Homing Instinct: Using Your Lifestyle to Design and Build Your Home

Linking Owner-Builders

with Architects

by John Connell. 1993, Warner Books, New York. 400 pages, hardcover, $35.00.

With

Homing Instinct, Connell has contributed the latest in a tradition of how-to books for owner-builders. Following in the footsteps of old classics like

From the Ground Up and

Building Your Own House Your Own Way,

Homing Instinct is a veritable encyclopedia of information and advice for would-be builders. The book is an overview of courses at the Yestermorrow Design/Build School, which Connell founded. This nineties contribution has an added twist, however, that may expand its usefulness to design professionals:

Homing Instinct has several chapters on working with an architect to design one’s own house.

Homing Instinct that won’t be familiar to architects experienced in residential design, the clear and simple presentation of technical information is fun reading.

Connell’s writing is spiced with personal anecdotes and historical references which give his opinions credibility. He focuses primarily on the aesthetic and functional elements of design, but the environment isn’t forgotten either. At one point he even reproduces an entire conversation from a Yestermorrow course about the health impacts and costs of using plywood and alternative materials for sheathing.

For all the emphasis on working with design professionals, Connell is surprisingly silent about working with building contractors and subcontractors. In detailed chapters on plumbing and electrical wiring he argues for the importance of designing the systems intelligently: “Like every aspect of your house, if you don’t design your electrical system, it will end up designed by default.” And while Connell acknowledges that many owner-builders will hire professionals to do these tasks, he doesn’t offer any suggestions about making that relationship work. He does, however, devote considerable space to alternative wastewater systems and off-the-grid electricity.

For the architect with clients who want to team-design their dream house, having them read this book may save a lot of tutoring time. While it may not tell the clients everything they need to know to design and build a home, it certainly will get them off to a good start.