Home building bibliography
Books I’ve read for inspiration and guidance
These are books that I personally own. Some I’ve had for over 20 years, some I’ve picked up recently. There are way too many titles to list on the subject, so I’m just listing some of the ones I’ve actually read and feel have been helpful to me. The ones that are exceptional are noted with a star (*). Most of these books were published during the mid-late 1970s, an era which saw many of us dropping out and trying to live a self sufficient lifestyle. Some technology has changed since then, and the emphasis for many has changed from self sufficiency hippy style to green living yuppy style. So there are many more recent titles that concentrate on “green” aspects of building and lifestyle, politics and philosophy. It amounts to the same thing, with a different generational twist.
Circle Houses: Yurts, Tipis and Benders
By David Pearson
Published by Chelsea Green, 2001
ISBN 1890132861, 9781890132866
Build a Yurt: The Low-cost Mongolian Round House
By Len Charney
Published by Macmillan, 1974
ISBN 0025239805, 9780025239807
134 pages
Handmade Houses: A Guide to the Woodbutcher’s Art
By Art Boericke, Barry Shapiro
Published by Scrimshaw Press, 1973
ISBN 0912020008, 9780912020006
95 pages
The Craftsman Builder
By Art Boericke, Barry Shapiro
Contributor Barry Shapiro
Published by Simon and Schuster, 1977
Original from the University of Michigan
Digitized Dec 4, 2007
ISBN 0671228188, 9780671228187
96 pages
Woodstock Handmade Houses
By Robert Haney, Jonathon Elliott, David Ballantine
Contributor Jonathon Elliott
Published by Ballantine Books 1974
SBN 345-24223-8-595
96 pages
Hand-hewn: The Art of Building Your Own Cabin
By William C. Leitch
Published by Chronicle Books Llc, 1976
ISBN 0-87701-079-X
Rolling Homes: Handmade Houses on Wheels
By Jane Lidz
Published by A & W Visual Library, 1979
ISBN 0891041281, 9780891041283
96 pages
30 Energy-efficient Houses…you Can Build
By Alex Wade, Neal Ewenstein
Contributor Neal Ewenstein
Published by Rodale Press, 1977
ISBN 0878571914, 9780878571918
316 pages
*Design and Construction Handbook for Energy-saving Houses
By Alex Wade
Published by Rodale Press, 1980
ISBN 0878572759, 9780878572755
380 pages
*Living on a few acres
Yearbook of Agriculture
By United States Dept. of Agriculture
Published by U.S. G. P. O., 1978
Other Homes and Garbage: Designs for Self-sufficient Living
By Jim Leckie, James O. Leckie
Published by Sierra Club Books, 1975
ISBN 0871561417, 9780871561411
302 pages