Customer Reviews

Homing Instinct: Using Your Lifestyle to Design & Build Your Home

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

 

 

As a residential designer and builder I read a lot of how-to books and this is the first and only one of its kind - informative as well as entertaining. I picked it up after dinner one evening and when I next looked up it was four in the morning! Homing Instinct seems to have it all - stick building, timber framing, log homes, straw bales....even geodesic domes. It covers the foundation work, the energy systems, plumbing, electrical and , best of all, gives loads of alternatives in every area. Connell writes in a very humorous way which is refreshingly different from so many techno-texts. And the illustrations by themselves are worth the price. I know it's just one guy's opinion, but I think this book is worth half a dozen of those others.

i'm in the process of building a second home for our family. at first, i was very afraid that going to an architect, an "expert" was going to be expensive and potentially frustrating - how could they know what i wanted, how could i know to trust that they were "that" good and wouldn't charge me an arm and a leg for some design-y house? this book provided the education - the vocabulary, the concepts, the rationale - that any non-architect needs. after reading its chapters, i feel more confident both in my own ability to find the right architect and building professionals, and that i really do want to work with an architect.

even if you aren't building a house, this book will help you understand the one you currently have. it gives you enough context so that, the next time you see a funny stain on the floor, you'll be able to better guess if its water or a present from the dog.

If you are going to build your own home, then reading this book is an investment in your future. It will take you step-by-step thru the process of tailoring the building and site to fit you and your family for years to come. From where the building will sit on the site, to deciding how to create living spaces that fit your living both now, and in the future.

Designing and building your own home is an exciting, albeit stressful undertaking. Designing and building a home in sync with a natural lifestyle makes the undertaking overwhelming. HOMING INSTINCT provides a detailed overview of the home planning, design, and construction process, but has several distinct advantages over the typical building book. It begins by detailing homebuilders' needs according to their values and lifestyles. Then, throughout the book, homebuilders are offered design and construction choices based on those needs. HOMING INSTINCT presents sustainable building and construction methods as well as conventional choices so homebuilders can make chocies each step of the way. The book is not only educational and comprehensive, more importantly, it makes the decisions associated with building a home effortless and deeply personal

For those among us with the burning passion to design and build a home of our own, this is a "must have" book. John Connell makes the daunting task of creating a unique place for ourselve into a journey of personal understanding complete with pencil, tape measure and tool belt.

Do you like to wake up with the sun in your face and have coffee only a few steps away? Or would you prefer to awaken slowly drifting into consciousness as you slip from bed into a hot tub? No rubber stamp house offers you the chance to consider such questions.

Everything you need to do the job is clearly written out with very entertaining illustrations by the author. On top of that, it's a really fun read! I loved it!

If you aren't married to a builder or an architect this book may be the next best thing. I recently purchased my first home and was immediately overwhelmed with worries, concerns and problems. I didn't know where to turn or even how to articulate my needs. I was at the mercy of those guys roaming the aisles at Home Depot. But all that changed when I read HOMING INSTINCT. It is a novice's best friend; thorough and flexible while being friendly and even funny!

The book presents a good high-level approach of the design/building process. Mr. Connell does a great job of presenting various alternatives of all aspects of designing and building your home, all the while taking great care in never restricting creativity. For those who are in need of an overall discussion the book aquits itself splendidly. If your purpose, however, is to dig deep in technical matters, then look elsewhere. Even Mr.Connell acknowledges the lack of micro-content, when in the final chapter (and I am paraphrasing) he writes that we cannot be done (the book that is), that there are many questions unanswered, like how to build stairs, and floors, and windows, and doors ... (you get the idea). Well, these questions remain unanswered, meaning you have to buy another book. In all fairness to Mr.Connell, I fully understand that a technical discussion of every house building aspect is beyond the scope of his book, but I just wish I could get more information on let us say, windows, other than design issues. Great starting book.

Y2K might be topical, but "Homing Instinct"(McGraw Hill) is evergreen. Connell, founder of the Yestermorrow Design/Build School in Warren, Vermont recently updated the original book published by Time Warner in 1993 (see author's review). Yestermorrow students learn skills and philosophies necessary for designing or building a home. "Homing Instinct" is the next best thing to a month at building camp. Anyone planning to bypass architectural services can benefit from this conversational text with clear illustrations and imaginative chapter titles like: "A Window for Your Spririt, A Door for the Dance" or "Walls and Wallness". And don't skip the glossary. Someday a "Jeopardy!" title might hinge on mortise, kerf or zonohedra!