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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

> A few sane architects around who can make a small house feel and act like 
> a big one.  Make a good house that works for you, not vice-versa---no 
> useless space to clean, heat and cool, plus being a target for tax collectors.
>
> http://www.homebydesignshowhouse.com/

I have yet to see this architect make a small house, period. Susan Susanka 
is a highly competent architect with a plethora of good design ideas. She 
honors Craftsman and Wrightian design features, the former with simple but 
extensive natural wood trim, the latter with strong horizontal statements 
and varying ceiling heights. The results are very pleasing. She is good. 
She could do so much for so many. Alas, whatever her motivations, she like 
FLW, builds for rich clients. Architects tend to have big egos and big egos 
build big structures, FLW's Usonian design notwithstanding.

The Home By Design looks great on the outside. But look at the floor plan; 
notice all the interior walls. Note that the house is two or three rooms 
deep, which means that though one of its marketing features is Light, even 
during the day the electric meter will be spinning.

Susanka came to fame with her signature book, The Not So Big House, which 
illustrates not only her design skills but her values. In a nutshell, her 
idea of a modest-sized house is about twice the size of what most on this 
homestead list would consider appropriate to energy, ecology, cost and 
human needs. Here is my review on Amazon.com written shortly after I bought 
the book because Tvo gave it a thumbs up and because I am an architecture 
aficionado who cannot resist the promise of new ideas. Note that about half 
of review readers agree with my assessment. There we go again, divided 
right down the middle on important questions.

The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live
by Sarah Susanka, Kira Obolensky
Edition: Hardcover
Price: $19.80
Availability: This item is currently unavailable.

19 used from $17.00

15 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
The title is misleading, May 1, 2000
Reviewer:Gene GeRue (Zanoni, MO USA) - See all my reviews




        &&

It would be a mistake to think that this clever title reflects an 
eco-sensitive philosophy. Here are key sentences that show the author's 
mindset: from page 15, "While you might be able to afford a 6,000-sq.-ft. 
house, you may find that building a 3,000-sq.-ft. house that fits your 
lifestyle actually gives you more space to live in"; from page 37, "Another 
client, living alone in a brand-new 5,000-sq.-ft. house, called me because 
she wanted to plan an addition. . . . Rather than add on, we reconfigured 
part of the existing space by opening up the maze of rooms into an open, 
public space"; and on page 182, "Sustainability does not mean that we 
should give up any of the hard-earned comforts that we have come to expect 
in the modern world." This is a book for the rich and the eco-insensitive. 
If your idea of appropriate cost size is a quarter million dollars or more, 
this is an idea book with seductive pictures. But if you care about the 
world in which your grandchildren will live, don't buy into this mindset, 
and don't buy this book.