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Prefabulous Small Houses
Prefab home construction has come into its own.
Prefabricated homes used to be considered inferior to houses built on site, but not anymore. In Prefabulous Small Houses , best-selling author Sheri Koones presents 32 stunning prefabricated homes from around North America. 250 beautiful photographs and floorplans show the amazing breadth of styles available to today’s homeowners.
Small is the new big.
Everyone from Millennials looking to buy their first homes to Boomers trying to downsize have turned to small houses in recent years. These homes cost less to build, less to heat, and less to maintain. All of the houses in Prefabulous Small Houses range from 325 sq. ft. to 2,000 sq. ft. and showcase construction methods perfect for any climate.
Building better, building greener.
All of the houses featured here are highly energy efficient and are built with sustainability in mind. In eco-friendly prefab construction, local materials are used when possible, metals and wood are recycled, and houses are built with a conscious attempt to preserve the land on which they now stand. A foreword by actor and environmentalist Robert Redford speaks to the urgency with which we must act to combat climate change and how prefabricated small homes have a role to play in that challenge.
Amazing diversity.
The houses presented here cover a truly remarkable range of custom styles and exciting locales,
Prefabricated homes used to be considered inferior to houses built on site, but not anymore. In Prefabulous Small Houses , best-selling author Sheri Koones presents 32 stunning prefabricated homes from around North America. 250 beautiful photographs and floorplans show the amazing breadth of styles available to today’s homeowners.
Small is the new big.
Everyone from Millennials looking to buy their first homes to Boomers trying to downsize have turned to small houses in recent years. These homes cost less to build, less to heat, and less to maintain. All of the houses in Prefabulous Small Houses range from 325 sq. ft. to 2,000 sq. ft. and showcase construction methods perfect for any climate.
Building better, building greener.
All of the houses featured here are highly energy efficient and are built with sustainability in mind. In eco-friendly prefab construction, local materials are used when possible, metals and wood are recycled, and houses are built with a conscious attempt to preserve the land on which they now stand. A foreword by actor and environmentalist Robert Redford speaks to the urgency with which we must act to combat climate change and how prefabricated small homes have a role to play in that challenge.
Amazing diversity.
The houses presented here cover a truly remarkable range of custom styles and exciting locales,
- GenresNonfictionArchitecture
224 pages, Paperback
Published September 20, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 25, 2019
This was a fun read for a bit of future daydreaming!
From a practicality standpoint I wanted a more informational details like cost analysis, additional interior/exterior photos, and information on the reasoning behind the designs themselves. However, I found the floorplans particularly helpful and even found a few I wanted to save for future reference!
Overall, this is a helpful starting point if you're dreaming of building a house or just love looking at architectural books. Most of the houses are fairly modern in aesthetic and extremely expensive, especially compared to their size (hence the word "small" in the title). It's great for inspiration, but not exactly practical for most future homeowners.
3/5
From a practicality standpoint I wanted a more informational details like cost analysis, additional interior/exterior photos, and information on the reasoning behind the designs themselves. However, I found the floorplans particularly helpful and even found a few I wanted to save for future reference!
Overall, this is a helpful starting point if you're dreaming of building a house or just love looking at architectural books. Most of the houses are fairly modern in aesthetic and extremely expensive, especially compared to their size (hence the word "small" in the title). It's great for inspiration, but not exactly practical for most future homeowners.
3/5
October 25, 2016
One can dream, right? That's what I was doing when I read this photo book on modular or fabricated homes. Most of the homes were on the smaller side, but I still can't lump a house over 2,000 square feet as small. Small for me runs from 350 square feet to around 1,400 square feet. After that, we're looking at midsize homes.
I have read books by Sheri Koones in the past and I enjoy her passion for architecture and sustainable homes.
I have read books by Sheri Koones in the past and I enjoy her passion for architecture and sustainable homes.
July 22, 2021
Nice variety of homes featured, in order from small to large. The small ones were very small, and the large ones were larger than I would have expected, but provided some good ideas when thinking about designing and building your own small house. I enjoyed the pictures, the home "metadata" and floorplan, and the brief writeups featuring technologies used. For design ideas, this was fine. I had enough questions on some of the homes that I wanted to see more pictures or find more information. I can imagine a more detailed look at some of these houses, perhaps using video, would fill that need. Hint, hint...
