We’re up to our ears in modern, accessible design. No offense CB2, West Elm, or IKEA. Really, you’re great. You helped us furnish our first apartments, and we love you for that. But, we’re a little older, a little wiser, and we want more. More substance. More soul. Which is why we’re migrating en masse to intermittent flea markets, scouring Craigslist and enrolling in classes to learn everything from upholstery to blacksmithing to the lathe.
It’s not the first time we’ve resolved to roll up our sleeves and make more of our world. The last time, a New Age was upon us and the Western saga that produced the hipster’s predecessor was embracing simple living and imaginative expression. Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, two builders living in Northern California, the movement’s epicenter, set out to explore what was happening in the woods and valleys around them. Boericke writes that it was a time that saw houses with “tiles that have never been in a store because the tilemaker’s kiln is just beyond her kitchen door.” Now out of print, The Craftsmen Builder and Handmade Houses, A Guide to the Woodbutcher’s Art document what they found.
We’ve rounded up the best of what these two tomes have to offer thanks to Mr. Chum’s comprehensive scans. Now, put on some Vashti Bunyan, grab a kilim pillow and click through to revisit these inspiring collections of handmade houses.
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, The Craftsmen Builder, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, The Craftsmen Builder, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, The Craftsmen Builder, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, The Craftsmen Builder, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, The Craftsmen Builder, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, The Craftsmen Builder, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum
Image credit: Art Boericke and Barry Shapiro, Handmade Houses, via Mr. Chum