Building a Low Impact Roundhouse, 4th Edition

This book tells about the author's lifetime adventure in building, living in and maintaining a thatched roof cordwood/cob roundhouse. Although his house bears superficial resemblance to reconstructed neolithic homes it is very different in both design and use of materials. One of the basic differences is the aesthetically pleasing "Navajo style 'whirling logs'" roofing. This style roof support resembles some Tibetan yurt roof designs but uses more massive logs.The only thing lacking, which I presume he'll get to when the late 1990s termite invasion from Devon finally gets to his town, is what to do about these little wood-eating critters. This single omission in a world where governments have banned effective persistent insecticide ground treatments makes it imprudent for readers living in termite zones to follow his designs.On the other hand, readers who live at high altitudes or north of the termite zones would find a project such as this home to be both rewarding and challenging. More southern readers could conceivably modify the designs using solid foundations and available wood treatment methods to get something which looks pretty good but wouldn't have the intrinsic strength of a design with posts implanted in holes.I really like both the content and writing style of this book. I'd read a previous edition some years ago and I see that both have improved in this fourth edition.

Book was as described and delivered promptly. Will definitely order from here again.

I got this for my son who is getting ready to build his own cob house. I didn't read it, so I really don't know how good it is. I think he likes the other book, "The Hand Sculpted House" I got at the same time better, but he took both with him to start building.

Wrench gives an engaging, personable discussion of the building of a wonderful traditional roundhouse with mostly modest resources in moist and thoroughly wooded rural Britain. His design uses a traditional roof with wooden beams that would use quite a bit of wood and a fair amount of expertise. In their proper places, such have been the best of human habitation for at least several thousand years.

Fun book, not overpriced, how to and more importantly how not to build a sturdy then compostable building.

Read cover to cover the first night, I think. Very interesting. Loved it!

This particular book is more of the story of Tony Wrench's build, the philosophy behind it & the obstacles (planning permission mostly) overcome to keep it. I thoroughly enjoy his writing style, he approaches it from the exact angle I believe most people attempting something similar will resonate with- relaxed, untechnical, speaking frankly in layman's terms & always encouraging the reader to have a go. If your keen on following a similar design I would say go for his second book which is intended as a manual but this is worth having as the two together give a greater picture of what it might be like building & importantly living in this kind of structure as its not just a home but a lifestyle.

The book's main qualities are:1) the laid-back attitude that underpins the whole project.2) the heating and solar panels technical ideas.3) the reminder that after all this, the crucial block to realising such a project for oneself is the PLANNING PERMISSION... a proper nightmare.The book is getting a bit expensive but still worth the money if you are prepared to accept that your dream roundhouse will not happen but the that the book is a good enough compensation.

A highly informative guide to building your own hobbit house. Planning might be a problem for most people, but from a low tech post apocalyptic low impact minimal resource perspective, this stuff works.

Great book, very interesting and well written. A must for Eco builders.An inspiring man (couple) who built their dream and stuck to their beliefs. GL

Concise little book, Ive been inside the structure its amazing and Tony has taught me to build a roundhouse with Shift Bristol, amazing tutor and around great guy.