with his devotion to discovering the inherent beauty of wood so that noble trees might have a second life as furniture. The Soul of a Tree looks at the world through the eyes of an artist and evokes the joy of living in harmony with nature. ... Read more

Editorial Review

America's most famous architect was obsessed with small houses. Even though this exciting aspect of his work has been long overlooked, the truth is that Frank Lloyd Wright spent most of his career addressing the problems of houses intended for individuals or small families of modest means. In the only book on the master architect to focus on "the house of moderate cost," Wright expert Diane Maddex takes the reader inside a selection of his small houses from across the country, turning the spotlight on Wright's ingenious solutions to make these homes look and feel large. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build shows how average "do-it-yourself" families can easily and affordably bring to life a "Hobbit's Treehouse," a "Pirate's Playhouse," or a "Crow's Nest" in their own backyards! There are a lot of books out there filled with enchanting photos of elaborate treehouses and playhouses built by professionals and costing tens of thousands to build. For the rest of us, there's bit of elbow grease, a lot of imagination, a trip to the hardware store-and Treehouses & Playhouses You Can Build.

Reviews

Perfect for the young builder, February 20, 2008
This is the latest installment in a long string of wonderful books from David and Jeanie Stiles. Inside you won't find glossy, double page spreads of extravagant treehouses ... this is not a coffee table book. Rather, it is a how-to book, and the best one available for those that want to build their own whimsical play structure. Inside you will find excellent line drawings and readable explanations of intelligent, creative, and well though-out designs.

David starts with the basics: tools. From there you follow a complete and logical progression to completed treehouse. In between you'll get solid building advice. David has built his designs. He knows how to make life easier for you by using common materials and minimizing cuts. The building advice is spot on throughout.

The huge, huge, huge problem with this book is the 20 or so options David gives you for connecting lumber to tree. They are almost all bad. Never girdle a growing limb with rope or cable. Never use nails. This leaves you with only lag bolting. To be sure, there are other ways. But the only safe and tree-friendly way presented in this book (and any of his other works) is to use lags.

This is the by far the best book to give to a young builder and is probably a treasure to any 8 or 9 year old lucky enough to have a copy. It will get their mind working. The crazy schemes they come up with will amaze you.

The ideas inside this book are great. Fun, imaginative, unique. If you know a young boy (or girl) with a tree, get him this book. And when it comes time to actually build their creation, call an arborist and he'll set you straight about properly attaching it to a tree.

Great Treehouse Book!, March 8, 2007
This book is a wonderful how-to book for those who need all the help they can get on building a treehouse. The plans are great and we are building the basic treehouse which is perfect for our 8 and 5 year old kids. Lots of ideas on everything from picking trees, buying lumber, safety tips, to flexible extras. We bought all three of David Stiles treehouse books and this was by far the best and we could have just bought this one and been happy but are glad to have them all. Would highly recommend to parents contemplating building a treehouse or for kids who want to dream of one.

What a wonderful book!, October 10, 2006
This book is a must-have for anybody interested in building treehouses, sheds or small out-buildings of any kind! It is filled with all the information an amateur would need with step-by-step instructions on the building process, tools and materials and inspirational photographs of projects by other amateur builders that will inspire and motivate anybody interested in trying a building project in their backyard. The authors have provided clear, concise instructions and have taken the intimidation out of building. The authors are clearly interested in the reader having a joyful, successful building experience. Our own building projects have all been inspired by Jeanie and David Stiles' encouraging books. Thank you!

All the information you need, April 19, 2007
This book is great. Lots of great ideas and detailed explanation on how to build a treehouse/playhouse. From how to choose the best tree to many different house plans. We just finished building a treehouse and this was the only guide we used.

Step-by-step easy directions, November 5, 2006
Plenty of home handyman titles include kids' playhouses as an aside to a larger garden project; but where else will you find a construction kit entirely devoted to such? Here's something the average 'do it yourself' worker with kids can easily and affordably accomplish - and as an added take, it offers 'themes' for playhouses and treehouses, too. The entire family is encouraged to work together on these projects; not just the husband - making them wonderful picks for families who would join forces to get the job done. Step-by-step easy directions are accompanied by diagrams, patterns and photos throughout.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

A good book to get a view on tree houses, January 2, 2010
This book is a good one if you want to get visual information and ideas what tree houses could be. Excellent to obtain new ideas. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Cabins are simple, sometimes primitive structures, but the heart of each cabin - a treasury of feelings, sensations, and memories of family and friends - makes them special. The Cabin presents 37 inspiring examples, showing how people are building, reclaiming, transforming, or buying this basic form of American residential architecture for a chance at the good life. The book includes 248 color photos and 50 color illustrations, site plans, floor plans, and covers the four basic styles: rustic, traditional, transformed, and modern. In the process it celebrates the possibilities and pleasures of cabins as both shelter and a way of life. ... Read more

Reviews

Not as complete as I'd hoped, October 9, 2001
This lovely dream book is just that. It's a dreamy look at cabins, which is great, but I had hoped it would go further in writing about the details of each home. There is very little information about the homes in this book, so the authors obviously considered it just a pretty picture book. Which it is. For my money, though, I wanted a little more. What I wanted but DID NOT GET was more information on choosing a cabin location, on having a new cabin designed and built, on remodeling an older cabin, and so forth. I wanted the pretty pictures as well as some information I could use. In researching second home books, the one I recommend is called simply SECOND HOME, and it not only works as a dream book but is chockful of informational tidbits that we are using as we plan our own retreat.

