The Distinctive Home: A Vision of Timeless Design Book

Average Rating:

That said, there is one point I am particularly disappointed with:

Mr. Eck states repeatedly that the same principles hold true for subdivision lots and houses as for the oceanfront and large lots that make up the vast majority of the photographs and case studies in this book. I would find this to be a bit more believable if a subdivision house on a subdivision lot was actually shown. I looked through this book, intent on finding a picture or case study of a subdivision-sized lot with a house like mine (1300 square feet). I could not find a single picture. There was one house shown that is on a small lot but it's not exactly in a subdivision; it's surrounded by large, stately houses.

I'm well aware that my house is smaller than average but I was frustrated at the total exclusion of the kinds of homes that a million Americans buy every year. Surely there is something that could be done to make our houses distinctive, too, but apparently not anything that was good enough to make it into the book.

Nonetheless, the ideas in this book can be applied to any new construction in order to make the most of what's available. People looking to renovate should probably look elsewhere, unless they're interested in a ground-up kind of change, as many of the most helpful suggestions (designing the floor plan around your life, redefining rooms, etc.) won't apply without such significant changes.

I will recommend this book heartily to the patrons at the library where I work, especially if they're building, but almost everyone will find the pictures alone are worth a browse.