Designing Your Perfect House: Lessons from an Architect

Designing Your Perfect House is the ideal guidebook for navigating the often mystifying process of house design and building. It's full of sage advice from a master architect about how to design the perfect house for you.Presented in twelve understandable "lessons," this book moves from wonderful concepts to a finished dream home. Beginning with an exploration of the philosophy of design, the grammar of architecture, the creation of space, and discussions of how to make spaces be appropriate and gratifying for the people living in them, the "lessons" explore issues of scale, daylight, how to make a house feel like a home, unifying a design, flow, and proportions.This book answers questions like: How do I get started? How do I select a building site? What kind of house can I afford with my budget? How do I make my dream house just right for me? Other topics include: site analysis and selection, programming, schematic design, style, room relationships, budget, working with professionals, methods of contracting, and more.Numerous color photos and drawings illustrate the book's major points

Winner of the 2008 National Books Award in the Home: Reference Category Designing Your Perfect House is the ideal guidebook for navigating the often mystifying process of house design and building. It's full of sage advice from a master architect about how to design the perfect house for you. Presented in twelve understandable 'lessons,' this book moves from wonderful concepts to a finished dream home. Beginning with an exploration of the philosophy of design, the grammar of architecture, the creation of space, and discussions of how to make spaces be appropriate and gratifying for the people living in them, the 'lessons' explore issues of scale, daylight, how to make a house feel like a home, unifying a design, flow, and proportions. This book answers questions like: How do I get started? How do I select a building site? What kind of house can I afford with my budget? How do I make my dream house just right for me? Other topics include: site analysis and selection, programming, schematic design, style, room relationships, budget, working with professionals, methods of contracting, and more. Numerous color photos and drawings illustrate the book's major points.

Gayle A. Williamson - Library Journal

The decision to build a new home can be daunting for an amateur. Architect Hirsch takes one through the process from idea to completion. Drawing many examples from his own practice, he explains the process and philosophy of residential design as seen from a professional's view and discusses what to consider when creating one's dream home. Recommended.

Registered Architect with over thirty years of experience designing hundreds of homes in many states, including North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Connecticut and Hawaii.Past President of the Delaware Society of Architects.Member of the American Institute of Architects.NCARB certified.Holds a Master of Architecture degree from the University of Virginia.