Wonderful!, September 22, 2001
I already have my heart set on 3 or 4 of the cabins from the book! I was looking for something that depicted simple dwellings, not necessary for a weekend or vacation home, but potentially for a year-round residence. Some of the cabins in the book fit the bill very well and the others give many options for every kind of taste, lifestyle goal, and toterance for "roughing it." The descriptions, photos, and details were delightful and informative. I received the book on Thursday and had it completely read by Saturday and am now going back to study!

Inspirational..., August 30, 2001
The word "inspiration" in the title says it all. This book of true cabins - all are under 1200 sqft, not the 3000 sqft ones you see in some books- is full of ideas for all types of cabins. From rustic to modern, the text and beautiful color pictures convey ideas for "the simple life" focusing on efficiency, relaxing and connecting with the outdoors and family. Truly recommended for anyone building or buying a cabin.

Very dreamy but I need more help, September 18, 2001
Getting away has taken on a certain urgency in the past week. The second home we've been wanting now seems like a good idea for our primary residence, instead. Getting our family of the metro area is something we are seriously considering. Books that help include:
SECOND HOME (shows great houses around the country but also includes real estate shopping information, tips on evaluating a region or a small town, and so forth. inspiring and helpful too. houses includes new homes as well as refurbished older ones. A handsome but realistic book.)
CABIN FEVER (a style book that does show how delightful a small cabin can be)
SMALL HOUSE BIG STYLE (a very helpful book that also shows how to live in smaller spaces)
NEW COTTAGE HOME (interesting smaller cottages -- they look mostly architect designed -- lots of good ideas if you plan to have a house built)

Lovely and inspiring, November 8, 2001
This is such a lovely book to look at. Turning the pages is a pleasure for us. We are looking for second home ideas and plan to buy or build a home next year. My favorite book on the subject is called SECOND HOME because it also is lovely and inspiring but it offers much more information than this CABIN book. Both books are gorgeous but SECOND HOME blends that beauty with helpful tips we are using to plan our own place.

Creative ideas to build a cabin, December 23, 2001
One of the reviews here said that there were floor plans included this is not the case there is a VERY basic tiny drawing for each which really just sets out the locations of the rooms. For one tiny log cabin called "the marsh" which is a one room cabin it doesn't even say the size of the cabin. If anyone knows the size of the marsh cabin I would love to know! There is really not enough detail to follow through if you do love one of the cabins, such as what kind of wood did they use for the logs for the marsh cabin? I suggest you first look at the book in a book store.

Having said that I do love the book! I found one that fits with my dream and will use it as an example when approaching log cabin builders so they know what I am aiming for as far as the "look". Wish they had included more about simple things such as how a cabin set out on a marsh and obviously raised up off the ground with nothing under it but poles has a toilet! what kind of toilet is that? these are the kinds of serious questions facing us when trying to erect a retreat. What are these buildings using for an electric source, and waste water? and water for that matter. It seems many have kitchens and bathrooms but are in locations that would prohibit it. I for one would like to know!

Also another point that would have been very interesting to read about is the cost of the buildings to create and also how the owners overcame obstacles.

This is a great "coffee table book"

A good survey of cabins and the inspiration behind them, October 3, 2001
This is a good survey of cabins in various locations that would fit most people's idea what a cabin is in terms of size, material and use. Included for each is a description of why the cabin was build and how it's used, floor plan(s), site plan (sometimes of limited value), interior and exterior photographs; as well as a general introduction to why cabins are considered by many to be the "classic American getaway." While I might argue about the inclusion of a few of the homes, overall it's one of the better books I've seen on cabins and why they occupy a special place in the minds of some of us. The quality of the photographs and the book in general is also very good (especially considering the price of the book). It is a book for the imagination or for those considering ideas and makes no attempt to be a construction 'how to' book however. I'd also recommend the books by Tedd Benson on timber framing (if you are at all considering a timber frame), the Jim Tolpin book on cottages, and the Donald Berg books on building in the country.

SUPER IDEAS FOR SIMPLE LIVING!, October 2, 2001
If you are into the simple life and not looking for a huge, elaborate pretentious retreat, this book is for you. The cabins presented here are varied and there will surely be one here to fit even the most discriminating taste. Cozy, efficient, homey and attractively designed, there are approximately thirty designs contained in this book.

Can't you just picture yourself snuggled up inside a country cabin, set among the peace and tranquility of majestic pines abundant with wildlife, or nestled beside a gently flowing brook? The book is very well illustrated and is so intriguing the reader will not want to put it down until the final page has been read. There is something about "The Cabin" that reminds us of what is truly important in life and what is not. The designs are not overly showy or extravagant, but there is great variety ranging from rustic to modern. Whatever your preference, these cabins conjure up dreams of romantic nights, leisurely sun-drenched days and unforgettable memories. The book is definitely rated a five-star plus and highly recommended.

Wishing for someplace to get away TO, July 15, 2002
It was a little disconcerting to see that the maximum-size threshold the authors set for the cabins covered in this book was actually a fair deal larger than the home I live in full-time now. But nevertheless, I was able to enjoy this look at intriguing and often innovative designs for getaway living. The color photos are frequently beautiful, and the authors also helpfully include layout designs for the cabins' interiors as well as illustrations of how the cabins fit onto the owners' land. The text tells the stories of the individual cabins and their owners, and also has useful insights on the process of planning and building these kinds of structures.

People who have, or plan to have, getaway retreats of their own will probably find much inspiration, as well as many good ideas, here. And even those of us who don't have a cabin of our own, now or in the foreseeable future, can always imagine ourselves in one of these great homes and locales (I dibs the one on page 160).

