A week or so ago, I was collecting books on a theme for a bookstore newsletter, and I pulled one that I come back to again and again: The Half-Acre Homestead, by Lloyd Kahn. It’s hard to describe Half-Acre in any succinct way—it’s a sort of rambling catalog of the author’s lush, gorgeous, and fully self-sufficient home and garden in Northern California. It’s a bit of a building book, a bit of a cookbook, and a bit of an appreciation of folk art and surf culture and chickens and old trucks that still run all right. This particular title is coming up on five years old now, and I’ve read it through at least once, but it’s one of those books that, in my house, never quite gets put away. Instead, it migrates from bedside to couch to kitchen, depending on my mood and designs (I’m, like, 60 percent sure Emma finds this charming).
That’s sort of the thing with Lloyd’s books: they’re multipurpose, at home on a coffee table or on a workbench. They’re suited equally to the dreamer or the do-er. They feel like throwbacks to a bygone era, and yet also somehow impossibly hip.
As I flipped through Half-Acre again, I was immediately reminded of all the things I love about Lloyd’s remarkable body of work. And if you’re not familiar with Lloyd Kahn and Shelter Publications, the small publishing company he ran for forty-odd years alongside his late wife Lesley, now seems like a pretty good time to tune in and experience the same joy I do when I crack open the pages of any of his books. Kahn grew up in California’s Central Valley, went to Stanford, and became interested, at a young age, in alternative construction and architecture. He became the Whole Earth Catalog’s “shelter” editor, and was an early expert on geodesic domes (before deciding they didn’t work as well as he’d thought and disavowing them). His quest to improve on the dome, and (one imagines) his own seemingly insatiable curiosity, led him to look for other sustainable, inexpensive, and exciting ways to create shelter. His first book, the aptly titled Shelter, came out in 1973…and he hasn’t stopped since.
There’s Tiny Homes: Simple Shelter, and, for those seeking a little more space, Small Homes: The Right Size. There are the classics Home Work and Builders of the Pacific Coast. If you’re into homes that travel with you, there’s Tiny Homes on the Move and the more recent Rolling Homes. There’s the deeply cool Driftwood Shacks: Anonymous Architecture Along the California Coast, a collection of photos of improvised driftwood creations like the kind I used to make on beach vacations as a kid. For anyone imagining, or reimagining, a home, or just a place of their own, or for anyone interested in the ways we can live closer to the earth, without sacrificing comfort or style, these books are wonders. Each one is full of full-color photos, essays, and floor plans, laid out in a busy, but welcoming, scrapbook-like style. It’s pretty easy to get lost in these, imagining your own off-grid cabin, or surf shack, or truck-bed camper.
I love to create and tinker with things, and I love to be challenged with new ideas, and the buildings and lifestyles featured in these books remind me of my own Pacific Northwest childhood (I swear, half my parents’ friends lived in houses like these at some point). But that’s not the only reason I love them. I’m also deeply inspired by their author. At 89, Lloyd Kahn himself remains deeply curious, open, and active. He skates and surfs. He recently went to Burning Man for the first time. He’s pretty impressed with Taylor Swift, and is deeply and genuinely excited about what the youngest generations are doing. He takes pictures of everything that catches his eye, and isn’t shy about asking for the story (his Instagram is worth a follow). When I think about how I’d like to be in the world, now and as I grow older, I often think of Lloyd Kahn. I hope we can all aspire to be so curious, and present, and open to change.
For the builder, the architect, or the dreamer in your life, Lloyd Kahn’s collected body of work is worth a look (start with The Half-Acre Homestead, if you like, just to get a feel). In fact, these books might be just the thing for you. If nothing else, they’re worth flipping through, for a little jolt of joy.
Sam and Emma Kaas own and run the Norwich Bookstore.