The Face of Home: A New Way to Look at the Outside of Your House - Hardcover

Eck, Jeremiah

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1561587710 ISBN 13: 9781561587711

Publisher: Taunton Press, 2006

Synopsis

There are hundreds of books on the market about designing the interior of a home, but none for homeowners that focuses on the design of a home's exterior. And yet the exterior of the house is what we all see and remember- it's the "face" of home we fall in love with--whether we are looking for a new home or just taking in the sights during a Sunday afternoon drive. All of us can relate to a house's exterior, but few understand how they're put together, or how the outside and inside should work in harmony. When people describe the exterior of a house, they usually give a label or a style- Cape, Colonial, Ranch. But, in truth, what they are referring to are not only its exterior physical characteristic- the particular blend of rooflines, siding, trim, windows, doors and porches, but also its emotional characteristics- inviting, austere, friendly.
In his new book "The Face of Home," Jeremiah Eck, FAIA, author of Taunton's "The Distinctive Home," examines these physical and emotional characteristics, explores the concepts and applications of exterior design and how they can be successfully used to enhance the experience of home and provides a fresh, new language for describing, understanding, and shaping the face of home.
After a comprehensive first chapter that illustrates the way houses have traditionally been identified: by historical description (Queen Anne, Tudor); material (Shingle, Craftsman); shape (Salt Box, Ranch); and architectural (Wrightian, Miesian), Eck then introduces a new, fuller language for exteriors that goes beyond and behind these to explore the basic concepts of good exterior design: scale and massing, symmetry and asymmetry, and transparency andopaqueness. These concepts are then further refined and expressed by the shaping of features and details such as roof, doors, windows, siding, and the use of color and textures through a highly a visual tour of 23 houses vividly illustrating how these concepts are applied to give a home its unique style and personality Throughout the book, Eck shows us the close relationship between interior and exterior design and how they impact one another.

About this title

About the Author

Jeremiah Eck is a contributor for Taunton Press titles including The Face of Home.

From Publishers Weekly

Why is it that Americans build so many ugly houses each year?" asks architect Eck (The Distinctive Home). Building more beautiful homes would solve much of the "sprawl problem we denounce so often," he says, and then lays out his "five simple hallmarks of good design": "site and house are one," "mass and scale are balanced," "the plan is a guide," "parts are in harmony" and "details spring from the whole." As Eck proceeds to analyze the exterior designs of 22 architect-designed houses (in one case, a housing development) and how they relate to their interiors, sites and the needs of their occupants, he addresses the skill, ingenuity and imagination necessary to make these principles work. Eck affectionately anthropomorphizes houses (windows are eyes; doors and chimneys are noses; a poorly designed garage is a gaping mouth), showing how "a house exterior can be just as expressive as the human face, revealing character, creating a first impression, and telling us something about the inner workings and organization of the building." While the book's discussions of what make certain designs work are subtle and sometimes hard to grasp, dedicated builders, home buyers and designers will come away with a basis for understanding house exteriors and seeing beyond superficial labels like "Colonial" and "Contemporary." (Apr.)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Taunton Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1561587710
• ISBN 13: 9781561587711
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 224