Down with McMansions, July 10, 2006
God, this book is so lushly illustrated with cozy spaces and intimate hideaways that you just want to scramble for the hills after one read-through. All the houses in it are deliciously comfy and cozy, illustrating the forgotten principle of 'just enough', all look just big enough,a nd all look terribly inviting and tempting. This book is cabin porn, basically. ... Read more

Editorial Review

A log cabin in the woods is one of America's most cherished icons -- a dream shared around the world. As the stress level of city life rises, more and more of us are imagining our own cottages far away from traffic lights and urban distractions. Cabins in the wilderness have never gone out of style, because the rustic life is a simple, rewarding one rooted in the traditions of the great outdoors.

Featuring rustic interiors as well as North Woods architecture, Cabin Fever visits more than two dozen charming retreats old and new, large and small, in the mountains and along the water, from the wilds of New York out to the wild, wild West. Author Rachel Carley explains where our love for the rustic comes from and shows the amazingly varied guises in which it appears today.

After serving as settlers' cabins, log homes enjoyed a phenomenal popularity in the late nineteenth century. Wealthy families such as the Vanderbilts, Guggenheims, and Carnegies summered in areas as remote as they could find, building what were euphemistically called camps. Those less affluent, following the era's prescription for fresh air and simplicity, traveled to even more rustic hotels and vacation cabins to get their share of the refreshing woods. Cabin Fever presents some of the best of these old lodges and private cabins, along with striking new homes that give a contemporary twist to the ideal of the rustic life.

To help fill a cabin, a whole camp, or even an apartment with the latest in rustic style, the book's catalogue shows where to find home furnishings from twig bedsteads to Hudson Bay blankets to Adirondack chairs. Brimming with exceptionally creative ideas for achieving this truly American look, this enchanting guide to living with the rustic style will cure every variety of cabin fever.

Reviews

A poor choice of title., November 5, 2001
This is a fine book if your taste in rustic dwellings tends toward the grand lodge. Because I prefer the modest true cabin over the ostentatious second home, my choice is a recent book titled "The Cabin" which focuses on structures of 1200 square feet or less.

inspirational for home building, September 16, 1999
CABIN FEVER HELPED US IN REMODELING A 1930'S CABIN IN THE HILL COUNTRY OF TEXAS. THERE ARE UNLIMITED IDEAS IN THISONE BOOK. WE WISH WE COULD USE THEM ALL!!! WE'VE EVEN ORDERED ONE FOR OUR BUILDER TO KEEP, HE'S USED OURS SO MUCH.THIS IS A MUST-HAVE BOOK, EVEN IF JUST FOR THE COFFEE TABLE.

Outstanding photographs, June 3, 2004
I have been searching for books for months now that would give me real life examples of cabin type homes to use in designing my country home. While there are a lot of books out there on small cabins, I was looking for a book that showed examples that I could incorporate into a larger home. This book is exactly what I was looking for! The photographs are beautiful and truly capture some of the key elements that make these homes special. The author has managed to find some of the best examples out there of truly beautiful, well designed log/natural material homes.

In addition to the photographs, the narative is also quite entertaining. It helps the reader understand some of the thinking that went into the creation of these great spaces.

If you are looking for a very enjoyable book with wonderful pictures of a vast collection of cabins (both small and large), then this is the book you have been looking for! I know it was for me; I already have dozens of ideas that I plan on incorporating into my, not so small, cabin. Enjoy!

Best of Genre, April 13, 2000
One of the best I have purchased in this genre. Inspiring,educational and entertaining. Beautiful photography and excellent, detailed descriptions of adirondack/cabin/log/lodge style properties. Gave a copy to a relative building a Montana lodge style home who found it the most useful of all the books she had read! Highly recommend! One you will want in your library.

Delightful, May 4, 1999
Fun and inspirational book. If, however, you love the away-from-it-all look and want to decorate that way in your present home, wherever it is and whatever its style, do take a look at a decorating book called Cottage Style.

A lovely book for dreaming on, March 16, 2003
I have salivated over this book for several years and finally bought it. It has great photos of log homes all over America, from the northeast to the southwest. Some are quite famous examples of camps from the early 1900s, say, in the Adirondacks or New England. Others are quite new. I not only liked the way they were presented and photographed, all in color, but also enjoyed the text describing when each cabin was built, who built it and so on. It was also very interesting to see the way each cabin was decorated, some with very beautiful artifacts, others quite utilitarian, but each with its own charm. It is delightful to browse through the text and photos every now and then just for fun and inspiration. I plan to display it next to a little model of a log cabin I have. If you love log cabins you will enjoy this book and find it very interesting. A great book for the family cabin or lodge, or for those who have always wished for a log cabin like me!

Great Photos, February 28, 2002
I strongly recommend anyone who has any interest at all in having their home resemble a lodge, cabin, north woods style to grab this book. I open this and look at the color photos constantly and share it with my friends. Tons of ideas!

WOW, September 28, 1998
This book is the stuff dreams are made of....I want to run away from it all with the man of my dreams and live in one of these wonderful cabins.
~BIG SIGH~
The color photography is rich...and the variety and originality of each abode invokes feelings of coming home safe and snug.

Fun to look at, January 19, 2001
Thanks to a previous reviewer, M. Pass, I bought this and also bought a book called Second Home. Both are great. This Cabin Fever book is limited to homes that are a bit more rustic than what we had in mind, but we still love it. Second Home also is a gorgeous dream book but it has a wider variety of home and decorating styles. Second Home also has given us a lot of information on how to shop for a retreat, how to decide what location is best for us, as well as tips on decorating and building. Second Home approaches the topic from a broader perspective.

Cozy!, January 20, 1999
This book is a great coffee table book . The pictures are amazing. I bought it for a few of my friends , they loved it also. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Treehouses bring out the child in all of us. Serving as private retreats, guest houses, or play spaces for family and friends, these enchanting arboreal constructions lift our spirits, inspire our dreams, and offer the promise of freedom from adult worries. In this magical volume, Pete Nelson, a leading authority on treehouse design and the author of three previous books on the subject that have sold more than 200,000 copies, takes us on a fascinating around-the-world journey to discover how treehouses are designed, built, and enjoyed in a wide variety of cultures.

More than 35 treehouses are shown in 250 beautiful color images, from locations in China, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, the United States, Italy, Germany, Poland, the United Kingdom, France, and elsewhere, all photographed especially for this book. Nelson, whose frequent appearances on Oprah and Good Morning America and in newspaper and magazine features have helped to spur the soaring popularity of the treehouse, also describes in detail the process of creating-for "kids" both young and old-a fun, safe, and environmentally responsible sanctuary in a tree.AUTHOR BIO: Pete Nelson is the author of three previous books on treehouses. He is also principal of Treehouse Workshop, Inc., a treehouse design and construction business in Seattle, and the president of his own residential design and construction firm based in Fall City, Washington. ... Read more

Reviews

Gorgeous treehouses, October 23, 2004
A lovely book. Beautiful treehouses, beautifully photographed. A coffee table book, you should look to it for design ideas, rather than step-by-step howtos. Makes me eager to build me a treehouse of my own.

Your Private tour of the world's most interesting treehouses, April 9, 2005
The thing that stands out in my mind after an enjoyable rainy afternoon with this book is the wide variety of treehouses featured. We are treated to a tour of every kind of treehouse from lovely professionally decorated mini-homes, to home-made flights of fancy. Refreshingly inclusive; Peter Nelson knows that wonderful ideas and inspiration can come from the humble backyard, not just the professional drafting table. Peter Nelson shows us in his other books how to safely build a treehouse; this book shows us how far dreaming can go. Is that a Spanish Galleon in the trees??? A huge nest???

Treehouse fantasies, September 6, 2005
This is a remarkably beautiful book on treehouses of the world. The photography is exceptional and the engaging narrative is irrestible.
Rarely does one find a book that "glows" from beginning to end as does this one. I bought several for gifts to like-minded friends who like to get high legally.

Treehouses of the World, September 13, 2005
There's a serious caveat to this review. The book I got was NOT translated from Japanese. I don't read Japanese.

With that said, I did get a lot from the photos and the brief English translations. This is a picture book, not designed for builders, more for lookers. It's high quality with great photography and many houses "discussed."

My favorite part of the book was the photos and the many many locations and settings of the treehouses covered.

fun and inspiring, December 19, 2009
This book was borrowed from a friend on a lark. A treehouse book for adults? What could I possibly learn? Answer: LOTS. The folks involved in developing and promoting the modern treehouse have taken the art to new heights and they lay it all out for you in this terrific, picture heavy book. Or almost. I do wish there were more photos of the construction process so one could see each project in various states of completion. Nonetheless, it's a whirlwind tour and will leave you yearning for more. Dare I hope for a DVD with future versions of the book? 360 degree views, interior and exterior would be wonderful. Yes, yes, easy to ask for the moon, but once you awaken the excited kid in me, what can you expect?

Fantastic structures, August 14, 2009
This was a fascinating display of creativity. The pictures were well done. The structures shown were from all over the world and quite clever. An interesting description of the great variety of tree houses.

A Book for Dreamers, August 4, 2009
As a lover of tree houses, I had been considering creating a coffee table book. A search to see if it had already been done showed me it had--and in a big way. This spectacular book, with vivid photos and detailed narrative, fed the dreamer in me. The tree houses displayed vary from simplistic to extraordinary, from a child's play house to actual tree top residences.
This is strictly a coffee table book. For a how-to book, consider: Treehouses: The Art and Craft of Living Out on a Limb(Nelson); Tree Houses You Can Actually Build: A Weekend Project Book (David Stiles), or Build Your Own Treehouse: A Practical Guide (Maurice Barkley).

treehouses!, July 5, 2008
This is a very informative book with great pictures. It actually gives specs and dimentions in case you want to build your own. But if you don't, it's a beautiful book just to look at and daydream!

Treehouses of the World, March 15, 2006
A great coffee table book. Amazing structures built by creative,fun-loving people (some with more money than sense). Made me want to build another tree house, and I am 76 years old.

Happy to have this book in my collection, October 9, 2007
I have always fantasized about treehouses and this book definitely has some fantastic examples. It's a wonderful book -- I bought it because my 90 days of checking it out at the library were over. I had to own it. ... Read more

Editorial Review

Authors David and Jeannie Stiles give readers all theinformation they need to build their own cabins -- whether it be as awilderness retreat or a backyard studio. The authors describe eachstep in the process from buying land to obtaining services, fromfinding qualified construction help to deciding on and developingplans for a structure that suits their lifestyle and budget. "Cabins"is packed with detailed illustrations, plans and common-sense advice.

Chapters include classic construction methods: how to build a logcabin, pole-built and stick-built cabin, post-and-beam, stone,cordwood and kit cabins. Construction methods are clearly illustratedin photographs and drawings and the advantages of each are explainedin detail. Foundations, windows, doors, insulation, roofing,installing utilities, water and sanitary systems and heating are alldiscussed.

