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Rustic Retreats: A Build-It-Yourself Guide
Build the woodland hideaway of your dreams! From an elegant gazebo on the water to a rustic log cabin, this practical guide provides complete plans and illustrated step-by-step instructions for constructing more than 20 low-cost, sturdy, and beautiful outdoor structures. With expert advice on basic building techniques, necessary tools, and safety considerations, David and Jeanie Stiles show you everything you need to know to create your own dazzling garden pavilion, tree house, sauna hut, and more.
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 7, 1998
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 16, 2010
And now my son wants to build a stacked log hogan, a yurt, and a fold up tree house. Why couldn't he have fancied a grape arbor or garden pavilion? I'll never know. But, if you are interested in making any type of small shelter, river raft, or small log cabin, this book is for you. Each listing comes with a small description, a list of materials needed, and diagrams for building. And, best of all, the diagrams make sense to someone like me, who has absolutely no idea how to properly chink a log into place, but can read and marvel.
May 15, 2007
I'm currently obsessed with the idea of building a small studio in my backyard. I was hoping to find a plan or blueprint in this book that I could use. No such luck, although the plan to build ones own Yurt looks mighty interesting......
July 3, 2017
Although I do not consider myself the most handy person when it comes to constructing buildings [1] or anything else of the kind, I found this book to be very enjoyable. I know some people who could construct without too much trouble the retreats discussed in this book, and I found more than a few of the structures included here to be well-worth trying out. Even if I do not feel confident enough to actually build, at this time, any of the structures discussed here, I do feel as if what is included in this book would be well worth making and have at least heard some people plan and build items discussed here. All in all, this is a book with a great deal of beautiful building designs, amusing text, and a great deal of practical tips and advice for those who embark on constructing the various buildings mentioned here, all of which share in common a rustic quality as well as a decidedly low-tech view of how to live. If you want to live like the pioneers did, and develop at least some of their skills, this book is a good one.
In about 150 pages the authors discuss a wide variety of potential buildings, although they begin with necessary tools as well as tips on how to build one’s own handcart in order to haul items. After that the authors discuss basic building techniques, looking and strong and weak joins, windows, skylights, doors, roofs, latches, locks, ropes and knots, and how to deal with trees. It is only at this point that the authors discuss buildings, beginning with garden retreats like pavilions and a beautiful grape arbor, before looking at buildings on the ground like lean-tos and huts, a raft and water gazebo, two types of treehouses, some primitive native shelters like a wigwam, tipi, and yurt, some little houses like a log cabin and a writer’s retreat, and then a campfire circle and wind sculpture. The end result is a book that offers a wide variety of practical advice and beautiful designs for structures depending on how one’s whimsy takes the reader. Those readers who enjoy rural living will likely find at least something of interest in its pages, and that makes this book one that will likely be enjoyed by many.
Admittedly, I am not the target audience for a volume like this. I spend too much of my own time on the internet and doing my writing on computers, and am far too inexperienced at handling the tools necessary to do much of the building here. Even so, this is the sort of book that feeds the imagination, and one can imagine at least a few of these structures being immensely useful even for someone like me. And if I can find structures in this book I would like to build, have thought about building before, and may yet want to build in the future, there are likely to be many people whose greater skill at woodworking and even greater fondness for the quiet of rural living will lead them to find a great deal of inspiration here. The authors clearly fill these pages with a great deal of love and care, and it is obvious that they are not only aware of how to design and construct the structures included here but that they are full of love for the country and for the people of the country. That sort of goodwill makes this book even more enjoyable to read than it would be otherwise, and a book I can highly recommend to those who want to engage in preparation for a simpler country life.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
In about 150 pages the authors discuss a wide variety of potential buildings, although they begin with necessary tools as well as tips on how to build one’s own handcart in order to haul items. After that the authors discuss basic building techniques, looking and strong and weak joins, windows, skylights, doors, roofs, latches, locks, ropes and knots, and how to deal with trees. It is only at this point that the authors discuss buildings, beginning with garden retreats like pavilions and a beautiful grape arbor, before looking at buildings on the ground like lean-tos and huts, a raft and water gazebo, two types of treehouses, some primitive native shelters like a wigwam, tipi, and yurt, some little houses like a log cabin and a writer’s retreat, and then a campfire circle and wind sculpture. The end result is a book that offers a wide variety of practical advice and beautiful designs for structures depending on how one’s whimsy takes the reader. Those readers who enjoy rural living will likely find at least something of interest in its pages, and that makes this book one that will likely be enjoyed by many.
Admittedly, I am not the target audience for a volume like this. I spend too much of my own time on the internet and doing my writing on computers, and am far too inexperienced at handling the tools necessary to do much of the building here. Even so, this is the sort of book that feeds the imagination, and one can imagine at least a few of these structures being immensely useful even for someone like me. And if I can find structures in this book I would like to build, have thought about building before, and may yet want to build in the future, there are likely to be many people whose greater skill at woodworking and even greater fondness for the quiet of rural living will lead them to find a great deal of inspiration here. The authors clearly fill these pages with a great deal of love and care, and it is obvious that they are not only aware of how to design and construct the structures included here but that they are full of love for the country and for the people of the country. That sort of goodwill makes this book even more enjoyable to read than it would be otherwise, and a book I can highly recommend to those who want to engage in preparation for a simpler country life.
[1] See, for example:
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2017...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...
July 15, 2017
Pretty basic, but the book does have a lot of interesting ideas. None of the projects are overly difficult. A good place to start for ideas, if you are looking to put up a simple structure.
August 17, 2021
Great book with plans and info on how to build.
Read
March 12, 2009Great little buildings....
May 11, 2015
Excellent book with lots of motivational ideas
April 22, 2019
The authors of this book have written others on the same subject, but this is my favorite. Ink drawings illustrate the various rustic retreats you may build, ranging from a backyard arbor to a Sioux teepee to a hunting lean-to to a tree house to an honest-to-goodness actual log cabin. While the book is prefaced with basic safety reminders and a rundown of the materials and techniques used, you'd probably be better off with some basic construction experience, even if it's just a class in high school. If you didn't, you could probably do most of these projects unaided, but it would certainly go easier if you had access to a power saw.
Rustic is right -- most of these projects can be put up in a matter of weeks, if not days. I'd highly recommend to any handyman looking to add to his camping/vacation property or back garden.
Rustic is right -- most of these projects can be put up in a matter of weeks, if not days. I'd highly recommend to any handyman looking to add to his camping/vacation property or back garden.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews