Confessions of a Country Architect - Hardcover

"From hilarious to poignant and back again, Don Metz guides the reader through a lifetime of intriguing experiences and characters, reinforcing our belief that residential architecture is often more about being a psychiatrist than designing and building. This book is a great mix of Reality TV and musings on the philosophical underpinnings of both the structure of buildings and the fabric human existence." "This retrospect on forty years of house design shows as much care in its narration as its author has applied to his superb architecture. Don Metz's latest book is remarkable for its compassion, enthusiasm, joy, pathos, appreciation of character, and, crucially, humor. Confessions of a Country Architect is a home, at once quiet and magisterial, for the reader's spirit." "Anyone who has built or renovated a house -- or who is thinking about doing it -- should read this book. Don Metz puts you in the middle of things, honestly and directly. We know the scent of the land, the feel of the construction site, and we experience the variety of emotions that appear when people set about changing raw materials into livable dreams."

Reminiscent of James Herriot's "All Creatures Great and Small", this wonderful volume captures the life of a domestic country architect with wry humour and near-slapstick pathos."Confessions of a Country Architect" will delight those who have built a house, forewarn those summoning up the courage to do so, and calm those who realize their talents might be better confined to an armchair as Metz describes learning the ABCs of working with 'a weapons-grade jackhammer', the 'precise choreographies' of a D - 8 Caterpillar, and the euphoria induced whilst performing acrobatic feats of carpentry on rickety ladders.