Whatever Kahn's intended purpose was with this book, it did not mesh with what I was looking for. I am just beginning to explore the idea that I may possibly one day choose to live in a tiny home. I appreciated the different varieties of homes profiled in this book, but could have used much more detail about them. It seems that the owners of each one just sent some photographs to be published along with their letters saying they'd love to be featured in the book and a couple interesting details about their home. I was looking for some more practical information, like floor plans, how people have chosen to balance trade-offs between, say, a bit more storage space and designated eating nook. I wanted to hear whether people who have chosen ladders to sleeping lofts rather than committing enough space to a staircase are happy with that decision after living with it for a while. I was also hoping for some answers about whether and how people successfully combine tiny house living with true homesteading (e.g., space to preserve food and store it, space for sewing projects and supplies, etc.). But never mind homesteading, some of these places don't even have space for a kitchen of whatever kind. Is it really a home if you can't cook in it? It must not be an all-the-time home. And to each his own, but I also fail to see the value of making a home for yourself that is so small that you have to have a separate outhouse, or in one case even, an outhouse, a bath house, and an entirely separate structure that is the bedroom, i.e., a shack just large enough for you to crawl onto your mattress.Also, why are things like backyard sheds and a little covered bridge featured in a book about tiny homes? As much as I'm interested in simplicity, living ecologically, and living well within my financial means, comparing people's homes with tool sheds, potting sheds, and a covered bridge area is not making me more enthusiastic about the prospects of tiny home living.I guess if you're reading through this book as an art/architecture book it may be fine. Or if you're just mildly curious about what this alternative lifestyle might look like on the surface, cool. I was hoping for something a little more helpful, I guess, and I will have to keep looking. An inspirational and instructional guide to creative housing choices for non-fools, who'd like to spend their time, money and genius on something other than servicing debt in the form of a mortgage, interest, property taxes, building codes, high heating/cooling bills, and other costs associated with conventional home ownership. Maybe you'd like to live in a structure not made entirely of different-sized boxes. Maybe you'd like it if your home could move around with you, or had a retractable roof, or all-recycled materials.
What do You think about Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter (2012)?
Love this book!!! A great range of homes!
—Tyeslan
