Carpenter's Life as Told by Houses [Hardcover]
- Author by Haun, Larry
- Foreword by Ireton, Kevin
From Publisher
From one of "Fine Homebuilding's" best-loved authors, Larry Haun, comes a unique story that looks at American home building from the perspective of twelve houses he has known intimately. Part memoir, part cultural history, "A Carpenter's Life as Told by Houses" takes the reader house by house over an arc of 100 years. Along with period photos, the author shows us the sod house in Nebraska where his mother was born, the frame house of his childhood, the production houses he built in the San Fernando Valley, and the Habitat for Humanity homes he devotes his time to now. It's an engaging read written by a veteran builder with a thoughtful awareness of what was intrinsic to home building in the past and the many ways it has evolved. Builders and history lovers will appreciate his deep connection to the natural world, yearning for simplicity, respect for humanity, and evocative notion of what we mean by "home."
Reviews
- From Publishers Weekly
- Drawing on a life spent building houses all over the U.S., Haun creates a first-person time line of 20th-century American residential architecture by wonderfully combining two literary styles: the memoir and the how-to book. The former editor of Fine Homebuilding, Haun writes like a carpenter, setting up the foundation of his life story with his childhood growing up in rural, Depression-scarred Nebraska, where people still lived in houses made of sod and straw. This upbringing gave Haun a connection to the land and a disdain for waste that informs his life and beliefs as he builds upon his story with the life lessons learned building houses all over the country. Just like any good carpenter, Haun brings his own artistic flourishes to the job of storytelling, adding prose poems or ruminations about consumerism that convey his creativity and thoughtfulness. But where Haun's true personality comes across is when he describes the construction process for the many houses he has lived in and builtfrom his parents' 1,000-sq.-ft. wood-frame house and the adobe and cob structures of the Southwest to the mid-century prefabricated and tract houses, and the more recent Habitat for Humanity homes he has donated his time to help erect. In the final chapter, Haun's passion for building and his love of "Mother Earth" come together as he outlines how he built his own "6-ft. by 8-ft." greenhouse out of salvaged and recycled pieces, bringing the story full circle and furthering the author's message that less can certainly be more. Photos and drawings. (Sept.) Copyright 2011 Reed Business Information.
Quote Reviews
"If the best writers draw from their own experience, Larry Haun is as much a historian and philosopher as he is a 60-year veteran carpenter. Larry's memoir would be equally at home on the bookshelves of home building and architecture enthusiasts as anyone on a spiritual journey." -Brian Pontolilo, Managing Editor, "Fine Homebuilding Magazine"
If you are lucky in your life, you are fortunate to encounter people who are passionate about their lives. Joseph Campbell is quoted as saying; "People always say what we are looking for is a meaning for life...I don't think that's what we're looking for. I think what we're looking for is the experience of being alive." Larry Haun is very alive, and has shared with me his passion for building, his passion for community, and his passion to serve. All of us at Habitat have been blessed by Larry's energy, enthusiasm and commitment to his trade. Bert Green, Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity of Charlotte
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