Have you ever dreamed of building or at least living in a beautiful stone house? For more than five years Stonefield Publishing's Stone House: A Guide to Self-Building with Slipforms has been the prime source for information on a unique method of stone masonry that affords everyone, regardless of their level of building experience, the opportunity to create walls and even homes of stone. "The technique has been around for a long time," says author Tomm Stanley, "but it's not that well known. Add to that the mystique that surrounds the traditional craft of stonemasonry and there's no wonder that stone houses are not all that common, even in areas where stone is abundant". The book has now been revised and is being re-released with two new chapters, digital enhancement to the original images and new photographs. Stonefield Publishing's Marketing Manager Brad Andersen notes, "We've received a lot of great feedback from readers over the years but one consistent issue was the image quality. We took those comments to heart and with technology that wasn't available to us back in 2003 have just brought the photos to life". Tomm says that writing the new chapters and preparing the revised edition for print allowed him to finally complete his original vision of the book. "One of the new chapters, called Reflections, could only have been written after the passage of time. It's about looking back and thinking about what could have been done differently, what worked very well and also speculating on potential targets for future alteration. It really finished the story for me and makes it more complete for readers." Stone House focuses on the story of Tomm Stanley's own experience of building his house with the slipform method. This book is certainly not your average "how-to" offering; it is more like a tapestry of information and entertainment interwoven with technical advice, diagrams and pictures, tales of the owner builder experience and as the title implies, plenty of guidance on how to build your own stone house using the slipform method of construction. It makes great reading for those that are on the way to becoming self-builders as well as the rest of us that dream of such adventures.

Stone Houses is a unique presentation of a beloved building tradition in one of the most charming and historically significant regions in the nation.

The book tells the story of the Doe family, who live in a crowded city apartment. The family decides to build a house in the country, although everyone around them says it can't be done. How a house is built is explained through the family's joint effort in construction.

“Wonderful . . . One of the finest memoirs I’ve read.” — Philip Caputo, Washington Post In the summer of 2006, racing through Lebanon to report on the Israeli invasion, Anthony Shadid found himself in his family’s ancestral hometown of Marjayoun. There, he discovered his great-grandfather’s once magnificent estate in near ruins, devastated by war. One year later, Shadid returned to Marjayoun, not to chronicle the violence, but to rebuild in its wake. So begins the story of a battle-scarred home and a journalist’s wounded spirit, and of how reconstructing the one came to fortify the other. In this bittersweet and resonant memoir, Shadid creates a mosaic of past and present, tracing the house’s renewal alongside the history of his family’s flight from Lebanon and resettlement in America around the turn of the twentieth century. In the process, he memorializes a lost world and provides profound insights into a shifting Middle East. This paperback edition includes an afterword by the journalist Nada Bakri, Anthony Shadid’s wife, reflecting on his legacy. “A poignant dedication to family, to home, and to history . . . Breathtaking.” — San Francisco Chronicle “Entertaining, informative, and deeply moving . . . House of Stone will stand a long time, for those fortunate enough to read it.” — Telegraph (London)

Jefferson County, New York, has one of the richest concentrations of stone houses in America. As many as 500 stone houses, churches, and commercial buildings were built there before 1860. Some of the buildings are beautiful mansions built by early entrepreneurs; others are small vernacular farmhouses. Some are clustered together; others dot the countryside near stone outcroppings. Embedded in the fabric of each building are the stories of its location, its maker, and its inhabitants over time. Lavishly illustrated with almost 300 photographs, this volume highlights eighty-five stone houses in the region. The editors explore both the beauty and permanence of the stonework and the courage and ambition of the early dwellers. They detail the ways in which skilled masons utilized local limestone and sandstone, crafting double-faced stone walls to protect against fire and harsh winters. The book includes discussions of the geology of the region, the stone buildings that have been lost, and the preservation and care of existing structures. Stone Houses of Jefferson County provides a fascinating look at the intrinsic beauty of these buildings and the historical links they provide to our early settlement.

Essential Colonial Revival–style stone houses in bucolic settings—on hillsides, beside streams—and their inviting interiors, by the architect who popularized the beloved form. Stone Houses showcases a beloved kind of home that many of us aspire to own and live in—a place of warmth and security, of charm and romance. The stone house speaks to a very basic dream of stability and comfort, and the houses featured here represent the epitome of this dream. Built in traditional styles with artful construction and considered design between 1904 and 1943, these gems display the hallmarks we associate with the stone house, here polished and beautifully presented: deep fireplaces, thick beamed ceilings, wide plank floors, and country kitchens. Focusing on the work of the eminent architect R. Brognard Okie, who is credited with having greatly contributed to a popular appreciation and understanding of early American domestic architecture and who has had a lasting impact on American residential design, this book will both enchant the reader and serve as an unprecedented resource.

Creating a New life of Healing on Jeju Island Jeju's magic brings both blessings and curses. Its volcanic topography is beautiful, but left the island with a harsh environment; hidden underneath the peaceful fishing villages lie the scars of Korea's painful modern history. Around 25 years ago, after the passing of her young son Tommy, Brenda Paik Sunoo struck out on a journey in search of harbors for the heart. Of all the different places she visited, it was this island that drew her in, and she decided to build a home there. Stone House on Jeju Island is a record of building and moving into a home in a foreign land, and an adventure yarn about tackling a new life in one's twilight years. Within a Tiny Stone Cottage, a Philosophy of Nature, Culture, and Life Brenda and her husband Jan struggle to renovate a traditional stone cottage on an island where they did not speak the language. As culture clashes and natural disasters ensued, what was supposed to be a five-month building period turned into a year and a half before the two finally had their hideaway reflecting their philosophy of life in everything from its materials to its design. Daily life in Jeju is quite different from New Jersey or California. Residents can eat vegetables grown by their neighbors and leave their doors open without fear standing on their own two feet every step of the way. They learn to deal calmly with the odd natural disaster, sharing indescribable warmth and soothing their suffering with their neighbors. At Seventy, Still Dreaming of a New Life Brenda Paik Sunoo turned 70 this year. When asked by one of the construction participants why she was building a home in a foreign land at her age, she replied, Why not? Stone House on Jeju Island is a book for people who are not afraid of challenges as they grow older people seeking to live their lives without losing their sense of purpose and direction. Passing through the seasons twice over in her newly built stone house, she continues awakening to nature's cycles of growth and perishing and to an attitude of hope and affirmation.