Sheep wagons, houseboats, RVs, tents, yurts, even prefab homes and old converted school buses... people are finding creative ways every day to build and adapt homes that aren't confined to one geographical location. Portable Houses features traditional movable dwellings around the world, from a houseboat in Sausalito to a gypsy wagon in the English countryside. Authors Irene Rawlings and Mary Abel provide essential information on making movable homes functional and practical, along with chapters on acquiring the necessary tools and gear for travel, problem solving with each type of portable house, and converting the dream into highway-legal reality. With photography of some of the world's most ingenious and unique portable structures, Portable Houses will inspire the migratory-minded to turn ordinary modes of transportation into creative living spaces. Rawlings proves that it really is possible for the dedicated, nomadic, do-it-yourselfer to make the road a comfortable home!

"This attractive book is sure to awaken daydreams of leaving the settled life and going on the road, down to the sea or into the wild blue yonder. Rawlings and Abel, editors at Mountain Living and Log & Timber Style magazines, present movable homes for all tastes and income levels. Divided into sections by type — Trailers; Buses & RVs; Trains, Planes, and Boats; Tepees, Tents, & Yurts; and Sheep Wagons — the book discusses how to procure, remodel and/or build your own traveling home, with tips on what to look for and what to avoid. The first chapter specifies how to choose and remodel a trailer, down to types of floor coverings (new wood flooring or vintage linoleum), naming your trailer and painting portraits of cowgirls on the exterior. As the book progresses, however, the number of how-tos declines. The last section contains some of the most intriguing structures: a high-tech portable 'ski haus,' moved from place to place by helicopter; a 36-square-foot acrylic 'home box' designed for a Young Architects Competition; and a 3,000-square-foot house built of packing crates, shipping containers, recycled newspaper and bamboo. Frustratingly, these unusual designs receive cursory attention, often warranting only abbreviated descriptions and a single, exterior view. The Boats section is also meager, represented by a single pricey vintage yacht. Where are the houseboats? 60 color photos." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Illustrated with color photographs, this work profiles a range of structures that can be seen as portable houses, including trailers, tents and yurts, train carriages, sheep wagons, and more exotic structures. The structures are united by their adherence to the concept of living small and lightly upon the earth. Much of the emphasis of the descriptions and photographs is on the decorations of the mobile homes, but more practical information on construction, costs, equipment, and the like is often included as well.
Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Sheep wagons, houseboats, RVs, tents, yurts, even prefab homes and old converted school busses people are finding creative ways every day to build and adapt homes that aren't confined to one geographical location. Portable Houses features traditional movable dwellings around the world, from a houseboat in Sausalito to a gypsy wagon in the English countryside. Authors Irene Rawlings and Mary Abel provide essential information on making movable homes functional and practical, along with chapters on acquiring the necessary tools and gear for travel, problem solving with each type of portable house, and converting the dream into highway-legal reality. With photography of some of the world's most ingenious and unique portable structures, Portable Houses will inspire the migratory-minded to turn ordinary modes of transportation into creative living spaces. Rawlings proves that it really is possible for the dedicated, nomadic, do-it-yourselfer to make the road a comfortable home Irene Rawlings is editor-in-chief of Mountain Living and Log & Timber magazines. Since age seven, she has wanted to buy a retired school bus, take out the seats, paint it a shiny red, and travel around the country. She is the author of many books, including The Clothesline (Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2002) with Andrea Van Steenhouse. Mary Abel is the managing editor of Mountain Living and Log & Timber Style magazines. She wants to buy an old trailer, paint it pink, and take it into the mountains to fly fish and cook chili over a campfire. She's still working on it.

A selection of weird and wonderful dwellings from around the world.