Recently someone told me about these 2 books and I got both of them used. How to Build Your Home in the Woods by Bradford Angier (1952) is on building a log cabin (and rustic furniture and details like door latches etc.). The Sunset Cabin Plan Book is a gem from 1938, with drawings and floor plans for very small homes. It’s like the predecessor of Lester Walker’s (also excellent) Tiny Houses. Check out Amazon and also Abebooks (which is often cheaper than Amazon on used books).
About Lloyd Kahn
Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands. He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the
Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include
Shelter,
Shelter II (1978),
Home Work (2004),
Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008),
Tiny Homes (2012), and
Tiny Homes on the Move (2014). Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers. You can check out videos (one with over 450,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube:
Recently someone told me about these 2 books and I got both of them used. How to Build Your Home in the Woods by Bradford Angier (1952) is on building a log cabin (and rustic furniture and details like door latches etc.). The Sunset Cabin Plan Book is a gem from 1938, with drawings and floor plans for very small homes. It’s like the predecessor of Lester Walker’s (also excellent) Tiny Houses. Check out Amazon and also Abebooks (which is often cheaper than Amazon on used books).
I loved all of Bradford Angier's books on finding and living off the land back in the 70's when I was young & adventurous, driving to the Yukon & Alaska a lot, and while building my own log cabin in Alabama. I even wrote him and his wife requesting more information and he had the courtesy to write me back with a full-page letter that I still have today. He inspired me a LOT!
Dave Brock
Hey Lloyd:
I just came across one of your books in Banyan Books in Vancouver. Tiny Homes. I really liked it, and that led me to your blog. Cool stuff. Like anonymous I knew of Angier, but only as an authority on what you can eat in the woods. Anyway, I'm going to examine your blog some more. A friend in the San Francisco area told me about small buildings and its fascinating.
I had that book when I was dreaming of getting out of the big ol city,very inspirational ,how to make a home with very little money and tools,a great book ,he had other great books on living lightly on the earth,didnt make a log house in the woods but got out of the city about 30 years ago,totally the right thing to do for me,and books like bradfords whole earth catalogue ,mother earth news etc got me to the country …yay!!!