The Half-Acre Homestead: 46 Years of Building and Gardening

(Paperback)

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Lloyd, the former shelter editor of the Whole Earth Catalog, has published seven books on owner building, showcasing hundreds of builders, and this is his first book on his own work.

Starting with a vacant half-acre piece of land, they built their own home, created a garden with vegetables and fruit, and describe raising chickens, bees, and goats. The book also covers cooking, foraging, fishing, crafts, birds, butterflies, and tools.

Their main theme is that this was all done by hand.

They have never paid rent nor have they ever had a mortgage.

There are over 500 photos illustrating all the above facets of their lives and clear explanations of building skylights, maintaining a septic system, building greenhouses and raised vegetable beds. There is a section on unique kitchen tools, as well as advice on useful tools used in construction.

Reviews

"I just inhaled your book, reading it cover to cover in one sitting. It's all that I hoped it would be. Now my favorite book of yours...."
-Kevin Kelly, Senior Maverick, Wired magazine; founder, Cool Tools (kk.org)

"Warning: Reading the book may lead to pulling up stakes and heading into the hills to claim your own half-acre homestead."
-Patrick Thomas, San Francisco Chronicle

"The King of D.I.Y. Dwellings -- Before cabin porn and van life were hashtags on Instagram, before tiny houses were a movement, Mr. Kahn, now 84, was the indefatigable champion of their funky, D.I.Y. antecedents. ...his new book, The Half-Acre Homestead... (is) a memoir of sorts of this hard-won idyll, it is also a love letter to Ms. Creed, a skilled artisan and gardener whose glorious handiwork is vividly portrayed."
-Penelope Green, New York Times

"The book is absolutely WONDERFUL...The language is modest and direct, the inspiration is down to earth and celestial...Gorgeous book, a ...magnificent one-of-a-kind gift to us all."
-Peter Nabokov, professor of American Indian Studies and World Arts and Cultures at UCLA

"I think it's the best book you've done since our Shelter."
-Bob Easton, designer and co-editor of Shelter, now an architect in Santa Barbara

"I just read the book cover to cover, and think it's my favorite yet!"
-Charles Post on Instagram

" The sincerity and harmony just shine through on every page. The love is baked in!"
-Elise Cannon, Publishers Group West

-"...the whole thing is about a harmony in life that few achieve but most desire..."
Jack Fulton, photographer and life-long friend of Lloyd's

"I LOVE the new book. It is beautiful and useful...You've so well captured not only how your homestead looks but also its soul and spirit."
-Charlotte Mayerson, formerly Senior Editor, Random House

"It's great!!!!
-Bill Steen, co-author of The Strawbale House

"What a treasure!"
-Charlie Winton, musician/publisher

"Love the new book."

-Deek Diedricksen, builder, author, photographer, musician, founder of Relaxshax.com

"Your place looks really great, especially with the excellent photos."
-Drew Langsner, author of Handmade: Vanishing Cultures of Europe and the Near East, and Country Woodcraft

"It is a lovely, friendly, warm, and useful book."
-Yoshio Komatsu, photographer, co-author of Built By Hand, author of Wonderful Houses Around the World

"Your new book couldn't have come at a more perfect time."
-Jay Nelson, artist/builder

"The Half-Acre Homestead has become my mainstay. I open the book to any page and immediately feel comforted.... Thank you for introducing this book to the world. The timing couldn't have been better."
-Em-J Staples

"You have published another valuable, inspiring and reassuring book that is especially appropriate given our anxious times."
-Kim Herter

"A much-needed small oasis of beauty and sanity in terrible times."
-Ryan Shepard

"I wish that I could have read something like this when I was young guy."
-Jim McGowan

"I think you and Lesley are our modern Adam & Eve put here to set us straight!!"
-Irene Engstrom Kaus

"A customer recently brought in your new book The Half-Acre Homestead; it looks amazing."
> -Jim Normandi, The Fairfax Backyard Farmer

"I don't need to tell you of the possibilities considering this virus and what a book like yours can mean to so many who are losing everything."
-Bob Kahn (Lloyd's brother)

"This is a book worthy to add to anybody's library if you're interested in some level of self sufficiency. Old pros and creative people who are in tune with their surroundings."
-Mike Woods (from comment on Instagram)

"Lloyd, my book just arrived! I LOVE IT!! So beautiful! This is your grand masterpiece! I plan to go through it very slowly and savor it. THANK YOU, THANK YOU!"
-Laura

"So inspirational!"
-Marianne McCann

"Thanks a lot for all these beautiful things you share with us. Real Inspiration."
-Josep Perez, Catalonia

"...a road map to help lead you back to your roots."
-Abrego Design

"An instruction manual"
-DS, Northern California

"The Half Acre Homestead is packed with practical tips.... During lockdown I built rough copies of two of your tables, fun...."
-Bill Choquette, New Zealand

The Handmade Life

Many folks dream of being self-sufficient on a half-acre homestead somewhere. The person I know who's come closest to that goal is Lloyd Kahn, who has evolved a do-it-yourself lifestyle near a city that really works and is not a fantasy. He's put his 46 years of building his own homes, foraging for wild foods, raising plants, traveling in a van, working from home, self-publishing, and all-around DIY into one photographic book. The Half-Acre Homestead is not how-to; it's a visual demonstration of what an integrated handmade life looks like, for real. At 85 years young, Lloyd Kahn is still doing it! He is one of my heroes. -KK
-Kevin Kelly -- Recommendo, March 15, 2020

Author Bio

Lloyd Kahn started building his own home in the early '60s and went on to publish books showing homeowners how they could build their own homes with their own hands.

He got his start in publishing by working as the shelter editor of the Whole Earth Catalog with Stewart Brand in the late '60s. He has since authored six highly-graphic books on homemade building, all of which are interrelated. The books, "The Shelter Library Of Building Books," include Shelter, Shelter II (1978), Home Work (2004), Builders of the Pacific Coast (2008), Tiny Homes (2012), and Tiny Homes on the Move (2014).

Lloyd operates from Northern California studio built of recycled lumber, set in the midst of a vegetable garden, and hooked into the world via five Mac computers.

You can check out videos (one with over 450,000 views) on Lloyd by doing a search on YouTube: http: //www.youtube.com/resultssearch_query=lloyd+kahn>

Lloyd and his wife and co-author, Lesley Creed, live in West Marin County, California.