Handmade Houses: A Guide to the Woodbutcher's Art

by Art Boericke, Barry Shapiro

see image

Genres: Architecture, Nonfiction, Art, Photography

95 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

Reviews

[Alger Smythe-Hopkins]

Not a serious guide to anything, let alone wood butchery, this book is a hot take on amateur home-building during the high tide of the Back to the Land movement. Flipping through, I experience some serious nostalgia for the times I spent in similar under heated and damp shacks with friends homesteading across the eastern US. Looking at these tumbledown salvage assemblages I realize how much of an advantage these builders had in their access to cheap land, high quality trash lumber and brick, and a forgiving climate. A good number of these structures were probably abandoned within a few years of these pictures, and several probably came apart around their inhabitants. Still, they feel much more like a home than the box of boxes that was dominant at the time, and into the present. Yet I suppose that dreaming of living in a Hobbit Hole is always more attractive than doing it.

[Andrea]

Arwen and I simultaneously and independently purchased copies of this book from the Friends of the San Francisco Library book sale. This book proves that building with recycled materials and reducing your energy/resource footprint is by no means a sacrifice. In the Foreword by Sim Van der Ryn (The School of Architecture, UC Berkeley) he implores us to ignore "an economy whose values are the magnitude of production and consumption." Easily and joyfully done, if only I get to live in one of these (beautifully photographed) forts; constructed by hand with found glass, old wood, clay, adobe...

[Koeeoaddi]

I still love these goofy hippie houses and if I could find one, still standing, off a ways from this bee hive of crammed together stucco, fake adobe and miles of tile roofs, I'd buy it.

(Excepting the seriously unlovely geodesic dome homes, of course. They look just like big wooden warts.)

[Julianne]

While some of these houses were inspiring, some of them looked absolutely uncomfortable, cold and likely already abandoned. Still have dreams of my own little place in the woods but at my age I also dream of a few creature comforts that some of these places lack. Definitely a book of its era - thinking/hoping these days that living off the grid might be a tad more attainable with some comfort (and money.) Anyway, it was a fun flip.

[faeru wren]

wonderful!

[Anne]

The hippiest. Written in the early 70s, the writer seems to have predicted tiny houses, upcycling, reuse, and other "new" trends.

[James]

Gorgeous pictures of innovative homes, often put together with little financial outlay but a lot of careful and creative thought and hard work. A lot of the features in some of these houses are works of art, pure and simple (or pure and sophisticated.)

Given that housing prices have outrun inflation for decades, even with the housing bubble having popped a few years ago, and given the increased concern for conserving resources in building and then in heating and cooling our homes, this old book is more timely than ever.

[Michael]

that my dreams of building a home are still alive, and if i did it would look something like one of these. my ex-girlfriend and i had a copy of this in our collection for years, and she got it in the split. just found my copy down the street in a good bookshop near my house. kinda hard to find. i stayed in mark's yert in olympia, and waking up in the morning with vines growing through my bed brought it "home".

[Clare]

Love this book. Definitely of it's time, it documents hand made houses in the '60's - made from anything to hand - architectural salvage, driftwood, spare timber. Much reference to the "awesomeness of listening to Raga's" in a sympathetic house. My dad had this book and always planned to make one. Now the mantle has been handed on to me - watch this space.

[James]

Absolutely gorgeous. This is a picture book of wildly varied houses united by the owners having followed their dreams in building their own visions, and in most cased by their having made extensive use of recycled lumber and other materials. A great source of ideas and inspiration.

[Ron]

A wonderful look at some wild and creative structures. The ingenuity of design of these hand made homes is remarkable. Most of the examples are located in out of the way places and far away from building inspectors.

[Sandra]

I enjoyed the fact that the book showed handmade houses by amateurs and those designed and built by true architects/builders. Broad range of styles and good description of materials. Many in California - but this harkens to the days when code was relaxed. No way would they be built today in CA.

[Amy]

Living in the sticks... literally. This is a slim coffee-table book of rather beautiful handbuilt, rustic cottages and shacks. Quaint, inspirational, romantic.

[Meara]

Endless Drool.

[Shoshanna]

Beautiful photos of handmade houses. Makes me feel wistful for a time I didn't even know.

[Niloy]

It was amazing. Inspiring. Truly there's a lot to learn from it.

[Kent]

very inspirational pictures of wood made houses

[Hannah]

Very little writing but amazing photos. I was very inspired by what I saw.