The Big Book of Small House Designs

75 unique designs for attractive, efficient, environmentally friendly homes.

Now available in paperback, this collection of 75 plans for small homes offers more than 500 usable blueprints and other illustrations for a variety of living spaces suitable for every environment and style, from a New England farmhouse to a sophisticated townhouse in the city to a Santa Fe ranch.

The designs include site drawings, floor plans, elevation drawings, section drawings, perspective drawings, and exploded views. A brief introduction to each home describes its setting, the philosophy behind the design and its intended use, materials used, recommended landscaping, and more. Many of the homes come with money-saving and environmentally sound features such as solar panels and water heaters, wood stoves, ceiling fans, airlock entries, wind power alternatives, and natural gas heaters.

Editor and professional architect Don Metz is a partner in the architectural firm of Metz and Thornton. He started his career in the energy-efficient house design business in 1972 with his award-winning Winston House. He was the consultant for the book The Underground House Book by fellow Storey author Stu Campbell. Don also wrote Superhouse and edited Storey's New Compact House Designs, and edited The Compact House Book. Metz has also written two novels, Catamount Bridge and King of the Mountain. He lives with his wife in Lyme, New Hampshire.

Owner of the architectural firm BarnOwl Designs, Catherine Tredway is an award-winning designer who has been helping clients create their dream cottages and leisure-time homes for fifteen years. She teaches courses in landscape design and architectural preservation.

Kenneth R. Tremblay, Jr. is a professor at Colorado State University. He has also written the book, Social Aspects of Housing and Beyond the American Housing Dream. He lives in Fort Collins, Colorado.