The Face of Home: A New Way to Look at the Outside of Your House

By Jeremiah Eck

There are hundreds of books on the market about designing the interior of a home, but none for homeowners that focuses on the design of a home's exterior. And yet the exterior of the house is what we all see and remember- it's the "face" of home we fall in love with--whether we are looking for a new home or just taking in the sights during a Sunday afternoon drive. All of us can relate to a house's exterior, but few understand how they're put together, or how the outside and inside should work in harmony. When people describe the exterior of a house, they usually give a label or a style- Cape, Colonial, Ranch. But, in truth, what they are referring to are not only its exterior physical characteristic- the particular blend of rooflines, siding, trim, windows, doors and porches, but also its emotional characteristics- inviting, austere, friendly.
In his new book "The Face of Home," Jeremiah Eck, FAIA, author of Taunton's "The Distinctive Home," examines these physical and emotional characteristics, explores the concepts and applications of exterior design and how they can be successfully used to enhance the experience of home and provides a fresh, new language for describing, understanding, and shaping the face of home.
After a comprehensive first chapter that illustrates the way houses have traditionally been identified: by historical description (Queen Anne, Tudor); material (Shingle, Craftsman); shape (Salt Box, Ranch); and architectural (Wrightian, Miesian), Eck then introduces a new, fuller language for exteriors that goes beyond and behind these to explore the basic concepts of good exterior design: scale and massing, symmetry and asymmetry, and transparency andopaqueness. These concepts are then further refined and expressed by the shaping of features and details such as roof, doors, windows, siding, and the use of color and textures through a highly a visual tour of 23 houses vividly illustrating how these concepts are applied to give a home its unique style and personality Throughout the book, Eck shows us the close relationship between interior and exterior design and how they impact one another.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1561587710
• ISBN13: 9781561587711
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Taunton Press
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 2.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 9.2" x 10.9"

Customer Reviews

Great houses, great ideas, OK writing

First, I should say that Jeremiah Eck is my favorite architect. If I ever build a house (which is hard, because I live in Boston where there are essentially no lots), I'll probably use him as an architect. So I should love this book, and I mostly do. Ideally, I'd like an architecture book to: 1) have lots of great pictures and floor plans of wonderful houses 2) have interesting ideas to convey 3) have good prose to read I'd say this book scores very well on the first two points, and less so on the third. The photography is excellent, with lots of great houses. Mr. Eck is trying to convey some important ideas about the exterior of a house. Ideally, he things the exterior of a house should have a style that follows from other elements of the design, rather than being superficial decoration. So on the strength of those reasons alone, you should buy it. But for some reason I find his prose hard going. I can't quite put my finger on what bothers me, but it doesn't pull you forward. I found this to be true of his first book, "The Distinctive Home" as well. I'm very pleased I read it anyway.