Builders of the Pacific Coast - (Shelter Library of Building Books) by Lloyd Kahn (Paperback)

About the Book

A continuation of Lloyd Kahn's journeys into the creative processes of owner-built homes -- their innovative techniques, use of sustainable materials, and essential dedication to the natural elements surrounding their designs -- "Builders of the Pacific Coast" explores the aesthetics and skills of three master builders in California, Washington state, and the rugged terrain of British Columbia. The three featured craftsmen -- Lloyd House, Bruce Atkey, and Sun Ray Kelley -- combine imaginative architecture with innovative contexts: everything from unusual house-boats to sculptural dwellings made of driftwood are included. With stunning color and black-and-white photographs, as well as detailed black-and-white drawings of the homes, this collection of unique and progressive designs creates a template for a future filled with forward-thinking architecture.

Book Synopsis

Meet the DIY builders of the Pacific Coast, whose homes are practical, imaginative, and environmentally friendly.

If you're fascinated by homes and architecture or if you're seeking inspiration for your own DIY building project, then you have something in common with Lloyd Kahn. In 2004, he discovered a group of unique carpenters along the Pacific Coast of North America. Over a two-year period, he made multiple trips up the coast, shooting photographs and interviewing builders. The result of his efforts was Builders of the Pacific Coast, a spotlight on nearly 50 amazing builders and structures between San Francisco, California, and Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Every featured building is rich in culture, innovative design, and artistic creativity.

Three builders in particular are prominently featured: Lloyd House, master craftsman and designer, who created a series of unique homes on a small island; Bruno Atkey, builder of numerous houses and lodges made from hand-split cedar; and SunRay Kelley, barefoot builder tuned into nature, who designed and built wildly imaginative structures. In addition, you'll see working homesteads, sculptural buildings of driftwood, homes that are beautiful and practical, live-aboard boats, caravans, and examples of stunning architectural design--all in an incomparable full-color book with coffee-table appeal.

Inside you'll find:

• images of builders and their creations along the Pacific Coast of North America


• Stunning designs and innovative structures


• Fine craftsmanship with local materials


• Form plus function

A continuation of Lloyd's journeys into the creative processes of owner-built homes, this book explores unique techniques, use of sustainable materials, and essential dedication to natural elements. With more than 1,000 stunning photographs, as well as detailed drawings of the homes, this collection creates a template for a future filled with forward-thinking architecture.

Review Quotes

"...a lovely masterpiece"

--Kevin Kelly, author of Excellent Advice for Living

"Lloyd Kahn has likely done more to bring the work of natural builders into public consciousness than just about anyone in recent times. Countless times in recent years I have been told by owner-builders, designers, architects and pioneers of the natural building movement that one of Lloyd's books inspired their projects."

--Jack Stephens, Natural Building Network

"What a fabulously inspiring piece of art! Truly amazing!"

--Sim Van der Ryn, architect

"Wild, woodsy, whimsical. And profoundly West Coast. These are homes that bring to mind tree houses for grownups--with recognizable boughs, trunks and timbers incorporated in utterly original ways and perched as close to nature as possible."

--Katherine Dedyna, Vancouver Sun

"Seeing the beauty and harmony that graces every page of Builders of the Pacific Coast brought something immensely calming into our home and hearth, a kind of heart-opening grace and a groundedness. I am deeply grateful for that. We shall cherish this book to the end of our days."

--John Grissim, author of Pure Stoke

"Thanks to Lloyd Kahn's book, the pioneering spirit embodied in these homes nestling on the fringe of civilization is going to rebound against the Pacific and return homeward to inspire new generations of self-builders."

--Simon Fairlie, The Land Is Ours

"A wonderful collection of imagination and possibility."

--Steven Leckart, CoolTools

"...these sun-glowing, grinning craftspeople have clearly looked, selected, waited, and then placed all this twisted, left-over sea-beaten driftwood with such exquisitely precise casualness that allows these miraculous enclosures to achieve a higher state of architectural life because they never lose the original nature of their ingredients: timber, stone, grass."

--Peter Nabokov, professor at UCLA

"Kahn's three books overlap, play off one another, and diverge in a way that mirrors the varied yet coherent nature of the structures they document. Each also represents the spirit of the times."

--Jacoba Charles, Point Reyes Light

"This collection of unique and progressive designs creates a template for a future filled with forward-thinking, organic architecture."

--Kolin Lymworth, "Kolin's Book of the Week," Banyan Books

"...this is a beautiful and grand step in your further exploration that began with Shelter. It is fun, inspiring, enriching, and a joy. I would call it your masterpiece, but I know the road is still out there, the camera still works, the truck still runs, and your curiosity will push you out there again.

--George Young, George Young Books

"...a beautiful visual hymn to the creative builder"

--Jack Fulton, photographer

About the Author

Lloyd Kahn started building more than 50 years ago and has lived in a self-built home ever since. If he'd been able to buy a wonderful, old, good-feeling house, he might have never started building. But it was always cheaper to build than to buy, and by building himself, he could design what he wanted and use materials that he wanted to live with.

Lloyd set off to learn the art of building in 1960. He liked the whole process immensely. Ideally he'd have worked with a master carpenter long enough to learn the basics, but there was never time. He learned from friends and books and by blundering his way into a process that required a certain amount of competence. His perspective was that of a novice, a homeowner, rather than a pro. As he learned, he felt that he could tell others how to build--or at least get them started on the path to creating their own homes.

Through the years, he's personally gone from post and beam to geodesic domes to stud-frame construction. It's been a constant learning process, and this has led him into investigating many methods of construction. For five years in the late '60s to early '70s, he built geodesic domes. He got into book publishing by producing Domebook One in 1970 and Domebook 2 in 1971.

He gave up on domes (as homes) and published his company's namesake Shelter in 1973. Since then, Shelter Publications has produced books on a variety of subjects and returned to its roots with Home Work in 2004, The Barefoot Architect and Builders of the Pacific Coast in 2008, Tiny Homes in 2012, and more.

Building is Lloyd's favorite subject. Even in this day and age, building a house with one's own hands can save a ton of money and--if you follow it through--you can get what you want in a home.