“Creating the Not so Big House”, by Sarah Susanka

Susanka, Sarah. Creating the Not so Big House: Insights and Ideas for the New American Home. Newtown, CT: Taunton, 2000. Print.

If you’re suspicious that I’m working my way through Susanka’s books in order, you’re absolutely right.  This book came out two years after the first book, no doubt capitalizing on its popularity.  There is an introductory chapter on the language of the not so big house, but I didn’t find it as useful as the concepts introduced in the first book.  Loyal readers will probably most appreciate the fact that she uses her own house to illustrate the first chapter.

The meat of this volume is the 35 house designs picked by Susanka to appear in the book.  There is information on how to contact the architects and order plans for each house.  I mostly disliked the outsides of the houses, but liked the interiors of almost every one.

My favourite was the “cottage community”, a whole street of 600 to 650 square foot houses in Washington State.  They are on Whidbey Island, making me suspect that there is some interplay between these houses and those of the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company (which makes a Whidbey model).  Also included is the 1999 Life magazine dream house, which Susanka’s firm was asked to design.

(No index or bibliography).