Cabins: A Guide to Building Your Own Nature Retreat

There are a million books about cabins, and many take similar approaches. Here are some awesome cabins and the story behind them, enjoy. This book literally walks you through - in detail - how to build a cabin, offering exceptional hand-made diagrams and a surprisingly easy to read text. I cannot recommend this book enough. I'm no carpenter, but the book is absolutely perfect for someone who doesn't know how to get started on/finish a cabin, and also good for a person with skills who wants something better than searching forever online. Buy this book...you'll be glad you did.

Such a pretty cover and good book if you are interested in cabin building.

Very enjoyable light reading about building a small cabin. The authors are full of great advice and wisdom. Although it was written a good 25 years ago (IIRC), it's all relevant and I actually think that it's nice to read from 25 year old perspective. Now-a-days it's all about "tiny homes" on trailers, but IMO that's not sustainable and, if you don't own the land, you don't get half as much pleasure. I won't give away all his secrets (could be a copyright violation!) but for example, they show you how to survey the land yourself with a cheap laser pen and some pieces of wood, what to look for when choosing land to buy, how to buy and get the best price, how to determine what kind of foundation you want, what you need to know for a septic system and utilities and what not. I especially like the plans for a log staircase, the log furniture and the stone fireplace. Of course, virtually everything in the book needs to be expanded on but it's this way for a reason. It's an excellent overview of the entire cabin building process, like a 101 course, but for every little detail you'll need to do more research on. Roof framing, electrical, plumbing, concrete pouring, road building, etc - this book points you in the right direction for what you need to you but lengthy details on each topic are intentionally left out. So if you're serious about building your own cabin as I am, then you'll need to buy several other books, but this book is a great one to start with and is a fun read that will keep your imagination and excitement going strong. The reason for the 4 stars, not 5, is because I think there could be more floor plans and types of cabins covered.

I have been looking for a book on the cabin theme for quite some time without finding it. I wanted a book that were to be a bit of a mix between a practical building guide/source of tips and tricks at the same time as it provides illustrative examples. This book turned out to be delivering in both dimensions and I have got of to a good start in my own planning of a mountain retreat. I would recommend it to anyone who has a desire to create a place of their own but find it hard to get an inspirational start.

If you are looking for a great book to get ideas from for your cabin look no further. This book will you give you plenty of ideas to build upon and things that you will want to implement into your plans. A cabin in my mind is meant to be personal and represent you in a way, so I would never recommend taking a pre-made cabin floor plan and building it. Instead take your time do your research and take ideas from this book and several others until you have your own personal cabin designed to your tastes. Make your cabin to fit your dreams and when its done do not worry what others say because as long as you enjoy it that is all that matters. "There are elements of intrinsic beauty in the simplification of a house built on the log cabin idea." ~Gustav Stickley

This book (and everything by these authors) has fantastic illustrations that are easy to visualize and instructions that are easy to execute. I especially like the suggestions for easy-to-build furniture in the back section. I recommend this book to anyone wanting to get some great ideas or great instructions on building cabins.

See "Compact Cabins " review this is one step above . + Better paper , bigger format - 237 pages only 7 pages of actual pictures + 4 blank pages for your " notes ", speaking for myself, I never make notes in a book I'm reading .

The book was well put together with good explanations and well done pictures.

I am in the process of building a cabin on a challenging site in an English wood. I found this to be a useful guide. There are many different methods to build a cabin, and by a cabin's very nature I doubt no two are the same. I therefore found this to be a useful book to pick up and take tips from to use in my own unique design and circumstances. It goes into detail on a range of different matters, so I will no doubt be returning to it over the course of the build for hints and tips. It does have an American steer but then again not many Brits build cabins! Recommended.

Guide très bien illustré,avec beaucoup de schémas et dessins,faits et mis au point par des gens de terrain qui aiment harmoniser l'habitat simple avec la nature.C'est comme un almanach du bon sens,avec plein d'idées et de détails à éviter.

This is a must have reference book if you want to build your own cabin. Narrative provides adequate information without boring the reader with too much useless detail. Illustrations are clear. Chapters have a logical flow. Overall, well structured. You must but this book.

Libro divulgativo e tecnico allo stesso tempo. Piacevole da leggersi ed ispirativo. Non troppo dettagliato negli aspetti più difficili e interessanti

Would recommend to all my friends