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Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 stars: Great treatment on use of space; so-so economics,
By
This review is from: The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live (Hardcover)
"The Not So Big House" is the best treatment I know of on efficient use of available space in a house design. Sarah Susanka favors built-in storage near the points of use, which is efficient in both use of square footage and on time spent getting things out of storage to where they're needed. Of course built-ins raise the cost of a house, which leads to Susanka's central thesis: a small, well-designed house with attention to detail will be costly -- but, in her opinion, worth it. She suggests toting up the square footage vs. time spent in various home spaces, and finds that typically formal living and dining rooms are budget busters that are used only rarely. Skipping these formal rooms will free up money for higher quality in the remaining spaces.Susanka falls down on the job with her limited treatment of ways a prospective home owner can save money on their dream house. Specifically, she mentions only The book, filled with excellent color photographs (many by the author) is extraordinarily well laid out. The text continually refers to "the photo above" rather than something like "Fig. 8-3b". Accompanying floor plans show the point and angle of the associated photos, making it easy to build up a mental picture of the overall space from a few choice shots. The lighting, contrast, color balance, and composition of the photos is outstanding. I must mention that the book is basically a paen to houses heavy on natural interior wood detail. In American homes this is exemplified by the Craftsman style; the feature also applies to traditional Japanese houses. It's a style that I personally like so that's not a detriment for me. If instead your taste runs to French country homes, where every scrap of wood must be painted, you'll probably have some qualms at the author's architectural bias. Unlike most architecture books which feature carefully decorated rooms you couldn't possibly be comfortable living in, the spaces depicted in Susanka's opus are refreshingly naturalistic. That's not to say that there are photos with kids' fingerprints around the light switches (as in real life). But this book is a rarity in showing bookshelves loaded with paperback books instead of the usual sets of matching leather-bound volumes, each shelf having three books stacked sideways to hold some Object d'Art. And there are actual kids' toys on actual floors! A final, fairly significant drawback is Susanka's short shrift when it comes to non-design topics. For instance, energy efficiency only gets a couple of pages. There are even shorter treatments of recycled materials, sustainability, and alternate (other than stick-built) construction styles. All of these "peripheral" subjects are crammed into the last (and shortest) chapter. Summary: This book is a rich resource of ideas on how to design a house that's efficient for your actual lifestyle. You'll need to look elsewhere to figure out how to build it and pay for it. But because design is the spearhead of the architectural process, this is an excellent starting point.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
The Extremely Expensive Not SO Big House.,
By A Customer
This review is from: The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live (Hardcover)
Not a practical book for someone on a budget. This book is still for someone with lots of time and money to spend on a home design. However, the book is a great reference for someone w/ the time and money to spend on a home design. Just be prepared to spend more than thought w/ this as a reference. My advice for budget minded home builders, look elsewhere.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Title should be "the expensive not so big house",
By A Customer
This review is from: The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live (Hardcover)
I made a list of my favorite ideas from this book, and I took that list to our builder. What I learned is that the author has told us how to build a wonderful small house -- but the kinds of details and materials she advocates will produce a small house that costs as much as a large one! I still agree in principle with the idea of building great smaller homes, but this book is only for those who have lots of money to spend.
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