Many designs are presented as inspiration and to help readers selectthe cabin that is perfect for them: homesteader log cabin, writingcabin, guest cabin, Japanese moon-gazing cabin, lakeside retreat,pyramid and A-frame, and hillside Mediterranean cabin. The authorsinclude personal reminiscences from successful builders and cabinowners, and discuss furnishings and accessories that can help readersget the most enjoyment out of their newly built wilderness retreat. ... Read more

Reviews

Just great!, October 19, 2001
This book is an absolutely essential guide for anyone planning to build a getaway home. It takes you, step-by-step, through the process of choosing your site, planning and designing your cabin and then building it. It includes plans, details and do-it-yourself hints on building all types of cabins: pole-frame, A-frame, timber-frame, log, stick and stone. Designs included range from Thoreau's 10'x15' cabin on Walden Pond to a big, comfortable lakeside cabin with all the extras. If you're dreaming of a little place in the country, get this book.

Even Better Than Stiles' Usual Excellent Work, August 6, 2001
I have always enjoyed books by Stiles and her group of architects. I built a tree house from one and a play structure from another. This is the most thourough book I have seen by her. Lots of good tips, superb drawings, construction details, etc. This is not just a pretty picture book (although there are some of those, too. This is a book for the real do-it-yourselfer.

Has Everything You Need, March 29, 2003
This book is wonderful. It contians all the information you could possibly need for building a cabin, whether you want a one room hut with no amenities, a two-betroom beach house with running water, electricity, and a bathroom or something in between. It covers everything I can think of and gives clear instructions for projects.
This book lives up to its title: it really is for someone who is serious about building, with more diagrams than "arty" pictures of the wilderness. However, there is a nice section of color pictures in the middle of the book to give a taste of what sort of results you can expect from your efforts.

Terrific Informational Read - NOT Blueprints or Plans, Though, January 30, 2006
I'm tending to agree with both sides here! And I think it's a great book. I have been reading building and cabin books for a year (we're building this Summer). This one is pretty great - a good way to inform yourself about options, the decisions you need to make, kinds of cabins, etc. Another reviewer writes as if I were going to go out and build my cabin based on the info in this book. Now that would be silly wouldn't it? I need architect drawn plans. So read this wonderful book, and go buy some plans. No, yt's not a how-to, and it shouldn't be used that way. But it's still a great book.

Many good ideas and a few good laughs, December 28, 2006
As others have noted, this is a useful book for generating ideas and getting the creative juices flowing. I bought it to obtain those features, and it did not disappoint me.

The Stiles are, apparently, a prolific couple on this and similar topics, and they certainly deserve credit for effective packaging and marketing. David Stiles has filled the book's pages with material--some good, some irrelevant, and some good for entertainment--but he certainly has filled it nonetheless. The layout and tone of this book is vaguely reminiscent of a copy of an early 1970s Mother Earth News. The reader's challenge is to extract the kernals of insight from the volumes of chaff. What the book lacks in detailed engineering and construction discussion and techniques it makes up for in peripheral and, in some cases, funny advice. Consider the detailed description of the electronic vehicle-arrival and gate-unlocking monitors--this in a book purported to find ways to get one in touch with mother nature and perhaps forego electricity entirely. Or the sketch plan for the garden-hose remedy against racoons infiltrating your metal trashcan. The advice is intriguing enough, but one suspects that a bit more discussion on well-installation or obtaining running water might be in order before turning to a technological solution involving the use of pressurized water for a racoon problem. Given the Stiles' ties to Manhattan, maybe the accepted security measures of their current environment don't seem quite as ridiculous or irrelevant as they probably do to anyone who actually lives in a rural area. Or consider their admonition against Coleman lanterns being "Scary and hard to light." Hmmm, I, too, have fears and I'm certainly not the most dexterous fellow, but I've learned that five minutes of hands-on practice can turn even the most hardcore urbanite into a safe and proficient Coleman-lantern lighter. Something tells me Mr. Stiles has not taken the time to do the same, and this casts a disconcerting pall over the value of much of his other advice. How much of it has actually been tried?

But this book is valuable for the focus it gives to architecture and perhaps encouraging one to pick up a tablet of graph paper and start sketching floorplans or facades; extract those ideas and use them as fodder for formulating your own. Read the rest with a grain of salt. For a more focused, pragmatic, and obviously tested perspective on cabin-building, get a copy of G. Wayne Fears' "How to Build Your Dream Cabin."

A lot of general information but not comprehensive., February 20, 2006
This book has been quite valuable to me as I plan my cottage in Canada. While it is not totally comprehensive, it does a very good job of explaining many of the relevant concepts of cabin planning, design and a fair idea of the building process. Some useful details concerning construction techniques are provided, as well.

Other reviewers have argued that much is left out--correct, given that the book only runs 240 pages. I think that those reviewers misunderstand the intent of the book: to give the reader ideas, not to hand-hold them through every single step of the process. For example, many of the building plans that are provided are lacking in some key details. So what? I intend to have an architect draw up my plans anyway.

At minimum, I know a heck of a lot more after reading the book than I did beforehand.

Great book on Cabins, December 7, 2005
We used the ideas in this book to add nice touches to our Mt. Rainier cabin rental. The photos are great and the projects well described. the ideas are very creative.

Cabins: A Guide to Building Your Own Nature Retreat, September 23, 2005
A very well written book. The authors have covered many details, some of which, I wouldn't have thought of until too late. I feel confident that I could build a fine cabin with only these instructions.

Many great tips are also included that can be used around the garden and some for remodeling.

I highly reccommend this book.

