Hi Lloyd.
I thought you might be interested in this small shed, alone in a field up the valley from my home in Southern Snowdonia, Wales. We’re in an area of old slate mining which began in the mid-19th century. and finished maybe 30-40 years ago. The slate slabs on this small outbuilding are between one and two inches thick.
Cheers, and all the very best to you from Corris, Wales.
–Neil Heath
Jane, on the right, is holding one of our mini (2″ by 2″) books, which are insanely popular with kids (and of which we have printed 35,000 copies).
Wonderful Houses came in the mail yesterday and we read the first half for bedtime. We all like the pictures, diagrams and descriptions.
It’s funny, we just finished a book called Bringer of the Mystery Dog by Ann Nolan Clark. It describes life in a nomadic Native American Plains tribe. It dovetails nicely into the description of the yurts and life on the Mongolian plains. The kids love the idea of cook fires made from Buffalo and horse “chips” and of the whole family in the same room.
We’re a family of 5 and live in a small space (1000 sq. ft.) and love your idea of “scaling it back.” I first picked up a copy of Shelter in 2012 at Mollusk in SF. I used it and Tiny Homes and Small Homes for inspiration while renovating an 875 sq. ft. house in Silver Terrace that we lived in for 7 years. I used to bike past the “pink” house on Hampshire that you featured in one of your other books. We’re now in Mill Valley and I can’t wait for the next fixer to start in on.
Thanks for publishing great books!
–Jason, Elliott, Marlon & Jane of the Dubaniewicz family in Mill Valley
Yesterday I read in the paper that sales of children’s books are booming, due to schools being closed. This brought to mind our one and only children’s book, Wonderful Houses Around the World, by photographer Yoshio Komatsu and artist Akira Nishiyama.
There are 10 photographs by Yoshio of homes in different parts of the world. All the homes are built of natural materials — earth, wood, thatch, sod, bamboo, and stone.
Each photo is followed by a watercolor drawing of the inside of that home, showing the children and their parents going about their everyday activities: food gathering and processing, cooking, sleeping, working and playing.
The book is timely in this day and age: it shows what people do in their homes. Timely also because it’s great educational material for kids being home-schooled: look at what what kids your age are doing in other parts of the planet.
Yoshio is my favorite photographer of homes in the world. Not only are the homes invariably soulful, but his composition and lighting are perfect — and he has a knack for making people feel comfortable, so that the homeowners look natural, often laughing.
The book is $12.95 and you can order it through your independent bookstore, or from:
Note: We have a money-back guarantee on all of our books (no matter where you buy them). If for any reason you are dissatisfied, call us and we’ll return the full purchase price plus shipping. No need to return the book.
Just ran across this print. I shot it in an English village somewhere near Oxford in December, 1973. Timber framed, with wattle and daub and stone walls, thatched roof. Perfect.
This is a restored “blackhouse” on the Isle of Eigg, off the west coast of Scotland, where we spent a week in May, 2016. Some time in the future, if I can get time off, we plan to go to Scotland and visit several of the islands. The Scots are the nicest, most friendly people I’ve encountered anywhere in the world.
Blackhouses were the dwellings of “crofters” or farmers on Scottish Islands, in the Highlands, and Ireland.
From Wikipedia: “(They) … were generally built with double-wall dry-stone walls packed with earth, and were roofed with wooden rafters covered with a thatch of turf with cereal straw or reed. The floor was generally flagstones or packed earth and there was a central hearth for the fire. There was no chimney for the smoke to escape through. Instead the smoke made its way through the roof. This led to the soot blackening of the interior which may also have contributed to the adoption of name blackhouse.…”
“Nestled at the base of a hill, overlooking the Savannah, lies Tiébélé—an African village in Burkina Faso. First settled in the 15th Century, the 1.2-hectare commune is home to the Kassena people, their chief, and royal court—together making up one of oldest ethnic groups in Burkina Faso. In 2009, photographer Rita Willaert and travel blogger Olga Stavrakis were lucky enough to be some of the few people ever allowed to visit the isolated site.…”
www.mymodernmet.com/african-village-burkina-faso/
From Rick Gordon
