"It is a measure of the confusion of our times that the simplest
words tease out the most complicated questions. Words like 'good'
and 'house.' What do we mean by these? A year of my life turned on
this question, a year in which I built my own house". These
thoughts launch us into Richard Manning's powerful and compelling
account of his building an environmentally conscious house on a
thirty-eight acre piece of land in the wilds of western Montana.
Concerned about our culture's disregard for the environment, and
facing his own mid-life crisis, Richard Manning decided to rebuild
what he could. First he remarried, and then, determined to adopt
fully the values of conservation, he decided to build "a life on
the land". We follow as Richard and his wife, Tracy, with the aid
of some fascinating characters - Bruce the water dowser; Banker
McKee; Trusty Dave the digger; Skinny Jim and his partner Big Jim
of the concrete crew; the lumbermen, the Finlays; the carpenters
Bruce and Mike; Karl the mason; Gallacher as gofer; the rockers
Larry, Rick, and Steve; and numerous others - conceive, finance,
and build their house. Combining lessons from the history of house
construction with contemporary technologies, the Mannings immerse
themselves, body and soul, into the project: from devising the
exact layout of the timber-framed structure and determining the
minimum amount of water they will have to draw from the arid
region, to calculating the superinsulation needed for successful
passive-solar heating and installing a composting toilet, they
strive to match beauty with efficiency, integration with
practicality. Painfully aware that his earth-sheltered dwelling
requires him to cut down trees and digup the earth, among other
destructive acts, Manning compromises when necessary but holds on
to an idea that seems antithetical to modern ways: "Less is
better". With the first warnings of winter, the months of working
around the clock begin to take their toll, and the couple near
physical and emotional exhaustion. But it is in these most trying
of times that they come to understand the real meaning of their
work and the purpose of their house. Combining the best qualities
of Edward Abbey and Tracy Kidder, Manning entertains and informs in
this affirmative book that not only points toward a new aesthetic
in house-building but also shows how we can build a better life and
help protect our endangered world.
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