"Not So Big®" puts the emphasis on quality rather than quantity and is designed to fit the way we really live today. It's a message that's being embraced now more than ever, and it's wonderful to see so many people come to the realization that a house doesn't have to be bigger to be better."—Sarah Susanka
Award-winning architect and best selling author Sarah Susanka is the J K Rowling of home design. She has brought her practical, less-can-be-more brand of magic to the world of architectural home plans. A member
of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects and a
Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council, Sarah was born in Kent,
England and lives in North Carolina. Hailed as an innovator by Fast Company,
Newsweek, and US News and World Report, she received the Anne Morrow
Lindbergh Award from the Lindbergh Foundation for outstanding
individual achievement, and Builder Magazine honored Sarah as one of their 30 Top Innovators who have changed the face of residential construction.
"We tend to think of house design as something easy and obvious, because we have lived in houses all our lives. But for something to have both functionality and beauty, it must be molded, sculpted, tailored, and proportioned with an artist's eye. The resulting drawings are simply the means to record all that planning and communicate it to the builder."
Sarah Susanka's influential books include The Not So Big House
(Taunton, 1999), Home By Design (Taunton, 2004), The Not So Big Life:
Making Room for What Really Matters (Random House, 2007), and
Not So Big Remodeling (Taunton, 2009). She has lectured widely and
appeared on numerous television and radio programs including Oprah,
Charlie Rose, and Diane Rehm. She is showing a new generation of
homeowners, builders, and developers how to "build better not bigger."
"The Not So Big House isn't just a small house. Rather, it's a smaller
house, filled with special details and designed to accommodate the
lifestyles of its occupants."
--- Sarah Susanka
"People often ask which
they should select first –
the site or the house plan.
The answer is always the
site. You will want to make
sure that your house
design is suitable for
your site; oriented to
take advantage of views,
vegetation, and sunlight;
and tailored to the contours
of the land. An architect can
be very helpful in assessing
the appropriateness of a
design and in fitting
the house to your site."
