Home Work: Handbuilt Shelter

Back in 1973 Lloyd Kahn self-published a how-to best-seller called Shelter that became a kind of Bible for back-to-the-land types who wanted to build their own homes. Now, 31 years later, he’s back with a sequel of sorts, a collection of pictures and written descriptions of handbuilt houses all over the world. It’s mostly the product of Kahn’s ramblings and picture-taking, but it also contains numerous photos sent to him—he lives and works in a handmade complex in Bolinas—by readers of Shelter showing off the homes it inspired them to build. The pictures of all kinds of marvelously eccentric structures, from off-the-grid mountain cabins and elaborate yurts to fantasy dwellings and African mud homes, are absolutely fascinating. They’re certain to pique the imagination of anyone who’s ever thought of building a one-of-a-kind dwelling. To get some idea of the book’s contents, go to www.shelterpub.com.