Good & Workable, March 16, 2007
Ive begun a mission to build a small cabin on some family property here in Oregon. Recently, Ive done a good deal of research and purchased 5 notable books on how to build a cabin/small dwelling.
Upon reviewing this material it looks like its well thought out, but is lacking in alot of depth. Gives a wonderful representation of what could be done, and what is possible (something which other books lack).
Out of these 5 books, Ive got two which will carry me to the end with great depth, and 3 that will be "reserves" for ideas. This is definitely the top of my reserve pile, and my first for pictures of ideas.

Excellent Book!!, June 8, 2003
This is an excellent book. I absolutely love reading Stiles books and have purchased practically every book he has written. There are very detailed hand sketched drawings and illustrations which I have found very helpful. The illustrations are very well drawn and very well written instructions. All Stiles books are the greatest I have found for Do-it-yourself projects. ... Read more

Editorial Review

beach house.
The words alone have the hypnotic associations Henry James once famously ascribed to summer afternoon–“the two most beautiful words in the English language.” Lifelong beach girl Mary Emmerling captures that implicit promise of freedom in her captivating volume celebrating the American beach cottage.

Much of the beach house’s allure is in its reflection of a simpler way of life, a pared-down existence where the breeze is the housekeeper, the furnishings don’t mind a damp swimsuit, and the most precious treasures are seashells and memories. In Mary Emmerling’s Beach Cottages, Mary invites us into seventeen coastal retreats that capture that spirit, and introduces us to the people who take joy from them.

Join Mary on a warm, intimate tour of unique seaside escapes, including:

•A pint-sized artist’s studio in Key West
•A dramatic black-and-white retreat in Newport Beach, California
•A shell-lined jewel box in Laguna Beach, California
•A nautically inspired Cape Cod getaway
•A haven in Galveston, Texas, with sea-grass rugs and matchstick blinds
•The homes of designers such as Barclay Butera and Rachel Ashwell
•Mary’s own charming cottage, complete with beach balls, sailfish, and beaded curtains

With gorgeously photographed profiles of easy-going seaside homes and innovative design solutions for everyday living, Mary Emmerling’s Beach Cottages is both beautiful and inspirational. Like a beloved seaside haven, this is a book to return to again and again.
... Read more

Reviews

Loved this Book!, May 8, 2008
I have been waiting for this book as I am one of Mary's devoted fans. After reading the reviews from other customers, I was feeling let down before I even saw the book. I have to say that I was happily surprised and thought it was BETTER than her previous books. I love the size of the book - it has a cozy feeling - and the photographs are perfect. I, for one, enjoy seeing pictures of people's swimming pools (even if they are part of a beach house). I loved her choice of homes and don't really care if some are redundant (Rachel Ashwell) because a lot of these designers/homeowners move all the time and there is always something fresh to see. Count me in as a continuing huge fan of her taste and joie de vivre. So many books today (in the dying era of coffee-table tomes) are sterile and boring. You can tell she cares about her subjects - both the homes and the people who inhabit them. Go Mary!

Seaside Sublime, May 31, 2008
I'm a longtime fan of Mary Emmerling's work, and was thrilled to find BEACH COTTAGES. I've dog-eared favorite pages, and find myself returning to them over and over again for inspiration. I loved the diversity of design styles, and even when the homes shown are waaaay out of my own budget, I enjoyed seeing how the other half lives. This is a book for dreamers as well as doers.Of course, it doesn't hurt that she recommended one of my books, SAVANNAH BREEZE, in her list of great beach reads. I'll be buying more copies of BEACH COTTAGES for my beach dreamer buddies.
Mary Kay Andrews

I must not be looking at the same book, May 6, 2008
as the previous reviews. I found the book to be full of wonderful pictures and very evocative of a wonderful stay by the seashore. The houses were not the usual beach cliches.... they were very elegant and had a lot of personality and individuality. I would recommend. A concise, nice little volume.

Thanks to Ms. Emmerling's book, I can be in a "beachy" mood every day!, August 31, 2008
I live approximately 60 miles from the Oregon Coast and nearly 900 miles from Malibu and Santa Monica, California...three of my favorite places in the world! I simply can't enough of "beach" and coastal themes in my decor, my attire, my art, my music and my life...

So what's a self-described "beach girl" like me to do when she's stuck inland and can't go to the beach whenever she wants? She decorates her home in that style, that's what!

Well, today I went in search of books with ideas on how to decorate with my favorite style of design, and saw quite a few available. Yes, I saw the really nifty set of books by Rachel Ashwell on the "Shabby Chic" design style and even that lovely book by actress/artist Jane Seymour called "Making Yourself At Home" but the one that really captured my eye this time around? The one I took home? Mary Emmerling's Beach Cottages: At Home By The Sea.

I really enjoyed the pictures of the various beach cottages in her book. There are some AWESOME, unique and very colorful pictures of home exteriors and interiors from various beach communities all over the USA. You can enjoy the view of the sea from Nantucket, MA to Miami, FL to Galveston, TX and of course, good ole Southern California! There's also some great pics of the "Shabby Chic" queen Rachel Ashwell's home in it.

Now I must admit I was a bit miffed that Ms. Emmerling had overlooked the Pacific Northwest to feature in her book. There are some spectacular and beautiful beach homes on the Oregon and Washington Coast (including the San Juan Islands) that would've fit in very well in this book. However, when I saw that she listed some cool Northwest shops, then I decided all was forgiven lol. Maybe she can remember us in the PNW for her next edition? hee hee

I really appreciate the fact that there's none of the uber-perfection obsessed Martha Stewart-y mess in this book. All of the ideas are so easy to do and not too overly expensive, either. Even if you're smack dab in the heartland someplace, this book has all sorts of cool and user friendly practical tips on how to make your place "beach cottage" worthy. This book is a welcome addition to my library, so I'm recommending this book to all of y'all to check out and enjoy, too.

