Small doesn't have to mean cramped! These books have home designs and building plans that pack a lot of living into small spaces. Some titles offer detailed construction plans, while others have beautiful color illustrations to inspire ideas for your own compact, efficient, and economical home.
1. Narrow Lot Home Plans
"250 Designs for Houses 17' to 50' Wide 7." For anyone who has big dreams but not a lot of land, a practical and stylish array of compact homes.
2. 200 Small House Plans
"Selected Designs under 2,500 Square Feet." Small but not necessarily cramped or uncomfortable designs from Home Planners Inc.3. 500 Small Houses of the Twenties
Presents 500 small-home designs of the 1920s as they appeared in a major architectural publication of 1923. Many are designed by leading domestic architects of the period. By Henry Atterbury Smith.4. A Little House of My Own
"47 Grand Designs for 47 Tiny Houses." Architecture of tiny cottages, studios, fishing huts, homes and more. Color photographs of exteriors, all under 325 square feet, technical details of building materials and woodworking techniques, and estimated costs of construction. Also, some quaint homes from history, including Jefferson's Honeymoon Cottage, Henry Thoreau's Cabin and George Bernard Shaw's Writing Hut. By Lester Walker.5. New Compact House Designs
"27 Award-Winning Plans 1,250 Square Feet or Less." These plans are the winners from the second juried contest, Compact House Design Competition, of designs up to 1250 square feet and with at least two bedrooms from North American architects, designers, and architecture students.6. Small Houses of the Twenties
"The Sears, Roebuck 1926 House Catalog." A vintage house plan collection showing interiors and fixtures in great detail. Sears Roebuck and Co.7. The New American Cottage
This slim, attractive book doesn't have detailed building plans, but you'll find inspiration from color photos of thirty small-scale residential projects, most under 2,000 square feet. By James Grayson Trulove.8. The New Cottage Home
Another attractive photo book with diagrams of small, attractive, environmentally conscious, cottagelike houses constructed in the 1990s. By Jim Tolpin.9. Creating The Not So Big House
"Insights and Ideas for the New American Home." Sarah Susanka, a LIFE Magazine Architect of the Year, shows how homes can be designed to feature "adaptable spaces" and how to create the illusion of space.10. Tiny Tiny Houses
1000 black-and-white drawings. 100 black-and-white photographs. Includes a tour of Thomas Jefferson's Honeymoon Cottage, Thoreau's cabin by Walden Pond, and George Bernard Shaw's writing hut. By Lester Walker.