The Not So Big House created a movement that is changing the way people think about the American home. That groundbreaking book proposed a new blueprint for the American home: a house that values quality over quantity, with an emphasis on comfort and beauty, a high level of detail, and a floor plan designed for today's informal lifestyle.

Creating the Not So Big House is the blueprint in action. Focusing on key design strategies such as visual weight, layering, and framed openings, Sarah Susanka takes an up-close look at 25 houses designed according to Not So Big principles. The houses are from all over North America in a rich variety of styles -- from a tiny New York apartment to a southwestern adobe, a traditional Minnesota farmhouse, and a cottage community in the Pacific Northwest. Whether new or remodeled, these one-of-a-kind homes provide all the inspiration you need to create your own Not So Big House.

"Sarah Susanka shows how to downsize the dream house without diminishing the dream."

-- Washington Post

"Sarah Susanka offers us a more hopeful strategy for sustaining human development -- just make life richer, not bigger....Improve your life and everyone else's. Use the ideas in this book -- not more square feet!"

-- William McDonough, FAIA, architect, educator, and winner of the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development

"In The Not So Big House, Sarah Susanka offered so much sound advice for those seeking comfort and beauty with a sense of proportion. Now, she has a new book with additional solutions to that all-important question -- how do we want to live?"

-- Barbara Mayer, author of In The Arts and Crafts Style

"Susanka's book, Creating the Not So Big House, shows how space can be small but beautiful and visually expansive....She has tapped into those principles that Frank Lloyd Wright used in his 'Usonian' Houses and has presented them in a very clear and beautifully illustrated format."

-- Eric Lloyd Wright, architect

"Detail, care, the attention only thought, love, and passion can bring. These are the hallmarks of a house that has the promise of becoming a cherished home. Susanka knows well that dough, moolah, isn't all plentiful and that big ain't even remotely better....If you're ever going to build or renovate, buy this book."

-- Stephen Gordon, CEO, Restoration Hardware

Introduction

1 The Language of the Not So Big House

2 A Timeless Classic: RHODE ISLAND

3 A House for Today and Tomorrow: CALIFORNIA

4 The Essence of Home: PENNSYLVANIA

5 Doing More with Less: CONNECTICUT

6 A Farmhouse for Our Time: MINNESOTA

7 A Jewel in the Suburbs: ILLINOIS

8 Three Easy Pieces: WISCONSIN

9 A Sense of Flow: WASHINGTON

10 A House in Harmony: MASSACHUSETTS

11 Affordable Comfort: MASSACHUSETTS

12 Comfort, Pueblo-Style: NEW MEXICO

13 Thinking Outside the Box: CALIFORNIA

14 Playfully Sustainable: VERMONT

15 One Phase at a Time: MAINE

16 Updating a Not So Big House: CONNECTICUT

17 Tight Quarters: NEW YORK

18 Southern Comfort: SOUTH CAROLINA

19 An Accessible House for One: WASHINGTON

20 A Place of Cool Remove: TEXAS

21 Elegant Simplicity: RHODE ISLAND

22 Upstairs, Downstairs: CALIFORNIA

23 A Not So Big Remodel: CONNECTICUT

24 A Cottage Community: WASHINGTON

25 Creating the Dream House: MINNESOTA

26 The Whole Nine Yards: MINNESOTA

Afterword: The Plans for the Houses

Architects and Designers

Ordering Information