A Little House of My Own: 47 Grand Designs for 47 Tiny Houses

by Lester Walker

The charming and innovative architecture of these tiny cottages, studios, fishing huts, homes and more--so small and cute that you can't help but fall for them--will inspire and delight home and architecture lovers and dreamers, too. Each chapter captures the utter eccentricity of these ingeniously designed shelters with irresistible color photographs of the structure and interiors alongside detailed isometric drawings, floor plans, and multiple elevations. A Little House of My Own offers humble dreams of solitude, romance, oasis for meditation and whimsy--all under 325 square feet--as well as technical details of the structure from the building materials and woodworking techniques to estimated cost of construction. In the accompanying text, award-winning architect Lester Walker relates the story of each building, the community or setting where it is located, and the personalities that shaped it. Notably quaint homes from history, including Jefferson's Honeymoon Cottage, Henry Thoreau's Cabin, and George Bernard Shaw's Writing Hut, and features on wacky specialty houses are sure to inspire and delight.

Genres: Nonfiction, Architecture, Design

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 2, 2000

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

[Trane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been reading a lot of books lately about "tiny" houses and microtecture, but I think this has got to be one of the best. This book rises above the others for several reasons, including the fantastic (and usefully explanatory) photography; the inclusion of plans and diagrams that are actually easy to understand; the generous attitude that author Lester Walker takes toward a wide variety of architectural practices and forms; and the interest that he's able to generate about each building by providing an appropriate history or backstory, as well as a 'reading' of the significance of the building under investigation.

The book covers just about everything including vernacular dune shacks, Thomas Jefferson's "honeymoon cottage," refugee housing for victims of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, ice fishing huts, prefabricated houses, roadside motels, and several more experimental designs. And of course Henry David Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond and George Bernard Shaw's writing hut are amply represented.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've really only browsed through this book one morning, but found it delightful. These ARE tiny houses, but they are historical and innovative tiny houses. Thomas Jefferson's Honeymoon Cottage, the church campground houses, Thoreau's cabin, Catskill motel units, a home in a delivery truck. It would be of great inspiration to someone building a writing studio or a guest cottage or even a very small getaway.

[Aster* · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book features famous historical tiny houses, and crucially provides drawn plans for each as well!

I have owned this book for decades and I find it so inspiring to see so many tiny home options that I dream of building some day!

[A.J. Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. Dated. The images are of poor quality and accompanying print so small you need a magnifying glass to read it. Does not hold up well.

[Elaine Meszaros · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Lloyd Kahn, architect Lester Walker loves small homes. His book features an array of small homes, ranging from historic like those of Thoreau at Walden Pond and Thomas Jefferson's "honeymoon cottage" to modernist mock-ups created by his students. There are less pictures of interiors than Kahn's books, which can be disappointing. But he does provide blueprint-ish exploded sketches to show interior, exterior and how how furniture fits inside. Most surprising was the evolution of the Campground Cottages from tents at camp-meetings into the gingerbread-crusted Gothic cottages still seen in places like Ocean Grove, NJ. Another description made me laugh out loud, as many other mid-western northerners might: After much research this roadside structure has been identified as a shelter for two children waiting for their school bus..." The mundane to one is the exotic to another. Enjoy, plan, plot, be inspired.

[Mark]

Got this due to our currently reading Pollan's A Place of My Own. Had to ILL it and it came in over break (30 Dec) and I picked it up on Tuesday (6 Jan) when I went back to work. Just looked at due date today and it was due Wednesday! A day afteR I picked it up. WTF?! So, skimmed even moreso than I would have.

[Cat Fithian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This actually has floor plans and some other details about historic homes (Thoreau, Earthquake Relief Houses, etc), pre-fabs, and other things. Interesting and educational, but not really homes that I'd want to live in today . . . well, except maybe the log cabin in the woods. An extra star for the floor plans, I'm a sucker for a floor plan.

[Annette McIntyre · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some very interesting tiny houses are explored in this book -- from historic to modern day ones, from fixed to mobile.

While no exact plans are given, there are drawings of the layout of each tiny house.

[AngelLeah · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed by this book. It says 47 house designs but doesn't mention that most of these are from the early 1900s. The majority of the designs don't include a bathroom! Plus, at least a dozen of the designs are not actually houses (like a school bus stop, a pottery shop, tool shop, etc).

[Elizabeth Simons · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dated. originally written in the 80s. Reissued, but actually not updated that much. Almost a nostalgia trip with the hippie van from the 70s.

[Kami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather old but still good. Had some great ideas for small homes. Love the cube house!!!

[Kerrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Small house revolution...book was dated, but still, if you are into Jay Schafer's small house movement, I would check this book out too.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

i've been saying for years that all i want is a little house. money is the biggest factor, but also it just means a lot less to clean.

[Cheeke · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I should have been an architect...

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

cute

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books seemed great in concept, but is lacking is application.

[feux d'artifice · Rating 5 out of 5]

fascinating and well organized!