Susanka designs houses for living: comfortable, compact, uncrowded space for, often, multiple functions. Contrast her inviting, manageable houses with the vulgar, wasteful, show-off monuments to consumption containing specialized rooms that are rarely used (often because they are icy, sterile, forbidding). Taunton's usual splendid photography is evident in some 200 color plates. Floor plans show how traffic and life will flow.

"The first architects, builders, and homeowners to embrace the straw bale renaissance were excited by the energy conservation, resource recycling, and affordability of this rediscovered building material. As their movement evolved, however, it became apparent that the elegant simplicity of straw had also enabled its practitioners to tap into an undiscovered creative aquifer." "Athena and Bill Steen, co-authors of The Straw Bale House (Chelsea Green,...

The final word on the small adobe house is that it combines the best of several elements: comfort, adaptability, tradition, and almost limitless possibilities for expansion and personal expression.

Live in less space but have more room to enjoy it. Does that sound like a contradiction? Smart readers will discover that, on the contrary, living small can free up your mind, your wallet, and your soul. With the cost of living rising, and the environment suffering from excessive building, now is the time to scale back. Join the movement. Little House on a Small Planet is a guidebook and an invitation. With floor plans, photographs, advice, and anecdotes,...

The discovery of gold and silver in Colorado's Rocky Mountains minted millionaires by the ton. The rough settlements of miners and ranchers quickly transformed into habitations more suitable for the newly wealthy class. William Newton Byers founded the Centennial State's first newspaper and built an Italianate-style palace with the proceeds, while Walter Scott Cheesman's Capitol Hill home later became the governor's residence.