Reviews (2)

Not for City Lots, that's for Sure
I looked at this book in hopes of finding ideas for remodeling or adding a story to an existing 1 story house.The house is on a 50 x 150 lot, pretty typical for a midwestern suburb.I would say that I saw about 2 plans (out of over 200) that could conceivably be placed on such a lot.Almost all of the designs wouldn't fit on a 50 foot wide lot.And those that would typically had the garage facing the long side of the lot with a full 35-40 foot wide house facing the short side of the lot.This would only work on a corner lot, unless you have a back alley, which seems pretty rare these days.So if you're dealing with a typical city/suburb lot, this isn't a good book at all.I'd be interested to know exactly what the editors believe a "narrow" lot is.

Worthless
Tiny floor plans with a black and white drawing. No specifics or details. The plans aren't even for narrow lots. Avoid this title. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Home Improvement / Construction    3. House Plans    4. Home & House Maintenance    5. Residential buildings, domestic buildings   

Subjects:  1. Architecture, Domestic    2. Design & Construction    3. Designs and plans    4. General    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. House Plans    7. Reference    8. United States    9. Home Design   

Reviews (2)

Not Really UD Housing
I think the Home Planner folks gathered up a bunch of existing designs that could possibly be engineered to become UD. Most of the floorplans are simply open plans. Some of the bathrooms they have included are not really well-designed. Don't get me wrong, this book has a lot of good designs - if you're building new construction. Maybe a good resource.
The title defines the scope of this book.It is a list of home products(cabinets, appliances, hardware, etc.) which support universal design.Italso contains a number of plans which demonstrate UD (UniversalDesign).Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Architecture, Domestic    3. Designs and plans    4. Domestic    5. General    6. Home Improvement / Construction    7. House & Home    8. House Plans    9. United States    10. History Of Art / Art & Design Styles    11. Home Design    12. Industrial / Commercial Art & Design   

Reviews (5)

Recommended!
Well written with no nonsense and easy to understand terms.Actually exciting to read because the author lends brief, interesting stories from his own experience of building log homes.Sufficient details of the building process and appropriately explains why certain methods work better than others.Nice pictures and diagrams to support the text.Found myself wanting even more information than the book offered, such as techniques/considerations on building an outhouse in very cold climates, construction of the roof around joints/vents/stovepipe, suggestions for optional building materials in areas where items cannot be trucked in.Regardless, the book was thorough and I highly recommended it.

Reasonble price for Building the Alaska Log Home
I called the publisher, Alaska Northwest books (ph# 1-800-452-3032).They will do another reprint of this book toward the end of the summer of 2006 (Aug/Sept).The cost of the book will be $29.99 plus shipping and handling.So why is the seller judioops trying to sell a used copy of this book for $87.99?If you want this book, wait until the publisher releases the reprint or call the publisher directly and place a order for this book.

Highest quality log cabin building book I've seen
Excellent all color on glossy high quality paper.A real pleasure to read with lots of information. Concise chapters dealing with most every aspect of building. A great history section in the back.Not as much technical info as some but the pictures make up for it. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Alaska    2. Design & Construction    3. Design and construction    4. Do-It-Yourself    5. Do-It-Yourself - General    6. History    7. Home Improvement / Construction    8. House & Home    9. House Plans    10. Log cabins    11. Reference    12. United States - Pacific - Alaska    13. Wood Construction   

Reviews (2)

Loved it!
This book is layed out very clean.Each house plan is easy to view, really nice color pictures, and unlike some country/farm home books I've looked at - the houseplans truly fit the category.I highly recommend it if you're on the search for a plan.

Offering 350 home plans in full color
Offering 350 home plans in full color, 250- full-color renderings, tips on design, notes on home decorating, and quick and easy means to order services by phone or online, America, Country & Farmhouse Home Plans fully captures the experience of seasoned architects and designers. Vivid concept sketches, floor layouts, and full-color photographs make abundantly clear exactly the size, appearance, and structure of home one is getting with each plan. The homespun motif of country living reverberates in these dwellings; even a generations-bred city clicker will recognize the quiet, comfortable, practical feel to the design and empathy of each sample building, down to the sloping roofs meant expressly to prevent too much snow from piling up above. America, Country & Farmhouse Home Plans is an enjoyable and useful resource to page through, especially when contemplating decorations or especially architectural designs for one's own rural homestead.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. Architecture, Domestic    4. Designs and plans    5. Do-It-Yourself    6. Home Improvement / Construction    7. House & Home    8. House Plans    9. United States    10. Architectural structure & design    11. House & Home / House Plans    12. Houses, apartments, flats, etc   

Subjects:  1. Do-It-Yourself    2. Home Improvement / Construction    3. House & Home    4. House Plans    5. Houses, apartments, flats, etc   

Reviews (2)

For the inspiration.
This book is good for the inspiration for anyone who want's to build a log home. It is lacking in photographs, no colour in the book. Before you start though, buy as many back issues of "Muir's Original Log Homes magazine" as you can afford, latest issues being the best. And there is a couple of good books on building with logs that you should buy. These will help you prevent some very costly mistakes.

