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Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter (The Shelter Library of Building Books)

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Description

There's a grassroots movement in tiny homes these days. The real estate collapse, the economic downturn, burning out on 12-hour workdays -- many people are rethinking their ideas about shelter -- seeking an alternative to high rents, or a lifelong mortgage debt to a bank on an overpriced home. In this book are some 150 builders who have taken things into their own hands, creating tiny homes (under 500 sq. ft.). Homes on land, homes on wheels, homes on the road, homes on water, even homes in the trees. There are also studios, saunas, garden sheds, and greenhouses. There are 1,300 photos, showing a rich variety of small homemade shelters, and there are stories (and thoughts and inspirations) of the owner-builders who are on the forefront of this new trend in downsizing and self-sufficiency. At the heart of our 1973 book Shelter were drawings of 5 small buildings, which we recommended as a starting point in providing one's own home. Now, almost 40 years later, there's a growing tiny house movement all over the world -- which we've been tracking over the past two years. Many people have decided to scale back, to get by with less stuff, to live in smaller homes. You can buy a ready-made tiny home, build your own, get a kit or pre-fab, or live in a bus, houseboat, or other movable shelter. Some cities have special ordinances for building "inlaw" or "granny flats" in the back yard. There are innovative solutions in cities, such as the "capsules" in Tokyo. There are numerous blogs and websites with news, photos, and/or plans for tiny homes, documented here. If you're thinking of scaling back, you'll find plenty of inspiration here. Here's a different approach, a 180º turn from increasing consumption. Here are builders, designers, architects (no less), dreamers, artists, road gypsies, and water dwellers who've achieved a measure of freedom and independence by taking shelter into their own hands. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Shelter Publications; Original edition (January 24, 2012)


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0936070528


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 20


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9 x 0.75 x 12 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #472,971 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #81 in Architectural Materials #134 in Sustainability & Green Design #704 in Home Design & Construction (Books)


#81 in Architectural Materials:


#134 in Sustainability & Green Design:


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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Living Large in (Very) Little Houses
Lloyd Kahn has a lot to answer for. He bumped us out of our housing preconceptions as shelter editor of Whole Earth Catalog, blew our housing views away with indigenous vernacular housing around the world in Shelter, excited and encouraged us with Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter, and enticed us further with Builders of the Pacific Coast. Now, about the time we have regained equilibrium and settled into an expanded comfort level, here he is with Tiny Houses. And he threatens us with Tiny Houses II. Incorrigible. There is no stopping such a man. If you visit his blog at [...] you will see that he is also into fitness, so it is likely we will have to adjust to many more books from him. He is a leading cause of the ongoing need to build more bookshelves. The size of new American homes nearly doubled from 1970 to 2010. With the real estate crash and continuing widespread unemployment there is a whole lot of wallet tightening going on. There is also a lot of rethinking about how to live. Many people are dropping out of the consumption game. Tiny houses are extreme examples of the trend. The smaller the house, the more likely it can be built without a mortgage. An ever-growing number choose to build and live in something that is not only less expensive to build but less expensive to heat, cool and maintain. The LittleHouses group, to which I belong, is both the largest and busiest of any Home Building Yahoo! Group. The tiny house trend is not confined to any one place, although areas of mild weather are generally more suitable than places with extreme winters because of more typically thin building envelopes, which limit insulation. There are exceptions and included here is a glorious stone and timber house on top of a Colorado mountain. Tiny houses require less land and in fact can be portable. Sections of the book are Tiny Homes on Foundations, Tiny Homes on Wheels, Tiny Homes by Architects, Prefabs and Kits, Earthy Materials, Treehouses, On the Road, and On the Water. Most won't live in tiny houses forever. They are most appropriate for singles. With significant others and/or children, there is insufficient room to suit most people. One answer could be connected multiples with one unit serving as kitchen and dining, others for bedrooms and living. Most could be anchored but one could be used for travel. This book is inspiring, uplifting and offers encouragement for a sane and fun way to make fewer dollars go further. Profusely illustrated with 1,300 illustrations, the price is about two cents per picture. Whether or not pictures are worth a thousand words, this book is a heck of a bargain. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2012 by Kindle Customer

