`Small Is the New Big” proclaims the January-February cover of dwell, the architecture and design magazine for modernists.
While Editor in Chief Allison Arieff acknowledges that the average American home “shot up” to 2,265 square feet in 2000, she and her fellow dwellers are “hopeful” that the trend can be reversed with an outpouring of thoughtfully designed smaller homes.
And certainly, the dwell pack is onto something with issues like sustainability and restraint swirling about the collective American consciousness today.
Notably, though, the most interesting small homes in this issue are not part of dwell’s cover package — which, by the way, includes three stories to read, and one of the homes featured is about 2,500 square feet, which breaks dwell’s own rule. The cover line promises homes less than 2,200 square feet.
Instead, look for the smaller stories (no pun intended) tucked into the front of the magazine — and particularly the one on David Kaplan’s little “Shot-Trot” house in Houston. The house is a fusion of two of the South’s most recognized housing types: the shotgun and the dogtrot.
What results is a sensible, modern-but-familiar little home fused with wonderful natural ventilation. Although its footprint is a long, tight 16 by 80 feet (like the shotgun), it has at its center two large barn doors that slide open to create a central breezeway (like the dogtrot).
Also worth checking out are the proposals from five Los Angeles architecture firms for a modern, sustainable home.
Dwell invited the five to design such a “green” house for a young family in L.A. and got five interesting solutions. The winner (which will be built): a 2,000-square-foot glass abode featuring all sorts of active and passive solar engineering including an attractive “green” roof that mixes photovoltaic panels with native plants.
A FINE FIX: Having trouble installing that toilet and can’t find your how-to book or handy brother-in-law? Head to your computer. Fine Home-building has launched an online archive (www. finehomebuilding.com/archive) including more than 700 of its articles written by tradespeople who know what they’re doing and covering everything from simple painting techniques to advanced framing and structural design. There is a small fee — $3.50 for a single article, five for $12.50, etc.
FLEAS FOR ALL: Check out the new Weekend Shopper feature in the February issue of House Beautiful. HB Associate Editor Edward Ross promises to visit flea markets across the country and showcase his haul. This month, it’s display brackets — and how he turned a trio of inexpensive plaster ones into elegant, black glossy ledges for a collection of vintage silver.
