Retreats: Handmade Hideaways to Refresh the Spirit [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ G. Lawson, Iii Drinkard (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This work opens the shutters on the hideaways of sixteen fascinating people who designed their one-of-a-kind solitary retreat. The havens include a garden tree house, a mountain cabin, an attic room, a snow cave that melts with the Spring. Illustrated with 150 colour photographs, this is not only an idea book about building your own retreat, but a practical guide that gets you started, which covers everything from recycling existing structure to fitting a kitchen and bathroom.

From the Inside Flap

Whether it is a tree house in the corner of your yard, an attic room closed off from the world, or a snow cave that will disappear with the coming of spring--any room or building that you make your own can become a soothing retreat for rejuvenating your soul. Author Lawson Drinkard introduces us to some fascinating one-of-a-kind retreats. From small mountain cabins to a tar paper shack, a yurt, and an oversized birdhouse sheathed in corrugated metal, the handmade retreats featured in this book will inspire you to imagine your own secluded hideaway. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 155 pages
• Publisher: Gibbs Smith Publishers; 1st edition (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 087905798X
• ISBN-13: 978-0879057985
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,132,063 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful wish maybe it could happen book, March 28, 1999

By	Duane [e-mail] (Westland, Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

Just a beautiful book, not only in appearance but in content. Open up this book on a January day in the dead of winter and dream, dream, dream. Of course, as the author states dreaming is the beginning. It opens up all the possibilities and options for one's own retreat. I enjoyed it immensely as I'm sure you will. Live life to it's fullest.

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Retreats, as a vacation or a lifestyle., July 27, 1998

By A Customer

This is a beautiful book ... beautiful in concept, execution, and expansiveness. It's more than a book: it's a piece of art, it's a philosophy, it's shares a way of being more fully alive. It can be read as a building manual, as an inspiration to greater nourishment of self and community, or as an introduction to a score of unique, creative, and hopeful individuals, all of whom are living their lives fully, I've read it cover to cover and enjoyed every nuance of it. I shared it with a dozen friends, all of whom had different but meaningful experiences with it. Read and enjoy the discussions that it will engender.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, Very Well Done Book, March 22, 2006

By	PG "Cabin Fever" (NYC) - See all my reviews

I have picked it up for the photos over and over again, and read it more than a few times. It's pretty darn cool. To be clear, it is not a DIY information sort of book (but I don't think the title even suggests that anyway). Neat dreamy title, neat dreamy pictures, neat dreamy book. I bought this when we were first thinking about building a cabin, and it was really inspiring. Great pictures of lots of kinds of retreats, and really cool stories about people who created them. Thanks to the author for including all kinds of camps ... from tiny sheepwagons to tar-paper shacks and from log cabins to treehouses.