It presents a concise evolution of the American home, explaining the rudiments of its construction and systems from the timber frame to the postwar eras.

The illustrations are excellent.

Beware, you may be tempted to subscribe to The Family Handyman.

14 of 14 found the following review helpful:


A nice book.  Oct 04, 2003 By Chun Li
This books explains how a US single family house evolved to its current standard, including structure, plumbing, electrics, etc. The author is both knowledgeable on how things in our houses work and very good at communicating his knowledge to a lay person. Although there are a few "fix it yourself" or "complete guide" books that are good at providing quick solutions, this book will help you understand how some of the solutions work. The book is less than 200 pages and takes only a few nights to read. You will benefit from it for your whole life.

2 of 3 found the following review helpful:


Useful for anyone living with a roof over their heads  Aug 06, 2007 By A. G. Sanchez
Overall this is a great book for anyone that owns, rents or is thinking of buying a house. It has excellent illustrations with easy to read and understand explanations. It filled in many gaps in my knowledge about my home.

I was a little surprised that in section/chapter 4: Heating and Cooling that he never even mentioned evaporative coolers/Swamp Coolers. Granted, one has to live in a fairly dry climate to get the best use out of them, but surprise........ lots of people do.

I'm guessing he grew up on the east or west coast and never had much exposure to them, but they at least warrant mention.

Otherwise an excellent, well written book for those of us that are curious about "How it Works"