Book shows that with a little thought, it is possible to build a one-of-a-kind house for a reasonable amount
Kim Pemberton
Sun
The book Good House Cheap House: Adventures in Creating an Extraordinary Home at an Everyday Price (Taunton Press $35) poses the question: Is it possible to get a one-of-a-kind house at an affordable price? Happily for homeowners the answer is yes. And this book tells you how.
Author Kira Obolensky, who co-authored Sarah Susanka’s national bestseller, The Not So Big House, concludes that there are three main ingredients that go into creating a good but cheap house.
They are: homeowners willing to try something new; “cutting-edge” architects and designers, and innovative uses of materials.
For instance, using sliding doors for oversized windows; infusing character into a concrete floor by using a rich-hued stain or finding a decorative mantle piece in an industrial bridge washer.
Obolensky admits she never spent much time dreaming about the “fully loaded” country estate, with its marble bathroom, gourmet-style kitchen and spa-bathrooms. Instead, her dream house would be well-designed and on budget with enough money left over in the bank to enjoy a vacation or two.
The author’s home is a study of how to spend wisely. Instead of choosing the expensive tile backsplash she opted for a slate backsplash from recycled chalkboard, instead of spending $800 on her ideal sink she found the same one, slightly used, at a local recycling centre for $50. Granite countertops were nixed in favour of Formica but the edge was finished with aluminum to give them an “old-fashioned” feeling.
And when it came to the kitchen the often-mentioned tip of using as many of the existing cabinets as possible was employed, with Obolensky then splurging on handcrafted leather drawer pulls. Her biggest individual purchase was for a skylight, which thanks to the natural light transformed her small space.
Obolensky features 27 homes in Good House Cheap House, applauding homeowners who take a similar resourceful approach to homes, sharing the best of their ideas with the readers. As she writes, anyone can build a good home on a big budget, but it is much more commendable to build an interesting and unique home on a small one.
Still, the homes featured here cost slightly more than a typical builder home,, but considerably less than a house featured in most design magazines. The cheapest house in the book was a prefabricated house at $68 US per square foot and the most expensive was $185 US per square foot. To put this in perspective, architects in B.C. generally say the minimum to build new would be about $200 Cdn per square foot.
If you are in the category of wanting to build your own home, but don’t want it to cost a million, the $35 investment in Good House Cheap House promises to be money well spent.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005