A lovely visit to the beach, June 22, 2008
As a longtime Mary Emmerling fan I can hardly wait for each book to come out; as a beach fan I was not disappointed; a lovely book. I enjoyed seeing her old beach cottages and how they have evolved. I think she missed some great old cottages in my northwest florida area; especially at Grayton Beach; but otherwise this is a very nice book representative of her great taste. I'm looking forward to her work with House Beautiful.

Mary Emmerling's Beach Cottages, September 7, 2008
I love this book. Beautiful pictures and interesting stories for each home described. A must if you dream of someday having your own beach cottage.

Beach Cottage, At Home By The Sea by Mary Emmerling, August 11, 2008
Love, love love Mary Emmerling. I have ALL of her books. I always get tons of ideas form her special books & this one's no exception. Pictures are beautiful.

Fussy Beach Homes?, October 28, 2009
My personal opinion is that a beach house should be a respite, a getaway, a place of calm and serenity. For me, the homes in this book were way too fussy, cluttered, busy, and not that distinguishable from normal homes (not very cottage-like) that might be found in the suburbs or any other place. These homes were just packed with a lot of "stuff", and if you're like me, a beach cottage is where you go to get away from all the "stuff" so you can clear your head, relax and enjoy the beach outside. A beach cottage should be beautiful to one's senses, but NOT require so much dusting, or look overly "maintained", overly decorated, or everything needing to be "just so", but that's exactly how these homes appeared. I would not feel very relaxed in these homes, but rather uptight and worried I'd knock over something breakable, or spill a beverage on the fine fabrics, and be wondering what's the point of this?

By the sea, by the sea...., May 26, 2009
This book demonstrates how cottage or beach decorating doesn't have to be
cliched. Every cottage is different, stylish and personal. If you love cottages and interior decoration, you should enjoy this book. I just wish it had been longer!

not just the very rich approach to the beach., September 9, 2008
The ocean seems to recharge anyones personal battery when they visit the beach, Ms Emmerlings approach shows some fresh ways to think about the experience while smelling the wind off the water,loved it. ... Read more

Editorial Review

For every man who has ever conjured up a picture of himself felling trees in a roar of chainsaw noise and power, The Backyard Lumberjack is an account of dreams fulfilled. Father and son lumberjacks Stephen and Frank Philbrick have enjoyed the thrilling destruction of felling, bucking, and splitting timber for hundreds of cords of firewood. Together they bring practical instruction and first-hand advice to every man with a chainsaw.

Before there can be any felling of trees or satisfying shouting of Timber!, every potential lumberjack must choose the proper saw. The Philbricks offer buying advice based on the quantity of wood to be cut and the amount of time to be spent on the job. Diagrams of chainsaw parts, functions, and maintenance requirements; tables and charts of saw specifications and firewood volume; and personal cautionary tales of on-the-job injuries arm potential lumberjacks with the necessary tools to make informed choices.

Chainsaw in hand, father and son move on to detailed instructions on managing a woodlot, felling and bucking, splitting and stacking, and even include fun facts on burning. For every lumberjack chore they offer advice on equipment (chaps, helmets, felling wedges, hatchets, mauls, peeves), careful procedural instruction, safety and efficiency strategies, and always their humorous anecdotes and tales of tree adventure.

For the rural lumberjack with acres of woodland, the suburban guy with a cord of wood to split and stack for the fireplace, or the urban guy who just likes to think about chainsaws, The Backyard Lumberjack is as much an engaging read on the legends and experiences of lumberjacking as a practical reference guide. ... Read more

Reviews

Amusing stories but some not so sound advice, December 8, 2006
I snagged this book since I gravitate to most things involving wood and axes. I liked the layout and really enjoyed the tales of their neighbors and friends, but when I read the part about how to fell a tree I couldn't help but cringe. Felling trees is a regular part of my job with the US Forest Service. I'm no grizzled veteran faller but those I've worked with have enough confidence in my abilities to make me a saw instructor for our newer employees. That said, I found much of the Phibrick's falling process to be downright dangerous. The biggest example is their simple face cut. The photo shows a substantial dutchman (where the flat part of your face cut passes beyond the angle part). End result is you have little to no holding wood to control your tree on its way to the ground. If it's leaning back just a hair, or the wind pushes back, it'll just shear that little bit of wood (or big bit if your back cut is triple the appropriate size as the author's is) along the grain and the tree will go where it pleases. You want to have as much control of the tree as you can, especially if you have a wife and kids waiting for you at home. I could elaborate but I don't want to rant (too much). If you're looking for sound advice on falling trees (easy or complex) look to Professional Timber Falling by Douglas Dent, available at good logging supply warehouses, or find a copy of the Falling and Bucking Safety Guide put out by the Oregon state OSHA.
Enjoy the stories and the nice pictures of stacked firewood around the world that this book offers, but please take your tree falling lessons from someone with a better understanding. I was astonished that the publisher seems to have skipped even the most basic technical review before putting it to the press.

wanted more, November 27, 2006
I have a mixed reaction to this book. On the positive side, I thoroughly enjoyed the authors' stories, insights, and personal asides. For them, "lumberjacking" is as much a metaphor for life as it is a means to physical warmth or woodlot maintenance. This made for an entertaining and accessible read.