  • Packed Full of Fantastic Photo's. Creativity Meets Functionality!
After eagerly awaiting the arrival of this book, I was NOT disappointed! It is packed full of beautiful full-color photographs on every page. Quality of the book, text, photographic elements and diversity of tiny homes and simple shelters is superb! Various types of homes, different locations, building materials and styles mean this will appeal to a large variety of people. From city dwellers to cave (and even tree!) dweller, there is something here for nearly anyone. Whether you are just curious, desire a spare space for some peace and quiet or searching for a full-time alternative way of living...this book is sure to inspire a multitude of ideas. There is a nice selection of pre-fab/kits and other options as well as significant treatment of recycled materials. Examples of tiny homes range from ultra modern to quaint, primative to luxurious little escapes. Size, price estimates and materials are all mentioned. This is not a blueprint book nor a dedicated "how to" but rather a complete overview with a plethora of examples that will allow anyone to plan the perfect tiny home of their very own. Interviews with tiny home owners and designers are both informative and intersting. The writing style is engaging and the visuals beautifully executed. Well worth the wait! ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2012 by AnAmazonCustomer

  • Valued most
I bought this book for ideas for building a home, but didn’t work out that way. But love the pictures and homes in book.
Reviewed in the United States on March 9, 2025 by Rosebud

  • Loaded with inspiration but very limited info, if info is what you are looking for
I've seen a lot of the houses in this book before online, featured in magazine articles, on youtube or in alternative builder books, but it is nice to have them all in one place. I would have liked it better if there had been interior shots and a floor plan for each one, but as it is the book is full of eye candy for those interested in exploring the living small options. This book covers most of them, cob, stone, prefab, modular, tree houses, bus conversions, yurts, vardos, adobe, straw bale, and tiny homes on wheels. Missing was an example of a shipping container home, or if there was one I blew by it. I am a long time fan of Mr Kahn's books, and the layout of this one is great, the photos are wonderful. Did he take it to the next level? No. As gorgeous as it is, it offers more inspiration than useful info, so it is not the holy grail go-to source for reliable info on the ins and outs of tiny home building/living that I was hoping it would be, and I'm a bit sad it isn't. That OMG, this is IT book still needs to be written by someone, until then I'll continue surfing yahoo groups, tiny house blogs, and living small forums gathering info on how wide and tall can it be and still be mobile, pros and cons of mobile vs stationary, how to figure the house weight to trailer ratios, how to set up viable and affordable off grid power options, heating and cooling options, pros and cons of conversions, stick built, metal frame or SIP construction, how to build and vent a composting toilet in a tiny home, storage tricks, info on tiny house friendly parking options and problems, or what to look out for when buying land to build on. Basic code info would be helpful for stationary tiny homes, like minimum size, foundation options, etc. I also want to hear from people who tried tiny living and are either struggling to stay tiny or they went back to larger living. I want them to explain what went wrong for them in living tiny. I guess I want meaty info so I can decide if this is truly a viable housing option for me. I do not want to wind up with a costly albatross on a trailer, nowhere to live in it and feeling the burden of an unhappy financial investment that I find I regret making. A lot of us are sitting on the fence, someone needs to answer the hard questions and address the pitfalls. What is clear from the pics in this book is the sad fact that very few tiny house designers are laying out floor plan designs that would make tiny home living even marginally comfortable or long term viable, and very few of them are designed for people who truly need affordable housing options like those with mobility issues. Maybe more women need to start designing them. Personally, in rainy Oregon I need more than a sleeping loft, 5 ft of kitchen counter plus 2 chairs and table if I am going to do this long term, and I don't consider myself space greedy. I have downsized my life from a 2400sqft house to life in under 300sqft over the last 3 years, I am ready to make the jump both mentally and emotionally but I need reliable info that is still hard to gather and this book doesn't provide much of the info I was looking for, but it is indeed lovely to browse through... ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2012 by Dejablu503

  • Worth it if you’re into it!!
There’s SOOOOOOOO many cool ideas in this book!
Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2024 by Aaron

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