http://www.cathy-moore.com/house/house.html
That's a link to a woman who did very much what I want to do. In fact, that's pretty much the exact approach I want to take, except my preferences tend to something more modern in design. I also want space laid out a bit differently (2 stories instead of 1.5 and a dedicated media room). The last difference is I'm looking to incorporate some of the design patterns from Alexander's book. So I'm basically going to try and follow in her footsteps, but tweak things to satisfy my own wants and desires.
If I can swing it financially I'd actually like to build something architect designed. Though I've been casually looking for a few months and its pretty hard to find architects who do small residential, have experience with passive solar, and know how to design to the opportunities/constraints of SIPs/ICFs.
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Readinglist
I've got to head out, so last post in this initial deluge will be a list of the decent books I've come across so far. Incidentally, if you're looking to buy these, check out abebooks.com before Amazon. I love Amazon, but you can save some serious money at abebooks if they have what you're looking for.
Of Special Note (If you can only read two from the list, read these):
Not So Big House
Frank Lloyd Wright
Construction
There are a lot of more technical books out there, especially about PS design, but the ones listed above are a good general start for some of the ideas I'm interested in.
Of Special Note (If you can only read two from the list, read these):
- A Pattern Language - Christopher Alexander
- The Not So Big House - Sarah Susanka
Not So Big House
- The Not So Big House - Sarah Susanka
- Creating the Not So Big House - Sarah Susanka
- Not So Big Solutions - Sarah Susanka
Frank Lloyd Wright
- Frank Lloyd Wright; The Houses - Hess and Weintraub
- The Natural House - Frank Lloyd Wright
Construction
- A Pattern Language - Christopher Alexander
- Prefabulous - Koones
- The Passive Solar House - Kachadorian
There are a lot of more technical books out there, especially about PS design, but the ones listed above are a good general start for some of the ideas I'm interested in.
How did I get here
Like pretty much everything of any significance in my life it started out in a bookstore. This was in the beginning of 2007 and I'd been casually thinking about getting out of the renting game. As is typically the case I started out by trying to read up on whatever information I could get my hands on. Initially I was only looking to buy, thinking that building would never be within my price range, but while wandering around a Barnes and Noble I came across a magazine called 'Small Homes that Live Large.' At the time I knew anything I'd be looking at would be small, given my budget relative to local home prices, so I picked it up and started paging through it. Turns out every home it described had some aspect that appealed to me, so I ended up buying it to read later.
The most important idea that I took from reading the magazine was the fact that building didn't necessarily have to be expensive. They showcased a series of beautiful and expensive houses, but they also covered several houses that had been built with a definite budget in mind. I looked at the cost/sqft values listed in the magazine and began to wonder if I couldn't afford that myself.
Once the idea was in my head the real reading began. I have this bad habit of buying book after book based solely on positive Amazon reviews, so I went through a lot of junk at first. At some point I came across a reference to Susanka as one of the most vocal voices for the small but growing "quality over quantity" dialog in home building. I ended up buying 3 of her books and they're really the inspiration behind this entire thing. She was able to formalize and clearly describe some of the ideas that had been kicking around in my head about housing in general and cost/value relationships in particular. At that point I decided this was an idea I was going to seriously look into.
The most important idea that I took from reading the magazine was the fact that building didn't necessarily have to be expensive. They showcased a series of beautiful and expensive houses, but they also covered several houses that had been built with a definite budget in mind. I looked at the cost/sqft values listed in the magazine and began to wonder if I couldn't afford that myself.
Once the idea was in my head the real reading began. I have this bad habit of buying book after book based solely on positive Amazon reviews, so I went through a lot of junk at first. At some point I came across a reference to Susanka as one of the most vocal voices for the small but growing "quality over quantity" dialog in home building. I ended up buying 3 of her books and they're really the inspiration behind this entire thing. She was able to formalize and clearly describe some of the ideas that had been kicking around in my head about housing in general and cost/value relationships in particular. At that point I decided this was an idea I was going to seriously look into.
Introduction
My first foray into blogging. The purpose of this site will be to track my progress in exploring passive solar home design in the context of Sarah Susanka's Not So Big House concept.
At this point in the process I'm still in the very early stages of research, which for me, means there's a long way to go. I'm a pretty conservative guy so I need to be really comfortable about any serious decisions in my life. Upside of this approach is that I pretty much never regret the big decisions I make. Downside is that a lot of big decisions tend to pass me by as I'm thinking about them. C'est la vie, but perhaps self-recognition really is the first step to self-improvement.
Anyway, given the thought of building a home is about as serious as it gets (financially speaking -- I'm a romantic at heart), I'm thinking this is going to be a multi-year process with a significant chance of stagnation. Still, you've got to start somewhere...
At this point in the process I'm still in the very early stages of research, which for me, means there's a long way to go. I'm a pretty conservative guy so I need to be really comfortable about any serious decisions in my life. Upside of this approach is that I pretty much never regret the big decisions I make. Downside is that a lot of big decisions tend to pass me by as I'm thinking about them. C'est la vie, but perhaps self-recognition really is the first step to self-improvement.
Anyway, given the thought of building a home is about as serious as it gets (financially speaking -- I'm a romantic at heart), I'm thinking this is going to be a multi-year process with a significant chance of stagnation. Still, you've got to start somewhere...
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