The Tiny Book of Tiny Houses

by Lester Walker

HardCover. Pub the Date: October 2011 Pages: 96 in Publisher: penguin the Profiles seventeen small buildings some used as permanent housing. Some as temporary accommodations. And some as workplaces including Thoreau's cabin and an ice fishing shanty and provides structural diagrams and plans

Genres: Nonfiction, Architecture

96 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1993

About the author

Lester Walker is an award-winning architect and author of numerous books related to houses and architecture, including Little House of My Own, Housebuilding for Children and Block Building for Children. He lives in Woodstock, New York, where his architectural firm is based.

Reviews

[Noah French · Rating 4 out of 5]

New coffee table book! Cute read.

[Quinn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A diminutive book that details tiny houses.

Pros:
- Many pictures and illustrations to get a better sense of what the houses actually looked like
- Author has an approachable style, though he still uses plenty of architecture terminology
- The book is short, coming in at under 100 pages

Cons:
- None of the pictures / drawings are in color
- [nit-pick] Some historical context and commentary is provided, but this is hardly an authoritative tome (not that it purports to be)
- [nit-pick] the author offers no suggestions on how to actually build the houses in question. I am only listing this as a nit-pick, however, because the author specifically says that he will not provide such instructions in the introduction.

Conclusion:
This is a fun little book that may just inspire you to seek out (or even build) a tiny home of your own.

[Miriam Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting enough, sadly only with black & white photos.

[Coleman Wigger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gives Tiny Houses inside looks. I mostly enjoyed finding out that they have a Tiny House called the Poetry House. Just for reading.

[Justin Mumford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun little book that explores different kinds of tiny houses.

[Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been intensely interested in tiny homes for a long time now, but especially since discovering Tumbleweed homes online, and then scouring other resources for similar ideas. I love the idea of living simply and not rattling around in a big house. This is a nice book that I lingered in Malaprops reading one night.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Tiny Book of Tiny Houses is utterly charming, especially the profiles of historical tiny houses. It's a bit hard to overlook so many typos in such a small space, but I didn't think that was enough to dock a star from an otherwise excellent book.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3/1/12 ... I picked up several bags of books today & this is another of them. I've already gone through this book & my boyfriend & I both love all the little houses. lol. He's always talking of making a shed into his house!! lol

[Joan]

Apparently this is the little book that set off the tiny house movement years ago. Walker provides illustration and descriptions of how these shacks and cottages and tents were built and used in the last few hundred years. Delightful!

[carolm · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want nothing more than to build myself a tiny little house/studio of my own out in our backyard!

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

People should learn to live with less. While it is ostensibly about get-away cabins... there's something to be said about living in a small space.

[Lepadah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A totaling fascinating book. Considering our present economy of today downsizing is no longer an option it is necessary for survival. Save the planet movement.

[Lapriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love looking at this book and thinking of well designed small houses and get aways. Fun!

[N.L. Riviezzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A charming little book with some interesting historical tidbits.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

over simplified plans of very basic houses

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic book of small house living.

[Hannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Utter waste of time.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Charming little gem of a book.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book while staying in a tiny house. Love the tiny house, and love the details and charm of the book. Definitely want to go check out some more tiny houses.