The Face of Home: A New Way to Look at the Outside of Your House

by Jeremiah Eck

There are hundreds of books on the market about designing the interior of a home, but none for homeowners that focuses on the design of a home's exterior. And yet the exterior of the house is what we all see and remember- it's the "face" of home we fall in love with--whether we are looking for a new home or just taking in the sights during a Sunday afternoon drive. All of us can relate to a house's exterior, but few understand how they're put together, or how the outside and inside should work in harmony. When people describe the exterior of a house, they usually give a label or a style- Cape, Colonial, Ranch. But, in truth, what they are referring to are not only its exterior physical characteristic- the particular blend of rooflines, siding, trim, windows, doors and porches, but also its emotional characteristics- inviting, austere, friendly.
In his new book "The Face of Home," Jeremiah Eck, FAIA, author of Taunton's "The Distinctive Home," examines these physical and emotional characteristics, explores the concepts and applications of exterior design and how they can be successfully used to enhance the experience of home and provides a fresh, new language for describing, understanding, and shaping the face of home.
After a comprehensive first chapter that illustrates the way houses have traditionally been by historical description (Queen Anne, Tudor); material (Shingle, Craftsman); shape (Salt Box, Ranch); and architectural (Wrightian, Miesian), Eck then introduces a new, fuller language for exteriors that goes beyond and behind these to explore the basic concepts of good exterior scale and massing, symmetry and asymmetry, and transparency andopaqueness. These concepts are then further refined and expressed by the shaping of features and details such as roof, doors, windows, siding, and the use of color and textures through a highly a visual tour of 23 houses vividly illustrating how these concepts are applied to give a home its unique style and personality Throughout the book, Eck shows us the close relationship between interior and exterior design and how they impact one another.

Genres: Architecture

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Relyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love looking at domestic architecture. This book helped me learn so much more than I knew.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this book Jeremiah Eck argues that people react to the look of the front of a house and that effects their perception of you and the interior. While I agree generally I think that Eck overstates his point and yet fails to include all the issues that influence the viewer. Eck barely mentions landscape which all of us know can elevate the most modest home to be awe inspiring. Likewise when we see a particular style of home we remember homes like it that we were in. If they were fond memories, we give an anonymous home of that style the benefit. The homes featured in the photographs were basically new construction and many I did not find appealing. Despite the unique styles, they were so big, so over the top that they did not feel homey to me.

[raccoon reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the pictures and the writing in this book (often it's one or the other with these types of books.) Mr. Eck has strong views on ugly houses and for the most part I agree with him. However, some of his houses I didn't find visually appealing and would fall into the near ugly/ugly category, proving that such terms are personal and saying "ban ugly houses" doesn't exactly cut it. The houses I didn't think were pretty, I'll be honest about, I didn't read much of the writing about those. Overall an enjoyable book minus a few houses. :)

[brian tanabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yet another beautiful Taunton book, this one is a mix of Patterns of Home and Susanka. That being said, I much prefer Patterns of Home or any of the Susanka books.

Eck uses great architectural examples to illustrate his points and the homes are fresh and clear. I just finished the book thinking, "Is that it?"

[Kast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simply the face of home giving the idea that we ,eventually can read the architecture and face of the home .What is behind beautiful and ugly means to be interperated verbally .This is what the most important lesson derived back from the principle of architecture .