Thinking about building a house? Start by challenging your preconceived notions about what a house should be with Lloyd Kahn's classic book: Shelter.

      Shelter is a compendium of organic architecture past and present; a how-to book that includes over 1,250 illustrations; and a Whole Earth Catalog-type sourcebook for living in harmony with the earth by using every conceivable material. First published in 1973, Shelter remains a source of inspiration and invention. Including the nuts-and-bolts aspects of building, the book covers such topics as dwellings from Iron Age huts to Bedouin tents to Togo's tin-and-thatch houses; nomadic shelters from tipis to "housecars"; and domes, dome cities, sod iglus, and even treehouses.

      The authors recount personal stories about alternative dwellings that illustrate sensible solutions to problems associated with using materials found in the environment - with fascinating, often surprising results. 176 pages. 1973. Oversize: 11" x 14" Shelter Publications. ISBN: 978-0-936070-11-7.

      A stunning sequel Shelter, Home Work illustrates even more imaginative ways to put a roof over one's head, some of which were inspired by Shelter itself. Home Work showcases the ultimate in human ingenuity, building construction, and an independent lifestyle.

      Home Work describes homes around the globe built with soul, creativity, and designed with a solid understanding of natural materials, structure, and aesthetics. Home Work contains over 1,000 photos and 300 line drawings, stories of real people building and living in their own homes, plus photos, stories, and feedback gathered over the thirty years since Shelter was first published.

      Home Work features: homes, cabins, cottages, bungalows, homesteads, sheds, shacks, huts, treehouses, bottle houses, yurts, hogans, tipis, tents, beach shacks, stilt houses, greenhouses, small house designs, domes, zomes, fantasy houses, gypsy wagons, workspaces, barns, shops, Mississippi shotgun shacks, kitchens, bedrooms, bathrooms, and studios made of wood, straw bale, cob, stone, bamboo, thatch, timber-frame, log, ferro-cement, papercrete, and earthbag by builders, designers, artists, homesteaders, and dreamers! 245 pages. 2004. 8 1/2" x 11" Shelter Publications. ISBN: 978-0-936070-33-9.

      There's been a vortex of creative carpentry energy along the Pacific Coast over the last thirty years. Lloyd Kahn made four trips up the coast over a two-year period, shooting the photos that appear in this book.

      Many of the builders shown here got started in the countercultural era of the '60s and '70s, and their work has never been shown in other books or magazine articles. As in the author's previous books Shelter and Home Work, there are three featured builders: Lloyd House, master craftsman and designer who has created a series of unique homes on a small island; Bruno Atkey, builder of a number of houses and lodges built of hand-split cedar on "The Wild Coast" (the Pacific Ocean side of Vancouver Island), and SunRay Kelley, barefoot builder tuned into Nature, who has designed and built wildly imaginative structures in Washington, California, and other parts of the country. In addition, there are working homesteads, sculptural buildings of driftwood, homes that are beautiful as well as practical, live-aboard boats, gypsy-type caravans, and examples of stunning architectural design.

      The two predominant features of the landscape along the Pacific Coast are water and wood. Most of these buildings are on or close to the sea. Trees grow fast and tall in rainy Northwest forests; many of these buildings were constructed entirely from logs off the beach or trees from adjacent land. You are invited to join Kahn's journey up and down the coast: driving the roads, riding the ferries, camping on the beaches, meeting these builders, and seeing their unique creations. Kahn took10,000 photos and selected 1,200 for the book. Flip through the pages and you will see delightful architecture such as a roof shaped like a leaf, a woodshed shaped like a bird, a boat house on stilts, curving roofs and more. 256 pages. 2008. 8 1/2" x 11" Shelter Publications. ISBN: 978-0-936070-43-8.

      Fascinating and unique, Wonderful Houses Around the World introduces children to other places and other lives throughout the world. Glorious two-page photographic spreads capture families outside their homes, be they simple or imposing. Detailed cutaway illustrations reveal the inside of each house, showing the various family members engaged in typical daily activities. Captions explain where each house is located, the environmental conditions that affect the house design, how the family lives in the home, and their possessions - all providing interesting glimpses of life in other cultures.

      The ten houses profiled include a red mud dwelling with thatched towers in Togo, a yurt in Mongolia, a steep-roofed, shake-covered house in Transylvania, and a large donut-shaped communal building for 300 in China. This book increases children's wonder about and cultural awareness of the many different people and ways of life around the world. Wonderful Houses features unique homes from Mongolia, China, Indonesia, India, Romania, Tunisia, Spain, Togo, Senegal, and Bolivia. 43 pages. 2008. 7 1/2" x 10" Shelter Publications. ISBN: 978-0-936070-35-3.