About the Author

Lloyd Kahn started building more than 50 years ago and has lived in a self-built home ever since. If he'd been able to buy a wonderful, old, good-feeling house, he might have never started building. But it was always cheaper to build than to buy, and by building himself, he could design what he wanted and use materials that he wanted to live with.

Lloyd set off to learn the art of building in 1960. He liked the whole process immensely. Ideally he'd have worked with a master carpenter long enough to learn the basics, but there was never time. He learned from friends and books and by blundering his way into a process that required a certain amount of competence. His perspective was that of a novice, a homeowner, rather than a pro. As he learned, he felt that he could tell others how to build-or at least get them started on the path to creating their own homes.

Through the years, he's personally gone from post and beam to geodesic domes to stud-frame construction. It's been a constant learning process, and this has led him into investigating many methods of construction. For five years in the late '60s to early '70s, he built geodesic domes. He got into book publishing by producing Domebook One in 1970 and Domebook 2 in 1971.

He gave up on domes (as homes) and published his company's namesake Shelter in 1973. Since then, Shelter Publications has produced books on a variety of subjects and returned to its roots with Home Work in 2004, The Barefoot Architect and Builders of the Pacific Coast in 2008, Tiny Homes in 2012, and more.

Building is Lloyd's favorite subject. Even in this day and age, building a house with one's own hands can save a ton of money and-if you follow it through-you can get what you want in a home.

Lesley Creed (19472023) moved out of San Francisco in the early '70s, intent upon a back to-the-land lifestyle. She worked with Shelter Publications as a consulting editor, while maintaining a vegetable and flower garden and pursuing an interest in how things are made. She lived with her husband and co-author, Lloyd Kahn, in West Marin County, California, until her death in 2023.

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, Wired “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.... A memoir of sorts of this hard-won idyll, [The Half-Acre Homestead] is also a love letter to Ms. Creed, a skilled artisan and gardener whose glorious handiwork is vividly portrayed.”
—Penelope Green, The New York Times “The book is absolutely wonderful... [a] magnificent one-of-a-kind gift to us all.”
—Peter Nabokov, professor at UCLA
“The whole thing is about a harmony in life that few achieve but most desire....”
—Jack Fulton, photographer “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, former senior editor, Random House “It’s great!”
—Bill Steen, co-author of The Strawbale House “What a treasure!”
—Charlie Winton, musician/publisher “Excellent photos.”
—Drew Langsner, author of Country Woodcraft