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376 of 382 found the following review helpful:
 Better than The first book Oct 12, 2000
By Ayse Sercan
"ayse"
It's rare that a sequel is better than the original. This was one of them. Where The Not So Big House was pretty and pretty much content-free, this book provided real floorplans, and real houses, which I feel helped to communicate Susanka's ideas more clearly. I also found this book far less irritating than the first, and therefore more useful, in no small part because some of her hard -- and alienating -- positions have been considerably softened. No longer does she claim that dining rooms are obsolete because "nobody uses them" (I do). She seems much more willing to accept that there are lots of different lifestyles out there, and a house should be built to work with the lifestyle of its owners. If you are in the planning phases for a new house, or are just looking for ideas on how to make your current house more liveable, this is an excellent resource. In fact, I would suggest that you skip the first book altogether.
92 of 92 found the following review helpful:
 Not so big book... Sep 18, 2000
By Richard M Spinabella
This is a beautifully illustrated book that seeks to demonstrate, that when it comes to homes, smaller may be better. The book is well organized and thoughtful, presenting key concepts for creating the 'not so big house.' If I have any regrets, its that the book doesn't go far enough--all but two of the featured houses are over 1,000 square feet, and the majority of the concepts still require large budgets to execute. I was hoping to see more affordable concepts and solutions illustrated. Still, for anyone looking for ideas for implementing the concepts of smallness, this book is worthwhile.
103 of 106 found the following review helpful:
More great ideas from Susan Susanka May 30, 2001
By Paul Martin
Here, Susan Susanka picks up where she left off in The Not So Big House. In some places, it seems that this book is almost a response to the negative reviews in this forum of her first book. One of the most important additions is a sidebar on page nine, where she clarifies the meaning of Not So Big:
". as a rule of thumb, a Not So Big House is approximately a third smaller than your original goal but about the same price as your original budget. The magic is that although the house is smaller in square footage, it actually feels bigger. I'm not advocating that people live in small houses and get used to feeling cramped. A Not So Big House feels more spacious than many of its oversized neighbors because it is space with substance, all of it in use every day."
In summary, this is not a way to save money, but a way to use the existing budget more effectively. The money saved on square footage is invested in the little things that make a house a home: built i!n bookcases, storage solutions, clutter areas, reading nooks, and other architectural features which most designers omit.
In principal, there is no reason these ideas could not be applied to any style and to any budget. Susanka unwittingly raised the first question in her original book, when many critics complained of the sameness of design. She answers it here. The bulk of the work is a survey of 25 projects of other architects from around the country. Because so many designers are represented, we see a much greater variety of styles in this book.
If there is a common thread among these projects, it is the use of partial walls, which divide spaces while keeping sight lines open. Rooms are constructed on a modest scale, but seem larger because of the design. Spaces are also defined by variations in ceiling heights, a device which can be as inexpensive as a soffit. The designers also put a lot of thought into built ins and other little touches which make a big di!fference everyday living. There is also a great deal of good design here, and some (but not all) of the ideas can be achieved without a large budget.
The organization of the book invites browsing. One tends to pick out sections in random order rather than cover to cover. There is a great deal in this book which doesn't appeal to me as an idea for my own house, but I still enjoy the range of ideas which are represented here.
In her final chapters, the author raises, but does not settle, the second question: whether such designs are possible for a project on a tight budget. She talks at great length about the factors which add to the cost of a house. In the two final examples, both from her own firm, she presents two versions of the same house: the Back to Basics House, and the Whole Nine Yards House. The two use the same basic footprint, but there the resemblance ends. The first uses inexpensive materials and a minimum of detailing. Visual interest was added with !careful attention to paint color and occasional lowered soffits. The second house makes extensive use of wood and stone, bump-outs, a shed dormer and other features which double the price of the house. It is a fascinating discussion, and by itself worth the cost of the book.
Since the source of her material is other architects, the projects presented here tend to be on the expensive side. If money is the ultimate concern, it is hard to justify an architect's fee. In addition, the construction of homes follows the same economic laws as the manufacture of any other product, whether it be computers or automobiles. Truly affordable products are produced in large quantities on an assembly line. As customization increases, so does the price. Even though homes are built one at a time, tract home builders (who build the homes that most of us live in) find economies of scale which allow them to compete on price. The projects featured here involve quite a bit of design, and that !alone places a limit on their affordability.
The plans for many of these houses are available by mail order. That is a major step in the right direction. If a tract home builder ever picks up on these principles, that is when we will start to see a major impact. That is something we can all look forward to.
169 of 182 found the following review helpful:
 Overpriced for what it is... Sep 21, 2000
Although this book shares some interesting ideas and several spectacular design solutions to severe space constraints, I have two complaints about the format. The first is that you really need to have read the first "Not So Big House" book to understand the concepts illustrated here; as such, this book is really a supplement, and, I think, doesn't justify the hefty price tag. Second, many of the houses shown are built by people with, apparently, ample budgets; it would have been nice to see a discussion about how much the projects cost, to give those of us who aren't lawyers or executives an idea of what we can expect before consulting an architect.
76 of 80 found the following review helpful:
Sarah Susanka - The Martha Stewart of Home Design Oct 07, 2000
By Christopher Vaughan
I have read this book, as well as Ms. Susanka's previous book, The Not So Big House, and I have found this latest edition particularly clarifying for me in the concepts of the NSBH. It has concrete example after example of the design principles that Ms. Susanka discusses in her first book, then reviews these principles at the beginning of Creating the NSBH so that if the reader hasn't read the first book, they can still follow along very intelligently and get some great ideas for their own NSBH. As a residential builder/developer, Ms. Susanka has put forth a new paradigm in residential architecture, on the cutting edge much in the same way as does Martha Stewart promote in her various media outlets, and her passion for hearth and home is as strong or stronger than Martha's is. Whether or not you like Martha, she is the expert in homemaking in America today, just as Ms. Susanka is the expert in residential architecture that feeds the soul and creates a balance of quality vs. quantity, and cost vs. being cheap. I highly recommend this book as well as her previous book. I also agree with the previous reviewer's comment that A Pattern Language was written for design professionals and is generally too technical for the average lay person. Our company is employing the design principles Ms. Susanka promotes in her books, and to date, we have had good success with them.
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