Customer Reviews

The Arts & Crafts Cabin

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Being familiar with some of Robbin Obomsawin's other books, I bought this book expecting detailed house plans and handcrafted log architecture. After all, it's called "The Arts and Crafts ***Cabin***," right? And the picture on the front of that beautiful stained-glass door shows logs, doesn't it?

Well, this book is beautiful. You'll drool over the pictures. but a planbook it's not. And a log-building book it's not. And none of the residences here would qualify as a "cabin," most are opulent estates. There's nary a plan in the entire book. And almost none of the houses shown are built with logs as a primary element. Most are timberframes; many pictures show no log elements at all!

If you want to learn a bit about Arts and Crafts architecture or decorating, you may find some ideas here. But if you are designing a floorplan for a handcrafted log home and want it to have an Arts and Crafts feel, unfortunately, this isn't the right book.

I liked the quality of the photos. The detail design pictures were especially helpful. I also liked the links to the resources. I would recommend this book to others who have an interest in timberframe and arts & crafts design.

If you want any ideas to decorate, design and build your log cabin along the Arts & Craft lines, this is the source! It is full of beautiful architecture, design ideas and tips. My poor contractor has had to keep looking at this book to see what I want in my log home, but he's been enjoying it too.

I purchased The Arts & Crafts Cabin for my wife for Christmas, as we are building a new home this year. The book is chock-full of beautiful photographs by Roger Wade, who is the preeminent "log cabin" photographer, whose work graces most of the timber-frame and log-cabin oriented publications. The text is well-written but not particularly memorable. You buy this book because it looks lovely, and it is a favorite flipper on our coffee-table this summer.

There are a great many more interior images than exterior elevations -- a minor disappointment because we were at least as interested in gleening good ideas for exterior design. This book has many more yellow stickies marking pages than any other in our collection, so that tells you something.

Book was in great condition and the contents of the book was very helpful. I'm glad that the book was available as used but in great condition.

We are building a new home and this book has GREAT ideas for our deisgn as well as decorating. We would highly recommend this book - it is very informative.

Beautiful pictures of a variety of houses that offer ideas for decorating for log cabins. It helps to allow thinking outside of the box. It shows that the feel of a log cabin does not just have to be the typical rustic decor.

Got this book as a resource on current Arts & Crafts design implementation, but I was disappointed on a couple of fronts. One, the book -- as at least one other reviewer has mentioned, is chock full of beautiful homes, but not one I could call a "cabin." More like craftsman-flavored lodges. If you are a fan of the "Not So Big House" mentality, and I am, you will cringe at the opulent waste of space and materials, and the repetitive photos of imposing post-and-beam constructs. (I wasn't looking for a book on *log* cabins or floorplans, so the dearth of such designs was not an issue for me, as for some other reviewers.) I was, however, hoping for some examples of small-yet-finely-crafted homes, and they're not in here. Second, if you look at who wrote the book, it doesn't take long to realize this is a book aimed at inspiring the reader to look up a "design professional" -- a phrase that must be repeated a hundred times -- to create a truly beautiful, "connected with nature" A&C home. Now, I design and build custom furniture and cabinetry, and I am in favor of professional design as a rule. But this book just seems like it presents itself as a book *about* the cabin and ends up being a "you could have this kind of truss, or this kind of truss..." and "look us up if you see something you like" kind of read. Finally, it's a little inaccurate in its self-serving use of the popularity of the A&C philosophy as a design/marketing approach. Connect with nature, nature, blah blah nature... (not sure how harvesting so many huge trees for the post & beam constructions connects one with "nature!") but the Arts & Crafts movement, going back to one of its founders, William Morris, was really all about the *person* and the fulfillment and satisfaction of hand crafting, and enjoying things hand-crafted, as opposed to the mass-produced Victorian fluff being used to decorate everything in sight. Nature was an inspiration for many A&C designs, but the movement was about the dignity of the process and the craftsman, and the authenticity of the product. (Morris is never mentioned in the book that I recall, though Frank Lloyd Wright and the Greene brothers are, and their styles, though derived from A&C, are more accurately categorized as Prairie / Mission, and Craftsman.) The design details we have come to associate with A&C / Craftsman certainly lend themselves to beautiful, impressive lodges, and this book demonstrates that. Perhaps an acutely critical look at what is certainly a beautifully photographed book, but I can only give a generous C+ on the Arts & Crafts half of the title, and a solid D on "cabin."

Great photos and alot of great info ; I don't want to blow my own horn , but, toot, toot!!!!
I have two of my stained glass creations in this publication. I was very surprized my work was included in this great book. Thanks to all involved .
David Fjeld . Big Sky Stained Glass Art Inc.

This is an incredible book! This book reminded me of my trip to the Canadian Rockies - but not because of the architecture. There, every time I drove around a curve, the scenery was more beautiful than before. The same is true about this book. Every time I turned the page, the photos were more inspiring. And it wasn't just the photos. The book itself captured the spirit of the Arts & Crafts style. The quality of the photos, the layout of the pages, the selection of fonts, even the binding of the book showed craftsman-level attention to detail.

The book begins with the history and concepts of the Arts & Crafts movement and then shows and discusses new interpretations of the philosophy. The next section discusses ideas for incorporating key elements of the style such as sheltered porches, built-ins, and much more.

Note that this book does differ from some of Robbin Obomsawin's other books. Most notably, she does not fully explore a single house in each chapter. You will not find floor plans of the houses discussed - something I missed but that didn't fit this layout. Also, remember this book is titled The Arts & Crafts CABIN. That does not necessarily mean log cabin. There are several examples of log homes but with a stronger focus on log-element homes with more of a timber-frame feel. But many of the ideas can work in a pure log home - at least we hope to incorporate many of them in our log home.