Vernacular architecture, by its very nature, is built from local materials that are readily to hand and is thus defined by the geology and ecology of the region and by local climatic conditions. Constructed by the community using traditional tools, these structures are highly practical, energy-efficient, and blend with the landscape. They carry many of the attributes that we are now seeking in 'green architecture' as we struggle to adapt our built environment to the demands and concerns of the climate-change era. 'Handmade Houses and Other Buildings' looks at everyday structures all over the world, from whatever wood, grass, earth or stone that was to hand, in ways that offered practical solutions to the challenges of climate or terrain. Based on immemorial principles, but highly relevant to our newly found environmental concerns, these buildings show the simple and satisfying ways in which humans have worked out how to live - and live well, in harmony with their surroundings.

Examples of owner-built houses are depicted in this photographic journey through the countryside.

Visit a dozen exciting homes where the owners have ignored standard building practices in favor of creative alternatives. These homes, found from Massachusetts to California, are expressive of individuality as well as artistry, and you'll be inspired to branch out and craft your own unique living space. Homes featured include Eliphante near Sedona, Arizona, a four-acre art installation complete with free-form rammed-earth buildings and handmade stained glass. You'll also tour the sculpted grounds and meditation huts of a recycling artist and guru, and the mystical home and gardens of Gnome Countryside, in southern Pennsylvania. See the latest take on the arts and crafts style in California, along with simplistic and beautiful straw bale homes in Virginia and Massachusetts. This book pays tribute to a long line of thrifty and artistically gifted homeowners who have created beauty from simple materials to live in homes that are art.

The Woodstock Generation established a new kind of lifestyle and began to build their houses, studios, and simple structures as refuges from conformist architecture. This book shows examples of some of these homes in full-color detail, and is meant to be an inspiration to amateur as well as professional self-home builders.

'Artists' handmade houses' examines the homes and studios crafted by a diverse group of artists from New York to California, including such greats as George Nakashima, Henry Varnum Poor, Sam Maloof, Wharton Esherick, Henry Mercer, Frederic Church, Paolo Santi and Russel Wright, among others.

"Hubka argues that even "vernacular architecture" scholars tend to embrace a model for understanding home forms that relies on iconic architects and theories about how ideas proceed downward from aesthetic ideals to home construction, even though this model fails to adequately characterize the vast majority actual homes that people live in, particularly in recent times after the widespread growth of suburban America. This controversial book proposes new ways to categorize houses"--

A wonderfully informative reference on vernacular styles, from adobe pueblos and Pennsylvania barns to Mongolian yurts and Indonesian stilt houses. This small but comprehensive book documents the rich cultural past of vernacular building styles, from Irish sod houses to sub-Saharan wattle-and-daub huts and redwoods treehouses. It offers inspiration for home woodworking enthusiasts as well as architects, conservationists, and anyone interested in energy-efficient building and sustainability. The variety and ingenuity of the world's vernacular building traditions are richly illustrated, and the materials and techniques are explored. With examples from every continent, the book documents the diverse methods people have used to create shelter from locally available natural materials, and shows the impressively handmade finished products through diagrams, cross-sections, and photographs. Unlike modern buildings that rely on industrially produced materials and specialized tools and techniques, the everyday architecture featured here represents a rapidly disappearing genre of handcrafted and beautifully composed structures that are irretrievably "of their place." These structures are the work of unsung and often anonymous builders that combine artistic beauty, practical form, and necessity.