Review of The Virgin Homeowner: The Essential Guide to Owning, Maintaining, and Surviving Your Home (Paperback)

This book is not a how-to fixit book, and thank goodness. I'd read a dozen of those and I still didn't understand how my furnace (or anything else) works. Then I read Papalos' book and finally I understand. My house is no longer a scary mystery to me. I came across this book after I had already been in my first house for a number of years. I don't know if I would have bought a different house had I been armed with the knowledge from this book, but I surely would have handled my new ownership differently.

One of the best aspects of this book is its conversational, humorous style. As a virgin homeowner I repeatedly felt embarrassed or frustrated because I couldn't speak knowledgably to repairmen or home improvement store people. Papalos has been there, too, I think, and her humor encouraged me that I "wasn't alone." Finding myself chuckling as I read about plumbing traps and sacrificial anodes was certainly refreshing.

The descriptions are straightforward in ordinary language, and the terms and jargons are demystified. Since some house systems vary with geography and house age, Papalos did her research and addressed all the systems (forced air, gas, electric, oil, heat pump, *and* baseboard heat, for example). I disagree with another reviewer that this book applies only to a northeastern homeowner; I thought it was quite thorough in addressing the variations.

I also like her "systems" approach to explaining the house (plumbing, electrical, heating and cooling, etc.) and how she addresses issues beyond physical construction of the house, such as pest control (termite picnics). She alerts the reader about some important maintenance tasks, though there is more of this kind of information for some topics than others. This isn't a home maintenance how-to book, though, so this is a very minor criticism.

I bought copies of this book for each of my three new homeowning siblings. I hope it helps them come to appreciate their houses the way I have mine.



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Review of Home: A Short History of an Idea (Paperback)

This book is an exploration into the meaning of the word "comfort" and its place in the home.Rybczynski begins the volume with an examination of the Sixteenth Century painting by Durer "Saint Jerome in His Study".He describes each of the objects and furnishings visible in the paining in turn, noting that they are not particularly conducive to comfort or reflective of individuality.Rybczynski goes on to describe how this painting may be representative of the era in which it was painted, how houses at the time had many occupants and were spaces where people lived communally, but not necessarily as a family in the present sense of the term.He argues that in the Sixteenth Century, the nuclear family as a residential unit was non-existent, since children were sent away to live and work with others at a young age, and households always included many unrelated servants or apprentices.It was only later, as the concept of the nuclear family became more established that the need for privacy came to the fore, and private and public spaces began to be differentiated within the house.Later developments in technology, especially plumbing, ventilation, and lighting also came to influence housing design.One of the themes of the book is how the field of interior design has often been faced with the conflict between what looks good and what feels good.Rybcynski stresses that often the style of a design wins out, leaving the residents with the very least in comfort (to the point of having to carry their toothbrushes to and from the bathroom for lack of proper storage there, for instance).

Some of Rybcynski's discussion is quite interesting, particularly that concerning the influences French, Dutch, and British cultures have had on the development of houses and homes over the centuries, especially in North America.It would have been interesting to consider some of the influences of other world cultures on housing styles as well.For example, certainly Spanish and Arabic cultures have had a strong impact on house design and interiors of North American homes.However, considering such topics for the sake of completeness might have taken the book too far afield.In order to explore the concept of comfort with respect to design, Rybcynski has selected only a few examples of cultures and designers to explicate his points.

The book is academic in style, although quite accessible and engaging for the general reader.Sources are listed in the extensive endnotes, and there is an index.



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