The New Cottage Home

Rating:
Summary: Great picture book!
Review: Beautiful pictures with a ton of ideas. Shows how you can still have a lovely home with little space.

Rating:
Summary: My favorite building/architecture book
Review: Between this architecture book and my favorite decorating book, simply called Cottage Style, we're ready to build and decorate our dream home. Now all we need is the money. While we save up, I can decorate my present home in cottage style and let this gorgeous architecture book fuel our homebuilding dreams.

Rating:
Summary: A young couples hopes and dreams
Review: Browsing through a big name book store one day, I happened upon "The New Cottage Home". I'm not sure why I picked it up because having a home of our own is so far into the future for my husband and I, that I try not to tease myself and in turn not think about it. But I flipped through the book anyway and fell in love with it almost immediatly! We rushed home knowing that Amazon would be cheaper and ordered it that same day. I was amazed at all the tricky, unique architecture ideas and styles. It is filled with easy-to-understand language and descriptions. I also found it refreshing that Mr. Tolpin wrote like he was speaking to you as if in conversation and not at a college lecture. He covers many different home styles and addresses the importance of the use of indiginous materials to tie the look of your home to your surroundings. I like how he stresses trying to make your home look as if it "grew" where you built it and has been there forever. Along with little pieces of history used as teaching tools he also describes many of the homes attributes from an artistic point-of-view(ie. the use of vertical windows ties in with the tall pines surrounding the home, hiding the garage from frontal view of the home and focusing on the "human sized entry way" makes a person feel welcome and curious to step into the cozyness of your home etc...). I like how he included tight- budget homes reliant on alternative sources of energy all the way to the retiring couple who needed less space but were financially ready to spend half a billion but knew they didn't need or have to. In conclusion, I would recommend this book for anyone interested in building, dreaming(!) or looking for decorating ideas that really work. A definate must-have!

Rating:
Summary: A young couples hopes and dreams
Review: Browsing through a big name book store one day, I happened upon "The New Cottage Home". I'm not sure why I picked it up because having a home of our own is so far into the future for my husband and I, that I try not to tease myself and in turn not think about it. But I flipped through the book anyway and fell in love with it almost immediatly! We rushed home knowing that Amazon would be cheaper and ordered it that same day. I was amazed at all the tricky, unique architecture ideas and styles. It is filled with easy-to-understand language and descriptions. I also found it refreshing that Mr. Tolpin wrote like he was speaking to you as if in conversation and not at a college lecture. He covers many different home styles and addresses the importance of the use of indiginous materials to tie the look of your home to your surroundings. I like how he stresses trying to make your home look as if it "grew" where you built it and has been there forever. Along with little pieces of history used as teaching tools he also describes many of the homes attributes from an artistic point-of-view(ie. the use of vertical windows ties in with the tall pines surrounding the home, hiding the garage from frontal view of the home and focusing on the "human sized entry way" makes a person feel welcome and curious to step into the cozyness of your home etc...). I like how he included tight- budget homes reliant on alternative sources of energy all the way to the retiring couple who needed less space but were financially ready to spend half a billion but knew they didn't need or have to. In conclusion, I would recommend this book for anyone interested in building, dreaming(!) or looking for decorating ideas that really work. A definate must-have!

Rating:
Summary: realistic
Review: fabulous; realistic and practical. in the course of evaluating alternatives i have found this publication and the references to the architects to be invaluable. easy to read, without a lot of technical jargon. a "must read" for those of us evaluating residence alternatives.

Rating:
Summary: A collection of wonderful smaller homes
Review: Getting away has taken on a certain urgency in the past week. The second home we've been wanting now seems like a good idea for our primary residence, instead. Getting our family of the metro area is something we are seriously considering. This book is gorgeous. It looks like most of the homes are architect designed, so the architect's fees might eat you alive if you decided to go this route. Still, though, the houses are reasonably sized and include lots of charming details. I also recommend:
SECOND HOME (shows great houses around the country but also includes real estate shopping information, tips on evaluating a region or a small town, and so forth. inspiring and helpful too. houses includes new homes as well as refurbished older ones. A handsome but realistic book.)
CABIN FEVER (a style book that does show how delightful a small cabin can be)
SMALL HOUSE BIG STYLE (a very helpful book that also shows how to live in smaller spaces)

Rating:
Summary: Found My Dream Home
Review: I absolutely love this book. Beautiful photographs of exteriors and interiors and the "rough sketched" floor plans are quite helpful. Also informs you of the locations of the actual cottages pictured and how you can contact the architect. I've finally decided on my dream home and purchased my new home plans because of this book. Can't wait to start building my "Three Gable Cottage"!

Rating:
Summary: Found My Dream Home
Review: I absolutely love this book. Beautiful photographs of exteriors and interiors and the "rough sketched" floor plans are quite helpful. Also informs you of the locations of the actual cottages pictured and how you can contact the architect. I've finally decided on my dream home and purchased my new home plans because of this book. Can't wait to start building my "Three Gable Cottage"!

Rating:
Summary: Evocative photographs and inspiring text!
Review: I have been anxiously awaiting the publication of this book since a teaser for it appeared in "Coastal Living" magazine. It did not disappoint! The photographs of inspired and inspiring cottage homes delight. The text is intelligent and thought provoking. I especially appreciate the discussion of the "continued conspicuous consumption" so evident in our society! This book is a gem.

Rating:
Summary: What a wonderful book.
Review: I'm so inspired by this beautiful book, which makes a nice companion to the Cottage Style decorating book that I got from amazon last year. I'm marking pages of ideas to use when we have our own cottage built, but in the meantime, I'm picking up ideas I can use now to cozy up our present home. The first thing on the list is an upholstered window seat to go under our bank of living room windows. A beautiful book.