A Carpenter's Life as Told by Houses

Larry Haun literally wrote the book on carpentry and he is responsible for developing many of the techniques still used today in production framing of houses, and yet, as a member of the same Union he was in for decades, I barely knew of him. At first I was surprised and almost angry that he had been glossed over by the Union. He seems like an ideal person to learn about and from in my apprenticeship. Now, having read this book, I think it’s likely that Larry created that separation.

He has a lot of great videos, books, and columns discussing best practices for construction, but this book makes it clear that his passion for construction leads him in the opposite direction of the industry. He pines for smaller scale, traditionally designed structures. He loves to build homes, not houses.

This book has chapters devoted to many different types of houses, but it isn’t a technical manual. Each chapter is as much about the circumstances and inherent qualities of the region that fueled the various building styles as it is the building techniques.

At times he can be pretty heavy handed with his views on consumerism and society, but this is his book. He could leave diplomacy in the pages of Fine Homebuilding.

All in all, a good read. You don’t need more than an appreciation of homebuilding to understand the construction aspects, but the real point here is the rest of the writing. His views shared from a life lived watching the homes he built bloat and the industry and world became more wasteful. All the while keeping his own home humble, compact, and loving. I am always at risk of dropping out of society and relocating to the mountains to build an off grid cabin, and this book gives me that itch. And a few new building styles to consider.