Portable Houses [Hardcover]

Irene Rawlings (Author), Mary Abel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 7, 2004

Sheep wagons, houseboats, RVs, tents, yurts, even prefab homes and old converted school busses people are finding creative ways every day to build and adapt homes that aren't confined to one geographical location. Portable Houses features traditional movable dwellings around the world, from a houseboat in Sausalito to a gypsy wagon in the English countryside. Authors Irene Rawlings and Mary Abel provide essential information on making movable homes functional and practical, along with chapters on acquiring the necessary tools and gear for travel, problem solving with each type of portable house, and converting the dream into highway-legal reality. With photography of some of the world's most ingenious and unique portable structures, Portable Houses will inspire the migratory-minded to turn ordinary modes of transportation into creative living spaces. Rawlings proves that it really is possible for the dedicated, nomadic, do-it-yourselfer to make the road a comfortable home! Irene Rawlings is editor-in-chief of Mountain Living and Log & Timber magazines. Since age seven, she has wanted to buy a retired school bus, take out the seats, paint it a shiny red, and travel around the country. She is the author of many books, including The Clothesline (Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2002) with Andrea Van Steenhouse. Mary Abel is the managing editor of Mountain Living and Log & Timber Style magazines. She wants to buy an old trailer, paint it pink, and take it into the mountains to fly fish and cook chili over a campfire. She's still working on it.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This attractive book is sure to awaken daydreams of leaving the settled life and going on the road, down to the sea or into the wild blue yonder. Rawlings and Abel, editors at Mountain Living and Log & Timber Style magazines, present movable homes for all tastes and income levels. Divided into sections by type-Trailers; Buses & RVs; Trains, Planes, and Boats; Tepees, Tents, & Yurts; and Sheep Wagons-the book discusses how to procure, remodel and/or build your own traveling home, with tips on what to look for and what to avoid. The first chapter specifies how to choose and remodel a trailer, down to types of floor coverings (new wood flooring or vintage linoleum), naming your trailer and painting portraits of cowgirls on the exterior. As the book progresses, however, the number of how-tos declines. The last section contains some of the most intriguing structures: a high-tech portable "ski haus," moved from place to place by helicopter; a 36-square-foot acrylic "home box" designed for a Young Architects Competition; and a 3,000-square-foot house built of packing crates, shipping containers, recycled newspaper and bamboo. Frustratingly, these unusual designs receive cursory attention, often warranting only abbreviated descriptions and a single, exterior view. The Boats section is also meager, represented by a single pricey vintage yacht. Where are the houseboats? 60 color photos.
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About the Author

Irene Rawlings is the editor of Mountain Living magazine and is always on the go.

Mary Abel, managing editor of Mountain Living and Log & Timber Style magazines, wants to buy a vintage trailer, paint it pink, and take it into the mountains where she will fly fish and cook chili over a campfire.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith, Publisher (May 7, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1586853473
• ISBN-13: 978-1586853471
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 8.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,131,594 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Author, editor, and art curator Irene Rawlings hosts an award-winning radio show syndicated throughout the Rocky Mountain West. She is also the author of Portable Houses and The Clothesline.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breathtaking, May 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Portable Houses (Hardcover)

I have had an opportunity to see an advance of this book and must say I am impresssed. The photography alone is a reason to pick it up. What a wonderful topic. I continue to be impressed by these authors works. Cozy, comfy, like a crackle of a corner fireplace in an wintry cabin this book takes you to those bitty homes with great charisma.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sacred Spaces and Escapes into Nature, January 23, 2005

By 

Rebecca Johnson "The Rebecca Review" (Washington State) - See all my reviews
(COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Portable Houses (Hardcover)

"The idea of a portable house - of traveling while accompanied by our favorite possessions - is endlessly appealing."

If you feel your free spirit calling you, this book is going to intrigue you because it features trailers, buses, RVs, Trains, Planes, Boats, Tepees, Tents and Yurts.

Irene Rawlings and Mary Abel traveled around the country to discover new portable home ideas. All the homes feature specifications like model, size, owner, home base. There are also tips for what to look for, what to avoid and what it is going to cost.

Cooking while on the road is also a feature. There are beautiful pictures of making homemade food from organic foods collected during a families travels. There is an authentic reproduction of a tepee, luxuriously decorated with Navajo rugs and Adirondack-inspired furniture. There is a stone fire pit in the center of the room. The section on an American Gypsy wagon looks so romantic and cozy.

So many ways to live, so little time. This book also features the mini rolling gothic home that can be pulled behind a car or truck. It even has bookshelves. The most unique house in this book has to be the Ski Haus. Solar Cells and a wind generator are also features. It is aerodynamically designed and can be moved from place to place by a small helicopter.

~The Rebecca Review

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating in its variety, November 16, 2009

By 

microjoe - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Portable Houses (Hardcover)

This book is an interesting addition to my classic RV library. A camp trailer is the portable home they speak of, but by no means are they limited to that. For example the book also showcases a real gypsy wagon, a sheepherder wagon, a school bus conversion, houseboat, a tepee, old restored camp trailers, and more. My favorite is the sheepherders wagon, and I return to the pictures again and again. The book has some great advice on what to look for and what to avoid in restoring an old RV, but it is not really a how-to book, just some good advice. Instead it is a photography book, showcasing for the reader what others have done. The book starts off with a section that would be worthy of it's own book, a showcase of vintage canned ham trailers that have been restored and redecorated by a club of women that go fly fishing together. About 60 pictures, big an beautiful images. I recommend this book, and also take a look at "Ready to Roll" for some more trailer nostalgia.