For another great book which shows stone and brick nogging, timberframe, clay walls, lime plasters, brick use see:Manor Houses of Normandy Many people don't realize that Pise- rammed earth, has a long tradition in France, and many centuries old, large, naturally built homes are still there. This book shows many of those gorgeous clay & timber homes, with full descriptive detail about the house. It could be considered a 'coffee table' book too, but the design ideas from 1500 to 1600s will knock your socks off!! The Natural HomeNatural plasters, stone walls, authentic details in gorgeous existing homes...not just strawbale..but centuries old thick walled stone, earth and more.Flying cement and domed shapes, sculpted walls and stairways, use of brick, rough stone, thatch, native woods, and other materials to drool over. These 28 wildly diverse country houses—around the Mediterranean, in the Alps, in Ireland, and in Africa—are beautifully built or restored, drawing on the traditions and skills of native craftsmen. Shown in more than 300 large color photographs, here are such nature-inspired houses as architect Jacques Couëlle's organically curvilinear "cave" on a cliff above Cannes, a potter's Japanese-inspired house of plaster and natural wood outside of Cork, and a whitewashed house built with traditional Arabic touches on tiny Lamu Island off the east coast of Africa. Note from Charmaine: What I REALLY love about this book is that the houses are not new, or recently built, but give you an insight to the authentic touches and sensuous appeal of well worn natural materials. Thick lime plasters over decades old adobe and stone, flaws that develop beauty over time, and so much more. AND there are some furniture touches that really make the homes come alive, specifically a wooden sleigh bed very austere and plain in design, but so beautifully shaped it makes the whole room come alive...my favorite use of natural material! This is a GREAT book to give as a gift to show how lovely natural materials can be. Publisher DuMont Monte Format hardcover ISBN 3770170091 Pages/Publication Date 279/2000 NEW AND GENTLY USED COPIES AVAILABLE HEAVY OVERSIZE book Priority Mail BOX Required- $11. for shipping in USA. Global Mail cost MUCH higher -- $40. is the new Global Mail BOX rate. (International customers: I do not recommend shipping this size book outside USA- unless you want to pay the $40. plus +3.00 per item cost- See if a local bookstore can order it for you- it may be available in Europe already) |