Until now, homeowners have had to choose between the twin worlds of budget-friendly mediocrity and unaffordable fantasy. Responding to this gap, acclaimed architect Duo Dickinson demonstrates that a customhouse doesn't depend on a fabulous price tag. The House You Build offers a third way of building that is grounded in the realities of time and money, but focuses on your fondest hopes and dreams. Here are 20 real-world situations where unique and imaginative homes were built on real-life budgets. When you build on a budget, there are no right answers, only careful choices. There are 20 dreams in this book, and these dreams came true. The House You Build is the first book of architect-designed homes that presents the real costs of their construction including design fees, the Six Rules on Getting What You Want (and can afford), a broad range of house styles from all over the country, and homes that accommodate a wide variety of lifestyles.
"Here's an architecture book for our times, when many homeowners are under water on mortgages, and the cycle of trading up has either stopped or slowed way, way down. In "Staying Put," architect and writer Duo Dickinson has assembled a terrific and practical guide to help us make real improvements to our homes."
- Bud Dietrich, AIA, Houzz
"He guides a novice with humor and an easily understood roadmap."
- Christine Brun, Dallas Morning News
"The book starts with the premise that, OK, the economy stinks and you're stuck in this house that you hate. Homeowners no longer have the luxury to buy a "starter home" and move on."
- Donna Doherty, New Haven Register
"These pages are crammed with good advice (avoid gutters at all costs; add wide eaves instead) and realistic assessments of the way we live now...Straightforward before-and-after photographs fit the mood of this cheerful, no-nonsense book."
- Pilar Viladas, New York Times
"Could there be a more perfect book for this American moment? Figuring out how to hunker down happily--replacing unsustainable fantasies of shelter porn with long-term, real-life shelter love--is the new name of the game, and I know of no more expert, charming guide than Duo Dickinson."
-Kurt Andersen, host of public radio's Studio 360 and author of Heyday
"How many books do you know that can give you multiple and frequent full-throttle belly laughs while delivering basic and simple advice about how to make friends with, and even come to love, the house that until recently you'd imagined you'd be moving up from sometime in the not-too-distant future? Duo's latest opus does just that. I loved every page of this fact-filled, practical book. It's worth your time to read, even if you're not planning to remodel any time soon. But my guess is that by the time you're finished, you may be closer to a remodeling than you thought."
-Sarah Susanka, FAIA, architect and author of Not So Big Remodeling, and The Not So Big House series
"People used to fix up their houses mainly to impress potential buyers--whose standards, they figured, were higher. But nowadays nobody's buying, so why not impress yourself? If you follow Duo Dickinson's excellent advice, you'll end up with a house you won't want to leave even to go to the grocery store."
-David Owen, staff writer for The New Yorker and author of Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less are the Keys to Sustainability
Graduating from Cornell in 1977, Duo Dickinson opened his own architectural practice in 1987. He is licensed in 8 states, and has a staff of 10 working in his Madison, Connecticut office. In over 30 years of professional practice he has built over 500 projects in over 10 states, with budgets ranging from $5,000 to $5,000,000.
His work has received more than 30 awards, including Architectural Record Record House, Metropolitan Home Met Home Awards, and Connecticut and New York AIA design awards. He is the first non-member award-winner of the Society of America Registered Architects' 2009 Special Service Award.
His design work has been published in over 70 publications including The New York Times, Architectural Record, and House Beautiful.
Mr. Dickinson has written 7 books, including The Small House and Expressive Details for McGraw Hill and The House You Build, published by Taunton Press and as a paperback entitled House On A Budge. His next book, Staying Put, will be published by Taunton Press in the fall of 2011.
He is a commissioned blogger for the New Haven Register, and is blog, Saved By Design, has been up since the summer of 2010. Additionally he is a Contributing Blogger for Architecture Boston Magazine.
His weekly radio show "The Real Life Survival Guide" can be heard Sundays on WNPR and is also available as a podcast: http://reallifesurvivalguide.com/.
He is the Contributing Writer for Home Design for Money Magazine. Additionally he is the architecture critic for the New Haven Register, contributing writer in home design for New Haven magazine. He has written articles for more than a dozen national publications including Residential Architect, House Beautiful, Home, Fine Homebuilding and was a contributing writer for the "By Design" column for This Old House magazine.
Mr. Dickinson has taught at Yale College, Roger Williams University and at the Harvard Graduate School of Design Summer Program. Additionally he has lectured at dozens of universities, AIA associations, and at national conventions and gatherings.
Mr. Dickinson was the co-host of the CNN/Money Magazine web series "Home Work". He is the Co-Founder of The Congress of Residential Architecture (CORA). He was under contract with Lightworks Producing Group to create production ideas for cable television programming focusing on residential design. He is in production with Bruce Barber on a regional radio program "The Real Life Survival Guide" going on air in 2011. He has appeared on a variety of national media platforms, including CNN's Open House, NPR's Studio 360 and Weekend Marketplace.
Mr. Dickinson sits on 7 not for profit boards, including the New Haven Chapter of Habitat for Humanity, Katherine Hepburn Cultural Arts Center, and Madison Cultural Arts. 20-30% of the ongoing work in his office is dedicated to pro bono or at-cost work for not-for-profits, totaling over 50 projects for over 30 organizations over the last 25 years.
