Customer Reviews

The Good Home: Interiors and Exteriors

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

 

 

This book was well reviewed in the Washington Post, so I bought it.

Gorgeous photos and floorplans without measurements are shown for 13 houses, ranging from small to medium size, but all expensive.

The best thing about the book is that it discusses what makes a residence interesting to live in and beautiful to look at. It gave me some things to think about when I design my next house.

The worst part, normal for architect designs, is that closets and bathrooms are small or few or both. No rooms have TV sets or any clutter. You couldn't live in the house as shown.

But it is a feast of good and beautiful ideas!

This is a gorgeous book. The images are of extraordinary quality, and, like another reviewer commented, make one feel as though you're in the room. The text is, well, charming. And that's a good thing. This isn't a dry, academic tome, and the reader is engaged by the almost poetic descriptions. One really begins to think about what's being conveyed. My hat is off to authors Dennis Wedlick and Philip Langdon.

But foremost is the rare talent of Wedlick. There are many bad architects out there, and the global built fabric has been significantly diminished these past five decades by Bad Modernism (as opposed to the rare Good Modernism). More rare these past five decades are architects conversant with a language of tradition. Even rarer still are architects who work this ancient language with skill, humor, and economy of line. Wedlick, like Sir John Soane, knows how to break the "rules" without ever descending into silliness.

The crisp plans reveal an impressive attention to compact arrangements, and offer a rebuke to the needless Bigger Is Better phenomenon that has swept America. Wedlick is unusually adept at making sense from complicated geometry (notably with his star-shaped house). His ability to work with both a language of tradition AND modernism is remarkable, and it's to his credit that he has deftly maintained a foot in these opposing camps. The built world would be infinitely improved if more architects kept their feet engaged as such!

My only complaints are:
1) The plans are grouped at the end, forcing one to flip back and forth while reading about a house.
2) Some highlighted houses don't have plans!
3) No site plans are included.
4) There's almost no information about Wedlick. One yearns to know more about the man, his practice, and clients.

These concerns do not offset my giving the book five stars.

I love it.

This book is a great companion book to other "home design" books in my library. It explains why houses can be both practical and personal. Each house illustrated is unique, filled with ideas that everyone wants: cozy window seats, great fireplaces, nooks, and built-ins for strorage throughout. Every room is flooded with light from huge windows and open floor plans. (Plans are illustrated in back!)

The photography is so amazing you feel your are in the rooms. There are renderings and details throughout.

I also enjoyed reading about the stories of each of the homeowners. Their houses are not-too-big, and yet are filled with character and fun at every turn. (They look affordable too.)

I highly recommend this book to anyone who dreams of a new house or renovating their current house into a personal "soulfull" house.

The person who wrote that the houses seem impractical to live in does not know what they are talking about. I live in one of Dennis Wedlick's magical houses and I can attest to the fact that I find the space thoroughly livable and practical in addition to being inspiring. Every day in this house is a life-enriching joy and everyone who visits here comments on what a magnificent house it is. People leave here changed by the experience of the place. It is annoying when people write reviews about things they have no experience of whatsoever.

Dennis is one of the most talented young architects in America. Anyone who has come into contact with his work, whether its been a real built home or an exhibit such as the ones put up in the Winter Garden at the WFC, Grand Central Station or the Mall of the Americas will walk away saying "that's really neat...I wish I could live like that for a day". Rarely has someone so gifted focused on designing and sharing those concepts with everyday people on budgets. Most architects with a quarter the talent are the ones that design impractical spaces for Wall Street budgets. Refer to the LIFE magazine house of the year series. Dennis' design is by far the most popular one built, in spite of trophy talent like Graves, and Stern sharing the winners circle. To the reader who said he was disappointed...think about this. The mere fact that Dennis' floor plans are in the book is invaluable....try buying a better floor plan for $50. That reader should stick to buying stock house plan magazines at the checkout counter.

The Good Home is a Great Book! More than that it is a motivating book. You're probably thinking how does a book about architecture do this. This book gets the reader to think about what the architect and author, Dennis Wedlick, is explaining then motivates the reader to expand on it. You like his concepts and the thinking behind them yet he's telling you to take it further. He's an expert who provokes not imposes a concept and then lets the reader take it higher. Mr. Wedlick includes beautiful photographs of his finished products that mesmerize the reader and beg you to read on. I highly recommend this book as both a learning tool and a new way to approach your idea of how to live.

This is an enjoyable book. It consists of photo spreads of several homes by the architect author, with explanatory text. It's much more focused than similar books, but, like them, uses polished professional photography and ghost writing.

The theme is houses with Picturesque charm, or at least as much as can be had with new construction. I feel true charm is always accidental and only accrues over time, but, for those who feel instant charm is better than none at all, there are no better examples. At least for modern homes. Otherwise, Storybook Style: America's Whimsical Homes of the Twenties takes the cake.

I had read glowing reviews of this book and expected more than I got when I read it myself. Disappointment is often a function of expectations and reality being out of synch and I think that was the source for me here. It's not that it's a bad book, but I didn't get the DEPTH of information I was expecting. After going through the design and build process a couple of times, I felt as thought I already knew what was broadly covered in this book. Also, I was disappointed in the photo layouts. Like another reviewer here, I found the spaces to be pretty impractical for living in.

I Am an Optimist but I Am also a Realist, some people would give something in the road dead a good review but there are some things nothing good can be said about it.

I bought 2 books "The Good Home" and "The Cabin" The Cabin is a little bit better but both are over priced, $8.00 would be a better price. they are a professional looking books hard cover with high gloss pictures.

The information these books give have little to be desired, sometime these books will tell what materials was used and a little bit about the history of the owenrs but that is about it.

If You are look for a these books to show You how to build it, forget it! these books are more like if they were written by a real-estate agent or something not a Carpenter.