On the negative side, I really wanted more hard information. I have a 13-acre woodlot that requires reqular care, and I had hoped for far more detail on how to approach difficult felling and bucking situations, especially since I often have to work alone. For example, a recent windstorm brought down about ten 70-80 foot pines, most of which are hung up at various angles on other trees. The book sheds very little light on how to deal with hung trees, other than to note that they can be tricky. For example, should they be notched from underneath with a felling cut down from the top like an ordinary tree? What effect does the added tension/compression on the trunk have in this situation? What should be done when two or three trees are hung up as a group, so that freeing one holds a strong risk that the entire stack may come down (a very dangerous situation)? Is it ever appropriate to apply tension (using, say, a come-along) to help direct a tree (hung or otherwise) that wants to fall in an undesirable direction?

This is just one example, however, there were many places in the book where I felt that it was long on story telling (which is a fine thing, don't get me wrong) and short on hard core "how to".

Need the Frontyard too!, January 9, 2007
This is a fun book but I was looking for more technical information about tree cutting and bucking. More problem solving would have been nice. The idea of cutting compression areas first before tension areas wasn't discussed. More diagrams of cutting techniques would have been helpful.

Pretty coffee table book, September 16, 2008
Lots of pretty pictures and cute writing. 23 full color pictures of the authors swinging splitting mauls. Lots of pictures of them doing all sorts of things. A really eccentric felling style. I wouldn't try it. There are much better, safer and more accurate methods in general use.

Much more than just a how-to..., October 8, 2006
If you're like me, you grew up in the suburbs, moved to the city, and either plan on or have already moved back to someplace a little bit more rural. You probably assume that you have enough common sense and rugged manliness about you to figure out how to bring in some firewood, without ever having actually tried. The Philbricks' book fills the fissures in your knowledge that you have yet to discover. You'll find that like many yeoman tasks, bringing in firewood is a far richer and more complicated subject than you might expect, and rather than reinvent the axe, you can get up to speed with a little help from this engaging father and son team. Through it all, the Philbricks impart an appreciation for work in their natural environment that is powerful but not sanctimonious, and that alone is worth more than the cover price for most of us. These fellers cut deep, but hold the sap.

A Guide, but Hardly "The Ultimate" One, March 3, 2010
I read several less than stellar reviews on this book before I bought it - but bought it anyway - hoping that the specific flaws those reviews pointed out were the only ones. (Ironically, I paid full price for this book at a convention - shame on me - I should have bought a "used" one on Amazon for half the new price.)

The storytelling IS good, but for a book that bills itself as "THE ULTIMATE GUIDE" - there is simply not enough detailed, specific information. You could pretty much pick up what this book "teaches" by reading a page or two our of Storey's "Basic Country Skills" book. Frankly, no one area out of felling, bucking, splitting or even stacking is covered in "ultimate" detail.

It is a fun book to read. A fast read. I enjoyed the stories, but I will need to find another better book.

I can't and won't argue the wisdom or even safety of the 45 degree vs 90 degree notch cut to fell a tree. I use the 90 and find that it sometimes leaves me with tree that are still attached to the stump and under tension when it is down. This makes for some dicey surgery to relieve that tension before the tree can be limbed and bucked. Perhaps the 45 degree notch (that another reviewer blasts as horribly unsafe) actually has some positives as the tree snapping off once it passes 45 degrees could be a GOOD thing. After all, you shouldn't be standing around that area anyway, and the "hinge" can't do much guiding past 45 degrees anyway. (Hey, if that tree is falling the wrong way past 30 degrees, you're already in trouble!)

The authors also seem to have a problem with finishing their little stories. I found myself waiting for a moral or a punch line many times.

Practical, clear, great handbook, April 10, 2007
This is a great all-purpose book if you have a woodlot or even if you don't. It covers just about everything you ever wanted to know about trees, identifying them, felling them safely, splitting, stacking, aging and burning them! We heat our house exclusively with wood, most of it taken off our property, and have found this book (like most Storey publications) to be genuinely useful.

Fun, informative, not complete, February 28, 2007

This is a fun and informative book. I recommend it for anyone considering doing anything
with wood before burning it. The book covers every step from tree to ashes, but there
is something in it for those that start with delivered log lengths, or shorter pieces,
split or unsplit.

I've been cutting and splitting wood for about 20 years, mostly purchased log lengths,
but also some trees on my lot. The only mistake I found was a one time confusion between
BTUs and Kilowatt Hours. The sections about limbing and bucking were correct, but a few
more examples and illustrations might have made them even better.

A substantial part of the book is not needed in an instruction manual. There are stories
about people (characters) the authors have known, sermons about the good life burning wood,
even a description of lumberjack competitions. You might not laugh as often as I did, but
if you don't smile frequently, you really are a grump.

Entertaining and informative even if you don't chop wood, January 9, 2007
This has to be one of the most entertaining and well-written how-to books I've ever read. The father and son authors have a fun-loving, down-to-earth style that delivers plenty of humor along with the practical facts. As such, this is a great basic primer for folks wanting to cut firewood from small woodlots. The emphasis is on chainsaws for cutting and hand tools (mauls) for splitting. There's even a section about lumberjack competitions. It gives short shrift to any discussion of power splitters or cutting your trees for lumber. This is about firewood, fun, safety, exercise, and a little tradition thrown in. A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Has some good info, and more importantly, some BAD info., May 2, 2009
The Good Woodcutter's Guide: Chain Saws, Woodlots, and Portable Sawmills
I have read The Backyard Lumberjack and I feel that some of the felling information is very poor and could be dangerous. I would suggest buying the book "The Good Woodcutter's Guide" by Dave Johnson instead. ... Read more