From the first log to the last
This was a great book of one family's learning experience in log home building. Williams shows you how to build your own log home from his experiences for very little. It was great to know it can be done! I likedhis floor plan and am using a similar plan for our home. Read more

Subjects:  1. Amateurs' manuals    2. Construction - General    3. Design and construction    4. Do-It-Yourself    5. Do-It-Yourself - General    6. Home Improvement / Construction    7. House & Home    8. House Plans    9. House construction    10. Log cabins   

Reviews (2)

Not Actually Shingle Style & Not Really a Book
This "book" has the exact same format as the home plan magazines you can buy in the grocery store for $5: 4 designs in the front that have actually been built and decorated and then had 2 interior and 1 exterior photos taken, and then 151 other plans with only an exterior photo or pencil drawing and the floor plans.The only thing that makes this a "book" is a slightly thicker paper cover.
Not worth the money
Don't bother to order this book, It was of no use to me. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. Architecture, Domestic    4. Design & Construction    5. Design & Drafting    6. Designs and plans    7. Home Improvement / Construction    8. House Plans    9. Shingle style    10. United States   

Reviews (2)

The Book of Many Gables
It is nice the way the houses are broken down into sections of square footage, but the vast majority have gabled roofs. I think they could have been a little more expansive for 650 designs. Gables just take up a lot of unnecessary roof real estate (in my opinion) and add cost that I would rather apply to interior things that I will see or use. Very tired of the gabled cottage, gabled Victorian, gabled mansion...

A great selection of plans
What I like best about this book is the way it's organized in sections based on size (area in square feet,) from the smallest houses to the largest. It has some really interesting and unique plans as well as many more everyday ones. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Architecture, Domestic    3. Design & Construction    4. Design & Drafting    5. Designs and plans    6. Home Improvement / Construction    7. House Plans    8. United States    9. Architectural structure & design    10. House maintenance    11. Housing & property for the individual    12. Residential buildings, domestic buildings   

Reviews (2)

Excellent small homes
This book of plans is the best I've seen for small vacation type homes. It has a LOT of plans in the 900 - 1100 sq ft range, plus a lot of bigger ones, too. It gave me lots of good ideas on how to put together a small butspacious-feeling vacation home, with enough different plans that I couldreally explore the options for the size building I want to construct. Ihighly recommend this one.

Excellent selection of vacation and starter home plans
Excellent selection of vacation and starter home plans.This book will provide many hours of planning & dreaming as well as the opportunity tomake those dreams a reality. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Design & Construction    3. Home Improvement / Construction    4. House Plans   

Subjects:  1. Do-It-Yourself    2. Home Improvement / Construction    3. House & Home    4. House Plans    5. Houses, apartments, flats, etc   

Subjects:  1. Designs and plans    2. Do-It-Yourself    3. Home Improvement / Construction    4. House & Home    5. House Plans    6. Ranch houses    7. United States    8. House & Home / House Plans    9. Houses, apartments, flats, etc   

Subjects:  1. Do-It-Yourself    2. Do-It-Yourself - General    3. Home Improvement / Construction    4. House & Home    5. House Plans   

Reviews (1)

If you like Tudor houses, you'll enjoy this book
Fine examples of a type of photorealistic drawing that you don't see anymore, which are reason enough to buy the book. The majority of homes are Tudor or Old English, like the ones on the cover, with just a few Colonials and Bungalows mixed in. The writing is quaint, with bedrooms called chambers, and mentions of breakfast nooks, servant's quarters, and telephone cabinets. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Architecture, Domestic    3. Catalogs    4. Design & Construction    5. Design & Drafting    6. Designs and plans    7. General    8. Home Improvement / Construction    9. House Plans    10. Housing, Single family    11. Architecture / General   

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Architecture, Domestic    3. Design & Construction    4. Designs and plans    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. House & Home    7. House Plans    8. West (U.S.)   

Subjects:  1. Do-It-Yourself    2. Do-It-Yourself - General    3. Home Improvement / Construction    4. House & Home    5. House Plans   

Reviews (4)

Great for Architects
As the reviewer said, this is an architect's dream book, since most of the offices belong to architects.The photos are quite lovely, but this is not quite the right book for some help on what to do with your existing space without hiring an architect to overhaul it all.Rather short on practical points, which I assume are covered much better in the other books available.nothing on furniture, desks, chairs, etc., or cabinets to store your stuff.

Working at home and loving it!
Like Powers's _Living with Books_ and Ellis's _At Home with Books,_ which I've reviewed in the past, this is the sort of lushly illustrated volume anyone with similar interests will sit and drool over. If you work at home, or if you need a second space at home for the overspill from your office job, you have a number of options: Claim a corner of an existing space in your house or apartment (living room, kitchen, even a niche off a hallway), convert a spare bedroom or even a walk-in closet, move into the attic or the basement (if you live in the part of the country that HAS attics and basements), make a separate dedicated space out of a garage or other outbuilding, or even construct a new space on your property, either attached to your house or semi-isolated in a handy patch of woods. (My own home office, like many others, used to be a kid's bedroom, and I haven't done much to it; it still has the Winnie-the-Pooh ceiling fixture.) The author walks you through all these possibilities and has you think about zoning and property-line setbacks, and floor and ceiling materials, and light sources and plumbing, and active storage and bookshelving. He also points out the need to control your workspace, to separate work from home life, and to identify "swing spaces." How much space do you really need? Maybe not as much as you think. Consider as a guide the acronym "CAMP," which stands for Computer station, Administrative station, Meeting station, and Project station. The need may be minimal (I never have clients in my home) and some of the others may be combined (I do admin work at the same work table where I do projects), but looking at it this way will lead you to reconsider your own SoHo. The pictures in this book, naturally, will make you jealous of those with the design talent and the money to establish such luscious work areas. The nicest and most unusual, not surprisingly, belong to architects working at home. Nevertheless, even with my own relatively simple needs, I picked up a number of ideas on how to optimize my own space.

The ultimate book on the subject
This is the ultimate book for planning an office at home.These practical suggestions will inform and inspire.The examples pictured spaces are so inviting, you'll enjoy looking at this book even if you work elsewhere!Highly recommended. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Design & Construction    2. Design and construction    3. Do-It-Yourself    4. General    5. Home Improvement / Construction    6. Home offices    7. House & Home    8. House Plans    9. Interior Design - General    10. Office decoration    11. United States    12. Home furnishing & decoration    13. House & Home / General    14. Housing & property for the individual   

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Architecture    3. Architecture, Domestic    4. Country homes    5. Decorating - General    6. Designs and plans    7. General    8. Home Improvement / Construction    9. House Plans    10. Study & Teaching    11. United States   

Reviews (1)

Nice, but.........
I purchased a copy of Sheds, Gazebos & Outbuildings from Amazon this summer with the intent to build a shed as a fall project. While not a journey-level carpenter, I have built decks, added a room and so on. Buying the book seemed a good way to get a basic plan and have guidance on construction tasks unfamiliar to me. The first part of the book gives general start-to-finish construction tips (with good photos) and the second part contains 8 sets of project plans (no photos, only drawings and plans).I read parts of the book in detail, scanned other parts and, with some slight modifications, followed the basic garden shed plans. Right now I'm putting on the roof and am pleased with the overall results. Did the book play an important part? Yes and no. Yes, in that it did give some useful guidance and filled in some information gaps. No, in that lower cost plans are available through resources such as your agricultural extension service or local library. Too, the general building techniques section had photographs of a shed quite similar to the basic shed plans. This caught me when constructing the rafters and I think it might for others who attempt to use the book. The shed rafter design in the general part is not the same as used in the basic garden shed plans. Unless the book is carefully read it is easy to be thrown into a quandary as to which method to follow. Upon reflection, I'm a bit suspicious that there are no photos of completed structures for the 8 projects. I wonder if the plans were ever used to build the 8 structures (only drawings are used to illustrate them for the reader). I wrote the publisher to ask why two different rafter designs were shown. I received a prompt, technically correct, and courteous answer. However, there are any number of ways to construct the different parts of a wood structure and thus it doesn't make much sense to include a design that doesn't seem to directly apply to the plans in the book. The publisher's answer avoided that issue; that made me uncomfortable. I fear that if I tried the some of other plans that I might run into similar problems. In sum, I can't recommend that you buy this nice, but obfuscating book ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Amateurs' manuals    2. Construction - General    3. Design and construction    4. Gardening    5. Gardening/Plants    6. Gazebos    7. Home Improvement / Construction    8. House Plans    9. Reference    10. Sheds    11. Toolsheds    12. Building construction & materials    13. DIY    14. home improvement   

Reviews (6)

Disappointly modern
I was extremely disappointed when I finally got my hands on this book, because I was expecting another Dover-style collection of period house plans.I was unimpressed by the "Victorian-inspired" designs because they're only Victorian enough to fool the casual observer.Only the ones from Historical Replications were any good in my opinion, and there were precious few of those.All the rest were rambling modern homes with a few cornices and a porch, only the outsides referencing real Victorian architecture.

Never get tired of it
Although I am not in the market to build a house, I love Victorian architecture and house plans in general.I never get tired of looking through it and have had my copy for several years.

Victorian Dream Homes
The introduction is very informative regarding the various styles ofVictorian homes.There is an abundance of modernized Victorian plans. Unfortunately, of the 160 plans, only a handful included attic space. Authentic Victorian homes were rarely built without attics.If you areplanning on building a three-story authentic Victorian home with a fullbasement, be advised there are only a few plans contained in this volume. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Architecture    2. Architecture, Domestic    3. Architecture, Victorian    4. Design & Drafting    5. Designs and plans    6. Home Improvement / Construction    7. House Plans    8. United States