These houses are very, very, very fine houses

Artistically, this is one of the coolest books I’ve ever seen. I can only imagine the time that went into the creation of each illustration. The artist has fashioned the most amazing, intricate bas-relief cut-paper collages of fifteen very unique homes from different time periods and from a variety of countries around the world. One could easily spend many hours looking at the incredible detail on each page. From cave dwellings to castles and yurts to airstream trailers, each home includes a description of the type of house, the building materials used, the time period in which the home was built, the location, fascinating facts, and whether or not the home is still inhabited today. There are several historical homes described, such as La Brede, the chateau owned by the famous writer, Montesquieu, that is now a museum. My favorite home is actually the “white towns” found in Greece. The brilliant whitewash of the houses against the blue sky and the Aegean Sea is beautiful. In these towns, one might have to run across a small lane to get from one room of a home to another room. A basic map is included at the end of the book showing where each home is located.