5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable insight into how we humans want to live

L.A. · November 11, 2020

Amazingly, I am entertaining the idea of building a home after reading Mr. Holowka’s book! We have looked at and lived in previously built houses over the years and always felt that designing a house for us was just too daunting and would likely lead to heartache. David’s book helped clarify some of my feelings of overwhelm.I was impressed with the breadth of his introductory chapters. From Huckleberry Finn’s “Cavern” to Palladio’s “Villa Rotunda”, I began to appreciate his treatise about how we want to live. He has put into words feelings I have had but not aware of how I could express them. His description of our desire to live outside and yet feel secure are aspects of my own life that I now see more clearly. His premise that we err on the side of security and gather material things fits me like a comfortable shirt.But managing all these material things and the large houses to contain these things most likely reduces our joy, he contends, and after reflection, I must agree.His short chapters describing the various facets to consider when designing a home are concise and clear. His drawings of the 4 model houses are detailed and illustrated from multiple perspectives to allow you to sense how the house would work internally and in various lighting and external environments.I especially enjoyed his discussion of Philip Johnson’s “Glass House” and Mies van der Rohe’s “Farnsworth House” sprinkled throughout his book to help illustrate aspects of the four model houses he describes in detail. Overall, I found this book of design to be refreshing and inspiring. It is time to contact an architect and get started!

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, unique, and in the spirit of Thoreau

H. · September 28, 2020

This brilliant book isn’t about tiny houses or how to tweak a conventional tract house, and it’s not another escapist picture book of cabins in the woods. It proposes a practical but fully reconceived home; one timelessly based on our evolution in nature, which still determines our relationship to everything from light and space to happiness and contentment. The “small” house it promotes could comfortably accommodate most American households which, it points out, are now made up of just one or two people.The book aims to connect the average person with the architectural profession, arguing that the lower cost of a smaller house leaves money to hire an architect and collaborate on the design of a personalized home. It prepares the reader by accessibly sharing lessons from great architects and thinkers. This would make it useful to beginning architecture students as well. A wealth of quotations and beautiful illustrations clarify and demonstrate the book’s ideas. The many cutaway-perspective views, including some of iconic houses, are especially vivid. The text is lively, convincing, and wastes few words.For all its practical advice, this book isn’t just about how to design a small house, but why living in a thoughtful one can make us our most natural, relaxed, and best selves. I especially love the way Thoreau’s thoughts and words are a major theme. I’d forgotten how much he had to say about the homes we live in and their impact on our inner lives. I think he’d appreciate this book’s emphasis on quality of life and insightful consideration of the human nature it proposes to house.

3.0 out of 5 stars Well Done but who is the audience supposed to be?

J. · July 2, 2021

I really enjoyed it at first and each chapter felt like zen coffee break. But after a while the clever little “deep” sentences started bugging me. If they were Peppered throughout, it would’ve had more impactt than that being the bulk of a text I also didnt know who this book was suppose to be for. Not For those who want to build a small house since one would need many more details than that. It also didn’t feel like general education for those interested in small houses because it didn’t have the kind of comparisons one would need to really learn something. So for instance if he had the picture of say one of his examples side-by-side with one thats a poor design and Pointer out the differenceS between the two that made one goid and one bad that would be educational. I can tell the author has the expertise to do that but as a novice i cannot extract from what He said to do that myself Also it’s not for the buyer who is looking for an already made small house since it did not have information relevant for that for example it did not have things like iColonial houses will have The XY and Z tthat ive described while Cape Cods have will instead have such and such features that ive described. Ot avoid ranchers from the 70s if youre looking to avoid boxes in within boxes Or whatver. Finally, i would have liked a companion version on kindle to read at same time. Pics here were great but font was squished (up and down direction) and hard to read I got the sense author cared too much about only the Aesthetics of the book at the expense of getting the content across. Probably given how much of tbis Book was about the layout I suspect that he is horrified by Kindle’s ability to reflow his book on houses , as horrified as he would be If the house itself kept rearranging itself like in the Harry Potter books (Not to mention my dreams but that’s another issue)

Incredible and life changing.

S.F. · March 24, 2023

Honestly, after reading this, I want to retire in the country with a cheap shed for those belongings I don't regularly use, and a pristine David Holowka house for my shelter and soul. This book is convincing, generous with all that it shares, and for anyone with interest in architecture and design, thrilling and entertaining to read.