The Cabin: Inspiration for the Classic American Getaway

Rating:
Summary: Review of the book: The Cabin
Review: This book is must-read for anyone who has experienced or would like to experience second-home living. It has a wonderful presentation about it, with great pictures, text and site illustrations. The diversity of the many different styles and settings for these cabins makes it a real pleasure to read as well as a great reference source to inspire the reader to his and her own creations. I highly recommend it and find that Amazon.com offers it at the best value available.

Rating:
Summary: Review of the book: The Cabin
Review: This book is must-read for anyone who has experienced or would like to experience second-home living. It has a wonderful presentation about it, with great pictures, text and site illustrations. The diversity of the many different styles and settings for these cabins makes it a real pleasure to read as well as a great reference source to inspire the reader to his and her own creations. I highly recommend it and find that Amazon.com offers it at the best value available.

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Summary: Simple living in simply wonderful spaces
Review: This book, like "The New Cottage Home", takes you on a tour of homes that reflect a particular lifestyle as much--if not more--than a particular home style. In the small homes featured here, that lifestyle is one of rustic retreat and recreation. For us cottage-folk, these little houses may be a bit coarse, but they are filled with great ideas for living simply and efficiently in a small and delightful space. The book lives up to Taunton's reputation for superb photography and extensive explanatory text.

Rating:
Summary: Simple living in simply wonderful spaces
Review: This book, like "The New Cottage Home", takes you on a tour of homes that reflect a particular lifestyle as much--if not more--than a particular home style. In the small homes featured here, that lifestyle is one of rustic retreat and recreation. For us cottage-folk, these little houses may be a bit coarse, but they are filled with great ideas for living simply and efficiently in a small and delightful space. The book lives up to Taunton's reputation for superb photography and extensive explanatory text.

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Summary: A good survey of cabins and the inspiration behind them
Review: This is a good survey of cabins in various locations that would fit most people's idea what a cabin is in terms of size, material and use. Included for each is a description of why the cabin was build and how it's used, floor plan(s), site plan (sometimes of limited value), interior and exterior photographs; as well as a general introduction to why cabins are considered by many to be the "classic American getaway." While I might argue about the inclusion of a few of the homes, overall it's one of the better books I've seen on cabins and why they occupy a special place in the minds of some of us. The quality of the photographs and the book in general is also very good (especially considering the price of the book). It is a book for the imagination or for those considering ideas and makes no attempt to be a construction 'how to' book however. I'd also recommend the books by Tedd Benson on timber framing (if you are at all considering a timber frame), the Jim Tolpin book on cottages, and the Donald Berg books on building in the country.

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Summary: Lovely and inspiring
Review: This is such a lovely book to look at. Turning the pages is a pleasure for us. We are looking for second home ideas and plan to buy or build a home next year. My favorite book on the subject is called SECOND HOME because it also is lovely and inspiring but it offers much more information than this CABIN book. Both books are gorgeous but SECOND HOME blends that beauty with helpful tips we are using to plan our own place.

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Summary: the finest small house idea book
Review: This is the best idea book for truly small houses that I have found. Most of the included homes have bathrooms and kitchens, unlike many other "retreat" and "tiny home" books. Intelligent, beautiful designs, well presented. The excellent photography is enhanced by measured floorplans for every home. I'm ready to build!

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Summary: Not as complete as I'd hoped
Review: This lovely dream book is just that. It's a dreamy look at cabins, which is great, but I had hoped it would go further in writing about the details of each home. There is very little information about the homes in this book, so the authors obviously considered it just a pretty picture book. Which it is. For my money, though, I wanted a little more. What I wanted but DID NOT GET was more information on choosing a cabin location, on having a new cabin designed and built, on remodeling an older cabin, and so forth. I wanted the pretty pictures as well as some information I could use. In researching second home books, the one I recommend is called simply SECOND HOME, and it not only works as a dream book but is chockful of informational tidbits that we are using as we plan our own retreat.