December 27, 2016
Awesome spaces...fantastic design ideas for smaller, easier to maintain living areas. I now feel I need a Fagor induction cook top....along with a few other energy efficient upgrades.
December 21, 2017
Great book overflowing with photos and information on building with prefabricated components. I wish there were more true "small" houses in tight urban environments, my current situation, but there is lots to learn here with commentary from the homes' actual owners, not just text on prototype or experimental homes from contractors and architects. There lacks a discussion of the pros and cons of the various products and systems in the many sidebars, rather than an ad of that product. Also - where are people in any of these homes? Minor point, but I thought it looked eerily abandoned...
February 19, 2020
I just love sustainable architecture, especially when relating to housing. These are interesting plans created specifically for the owner's needs and lifestyle, and are all very different. Each plan uses a different material or technology in construction. Contact information for different manufacturers is given. This book sparks ideas!
May 7, 2017
Beautiful photos. Glossary with definition of eco-friendly and energy-saving terms. Lots of homes on the coasts , fewer in the middle of the country.
August 9, 2017
Very interesting design concepts. Loved the one of the floating house. Only drawback is that it says in the title that these are small homes but not all of them are.
November 8, 2018
Helpful on how the house is made and the variety of styles that are in use now.
December 18, 2020
Awesome detail, including floor plans and pros and cons.
November 10, 2021
Will reread. Loved some of the designs in this book!! Maybe someday… will do more than dream about a house like these!
March 3, 2017
Loved looking at these. (Not all are small - 2000 sq feet)
August 7, 2017
Ranging from 352 square feet up to 2500 square feet, and organized by increasing size, these houses make a good argument for their method of construction: in a factory instead of on-site.
Instead of being built on site, houses can be built in a modular way in a factory then trucked or barged to and assembled on the site. This saves some time and lengthy disruption of the area around the site. There’s a lot of emphasis on energy saving construction. All houses give square footage, location, architect, builder, photographer, house plan.
There's a glossary of some of the specialized terms used such as blower door test, cool roofs, direct-vent fireplaces, and others. Also in the back is a list for each house of suppliers of some equipment such as floor tiles, custom woodworking, refrigeration, faucets, and more.
Recommended if you're in the market for building a new house, or even renovating an old one, to get ideas of things like triple-paned windows, and other energy-efficient appliances. It gets a little tedious sometimes trying to remember what some of the terms mean, especially those not listed in the glossary and explained only once.
Instead of being built on site, houses can be built in a modular way in a factory then trucked or barged to and assembled on the site. This saves some time and lengthy disruption of the area around the site. There’s a lot of emphasis on energy saving construction. All houses give square footage, location, architect, builder, photographer, house plan.
There's a glossary of some of the specialized terms used such as blower door test, cool roofs, direct-vent fireplaces, and others. Also in the back is a list for each house of suppliers of some equipment such as floor tiles, custom woodworking, refrigeration, faucets, and more.
Recommended if you're in the market for building a new house, or even renovating an old one, to get ideas of things like triple-paned windows, and other energy-efficient appliances. It gets a little tedious sometimes trying to remember what some of the terms mean, especially those not listed in the glossary and explained only once.
December 29, 2016
Most of the designs are far too modern for my tastes, but there are some really good ideas here. I'm an especially big fan of universal design, designing spaces "that all people at every stage in life and ability can use" (see also "aging in place").
My favorites:
Casito de Invierno (352 sq. ft.)
Lakeview House (860 sq. ft.)
Little House on the Ferry (980 sq. ft. with kitchen/living spaces in one building and two separate bedroom/bathroom buildings - cute, but pretty impractical - but think of the privacy!)
Bayview Cottage (1027 sq. ft. - probably the most practical of my favorites)
My favorites:
Casito de Invierno (352 sq. ft.)
Lakeview House (860 sq. ft.)
Little House on the Ferry (980 sq. ft. with kitchen/living spaces in one building and two separate bedroom/bathroom buildings - cute, but pretty impractical - but think of the privacy!)
Bayview Cottage (1027 sq. ft. - probably the most practical of my favorites)
February 7, 2017
My Dream Home would be one of these houses!
February 1, 2017
I chose the house I want. It is right there! So excited!
April 19, 2017
An interesting mini-coffee table book; maximum of photos, moderate explanatory text. On trend small housing built from shipping containers, metal sheeting and other ready made re-usable material.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews