Designing Your Perfect House
by William J. Hirsch Jr. AIA
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Book Summary Information
Author: William J. Hirsch Jr. AIAEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-11-01
ISBN: 0979882036
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Dalsimer Press, Inc
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780979882036
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Designing Your Perfect House
Book Review: Lessons from a Residential Architect (Priceless)
Summary: 5 Stars
This is an excellent book. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and architectural profession should foster/sponsor more of these kinds of books. The author hits a home run on selling the value of hiring a Registered Architect as your residential consultant. After reading this book, you will be sold on hiring an Architect to design your next custom home. I recommend that you read this book first and then read it again as you create your space program. The author uses simple language and not architectural theory to communicate ideas. While this book is easy to read, the thoughts the author provokes will slow your progress thru this book to a justifiable crawl. The following are the things that I thought were helpful to me:
When designing a Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC), rather than creating two (2) separate systems, run them in a series along one (1) trunk line. "What happens is that when the temperatures outside are moderate and the system does not have to work very hard, only one smaller HVAC unit, with a smaller, more efficient compressor, comes on at a time."
Another bit of great HVAC advice involves enlarging the sizes of the ductwork. This allows a slower volume of air thus increasing human comfort by reducing drafts, increasing the efficiency and lowering the sound of air rushing thru the ductwork.
Creating a matrix of spaces to identify which ones should be private vs. public with associated percentages to rack and stack a hierarchy of rooms as they relate and interface with each other.
Excellent advice was provided on protecting existing trees.
The En-suite compromise of not providing separate bathrooms to all bedrooms was innovative.
The advice of making your new house handicap accessible along with making provisions for adding a residential elevator should one of the occupants become handicapped in the future.
The advice by the author for the cost of this book is priceless.
The only thing I would disagree with is the location of the main entrance. In fact there is nothing in this book discussing "security". I don't just mean a security system. I mean that advice on how to configure a house for defensive and security purposes. With illegal aliens, gangs and drug cartels pouring thru our borders, I don't want an entrance to my house that is easy and comfortable to find. I currently live in the Midwest in a very nice neighborhood. My house is custom designed and built by me, an architect; with the majority of parents both working now days, who is home to monitor the teenagers? Thus a custom home like mine becomes a juicy target of the neighbor's teenagers to vandalize. Talking to my neighbors, the local police department and my insurance company confirms that the problem is pervasive in any neighborhood.
The late great famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright built most of his houses with hard to get to entrances and his clients loved the security (Read "The Wright Space" by Grant Hildebrand).
Summary of Designing Your Perfect House
Winner of the 2008 National Best Books Award in the Home: Reference CategoryYour Architect in a Book
If you ve ever considered building your dream home, here is a step-by-step guidebook that will take you through the design process. Designing Your Perfect House: Lessons from an Architect concerns the thought process of planning and creating a house, the methodology of the design, and how to get everything right.
Reading this book, you will gain insights about how to:
Gain control of the design and building process
Choose a perfect site for your house
Avoid costly mistakes
Unify an architectural design
Not just design a house, but how to design a home
Budget in a realistic manner
The basic premise of the book is that there is no such thing as the perfect house; there is only your perfect house. An architect s task is to help you achieve that dream. The experience of home design and construction should be controllable, gratifying, and enjoyable. With the valuable advice that Designing Your Perfect House: Lessons from an Architect provides, it can be.
Reviews
This book is an excellent guide for anyone wanting to design the house of their dreams. Designing Your Perfect House contains a wealth of information and know-how from an architect who has been working with residential clients for three decades. It s the kind of wisdom that only comes with practice and is of immense value to anyone wanting an inspiring new home. Herein you ll find everything you need to know about the process of working with an architect, as well as what homework to do before you begin.
Sarah Susanka, FAIA, architect and author of The Not So Big Houseseries, Home by Design, and The Not So Big Life
Take a journey into an architect s mind and see your new house through his eyes.
Catherine Collin, Editor, Loft Publications
This book is a must-have for everyone who plans to build a home. We were lucky enough to have Bill Hirsch as the architect on our project, and he is a trusted and knowledgeable source who led us through the complex and overwhelming process of building a home. Now everyone can benefit from his experience. His book is an invaluable tool to guide the way.
Tracy Gibson
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