Designing Your Natural House (Wiley-Vnr) [Paperback]

Charles G. Woods (Author), Malcolm Wells (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471285285 | ISBN-13: 978-0471285281 | Publication Date: January 14, 1999 | Edition: 1

"Everyone who designs a house should have to memorize the rules in this book . before being allowed to purchase a drafting pencil. Mac and Charles have managed to consolidate most everything they know about residential design with wit, Clarity, and excellent sketches" -- David Wright, Noted Solar Designer and Environmental Architect * Designing Your Natural House Charles G. Woods and Malcolm Wells As concerns about our mistreatment of the environment keep growing, the trend toward housing that blends with rather than works against natural surroundings continues to accelerate. This important guide explores and illustrates all aspects of how to integrate dwellings with their natural settings. The authors are leading names in the natural design field whose work has been inspired by the contour-friendly, organic style of Frank Lloyd Wright. Charles G. Woods and Mclcolm Wells offer a wide range of invaluable design tips for both constructing new houses and remodeling existing ones. Every design they cover is in accordance with today's ecological and environmental concerns. Beautifully illustrated and hand lettered throughout, this guide explains how to choose the best site design, lay out floor plans, landscape, and incorporate energy-efficient features wherever possible. You're shown how to solve many design, ecological, and environmental problems, as well as how to keep design costs as low as possible. Numerous before-and-after graphics clarify every stage in the design process, and do and don't examples help you avoid common mistakes encountered when designing natural dwellings. Included are 150 money- and energy-saving tips more than 200 tricks of the trade that help assure exemplary results, and sample house plans (which you can order) that promote further understanding of how to integrate designs with the natural site. Designing Your Natural House is timely, comprehensive, and visually appealing, making it an ideal source for architects, contractors, interior designers, landscape architects, do -it-yourselfers, and remodelers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

About the Authors CHARLES G. WOODS is a well-known, award-winning designer of energy-efficient housing. He is the author of Natural Architecture and The Complete Earth Sheltered House. He is based in Honesdale, PA. Known as the father of underground architecture, MALCOLM WELLS is an internationally-renowned architect and the author of several other books, including Gentle Architecture. He lives in Brewster, Massachusetts.

Product Details

• Paperback: 243 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 14, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471285285
• ISBN-13: 978-0471285281
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,281,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars convincing & well illustrated book on home design, May 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Designing Your Natural House (Wiley-Vnr) (Paperback)

This inspiring book shows very clearly what kind of decisions can be made in home design.

Whilst not getting into the nuts & bolts of building, innovative ideas are shared page after page.

Humour and how-not-to examples effectively tackle the otherwise so-subjective topic of aesthetics.

An entertaining coffee-table book for wanna-be home builders and a good reference for teams bogged down by discussions of good taste in architecture.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent overview and comparison of architectural concepts, May 9, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Pinehurst , North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing Your Natural House (Wiley-Vnr) (Paperback)

This book is great for someone who is thinking about building a home with common sense.It explains and compares good and bad architecture, and gives examples and sketches of why it is good and bad. Now when I look at buildings and homes that have always seemed unpleasant,I say to myself "Oh, if the roofline was only at a little less of an angle", and so on. It makes you wake up and be more aware of the aesthetic relationship of a stucture to the earth. There are also exciting and innovative home plans in it that you will find nowhere else. The authors respond to inquiries and have a great sense of humor.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creatively written with provocative ideas, April 1, 2002

By 

"bluereef_auctions" (Miami, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Designing Your Natural House (Wiley-Vnr) (Paperback)

Malcolm Wells' dry wit and characteristic hand-written style appear once again in this collaboration with fellow natural architect, Charles Woods. Well and Woods share common goals of architecture that complements rather than covers the land, and offer myriad ideas and pointers to help you design a cohesive attractive structure, filled with visual balance and not-so-common good sense.

Although the authors don't always agree on the specifics of visual aspects, their playful banter reveals that not all their ideas are steadfast rules, and allows you to witness the brainstorming give-and-take between the authors while offering you enough information to make your own decision.

Few complete home designs are displayed, but they are reprinted from the authors' other books (Natural Architecture by Woods, Underground Designs by Wells), and are placed in context of demonstrating a point. Otherwise, pages are filled with illuminating commentary and ideas on specific components of homes, including roof lines, light fixtures, proportions, window types, door placement, siding, and lot layout.

You will not be told how to build a house, but rather you will develop a designer's critical eye and help you to understand why so many modern homes have visual aspects that just don't look "right". (Example: narrow shutters on wide windows -- how will the shutters ever cover the window space if they are not proportional?...you'd be surprised how often I see this faux pas in local posh neighborhoods).

A helpful bibliography points to other books to fill out your home design repertoir.

(Wells is the grandfather of earth-sheltered/underground architecture and still offers design services from Cape Cod. You can write to him (via snail mail) and he'll kindly reply.)