Americans build an extraordinary number of houses every year -- more than one million and counting. But ask almost anyone who has watched the sprouting of new houses over the last three or four decades, and you'll hear the same refrain: Why are there so few houses with "character" out there?

I am writing this book to prove there is an alternative. With more thoughtfulness and awareness of what is possible (even without a huge budget), we can make homes that are truly distinctive and timeless.

Distinctive houses are situated on their plots in the best possible way, present an honest and dignified face to the world, arrange rooms to make domestic life convenient and comfortable, and are sensuously and spiritually satisfying inside and out.

In the end, the concept of the book is simple: better understanding of houses leads to better houses. By the time you've finished this book, you'll be able to look at a house and say not only that you like it but also why you like it and how you can apply its lessons in the design of your own home.
-- Jeremiah Eck


About the author
Jeremiah Eck, a passionate advocate for better-designed homes, is a principal of Jeremiah Eck Architects, Inc. in Boston, Massachusetts. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, a former lecturer in architecture at the Harvard Design School, and a landscape painter.

Hardcover, 9-1/4 x 10-7/8 in., 240 pages, with color photos and drawings

Published 2003, ISBN 1-56158-528-9, # 070601







The Distinctive Home is the first book published in the new American Institute of Architects (AIA) and The Taunton Press joint imprint.
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"Every would-be house builder should read this book."
-- Robert A.M. Stern, Dean,
Yale School of Architecture

"This book is a must, not only for the educated client but for anyone who wants to learn how to observe and how to think about the nature of houses."
-- Alexander Purves, Associate Dean,
Yale School of Architecture