Second Home: Find Your Place in the Fun (Better Homes and Gardens(R))

Rating:
Summary: Really fun
Review: A lot of books on this subject have a travelogue quality as they take you from place to place. This book does that. But it also has a personal quality that is unique. From cover to cover, the author stops to give information that I can use to shop for real estate or even to decorate. What I haven't seen other reviewers mention is the unique chapter (this is what I think is so much fun) that is actually feeding my daydreams with open-ended questions about where I might like to live, what kind of view I really want (and does my husband agree with that or not). That fun chapter has lots of great pictures of homes as well as second-home settings. One question asks something about where I see myself walking in my second home dreams, which is a fun thought--some possible answers, illustrated with pictures, are a golf course, a snow-covered path, a garden, and that sort of thing. It was fun to compare my answers with my husband's. The book has an interactive quality that other getaway and vacation home books do not have. I highly recommend this.

Rating:
Summary: Very appealing
Review: First, why was this book sohard to find on amazon? I only found it by accident when I searched for vacation home books. It's hard to explain the appeal of this wonderful book. It's inspiring.It's dreamy.My best friend said, "You aren't planning bo buy a second home now, are you?" I said, "No not yet. But we hope to someday." So, this is a "someday" kind of book with yummy photos of great second homes that real people own. It is a beautiful, big book. Beyond that, it's a book that gives me hope, because it includes very practical tips on everything related to second home buying, building, remodeling, and decorating. I like to dream within the world of what's really possible, and this book makes me believe that my second home dream really can come true. Someday. In the meantime, I'm doing what the book promises and getting away just by looking through the book.

Rating:
Summary: Like a little vacation
Review: Getting this book for Christmas was a blessing. Just opening it is like taking a vacation. Sumptuous photos are a delight. Practical information is included as well.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent on many levels
Review: I was glad to see this book featured in amazon's home and garden newsletter that I receive via e-mail. I had already bought the book and recommended it to others. The book is beautiful, shows homes that are both dreamy and accessible (versus out of anyone's reach), and then goes beyond those great home tours to include tips on everything from buying a site or a home to decorating and building. The book is always on my coffee table, because I often pick it up just to dream with. It's a pleasure to look at. But I'm also using the decorating ideas where we live now. My husband and I are marking pages that have informational tips we need and we're also putting sticky notes on pages that show homes, rooms, or furnishings that represent the home we plan to create.

Rating:
Summary: Lovely, dreamy, informative
Review: I was not disappointed. As a designer, I find this book stunning in its variety of home types and interior design styles. As house lover, I also get drawn into the homes and the stunning photographs of settings from coast to coast. As a West Coast resident, I admit that I did not realize that the Midwest had so much to offer. Few books cover the country as this one from Better Homes and Gardens does.The book is wonderful to look at, but it includes information anyone can use if they are shopping or dreaming about buying a second home. Very useful. As a designer, I plan to use some of the quizzes in one of the book's chapters, because they help people understand more about their goals and style and also help partners compare their reactions to homes and settings. A great book.

Rating:
Summary: Walks the line between dream homes and attainable ones
Review: I was so happy to find this book at amazon. I really really really realy really want a weekend home but I have been disappointed in books about them. I don't want to idly dream, and I don't like the way some vacation home books rub my nose in things that are way beyond my reach. This book seems to walk that line between homes I can daydream about and those that I can actually hope to have. (Wonderful homes, wonderful photography, lots of variety.) That accessibility or attainability or whatever you want to call it is emphasized by all the helpful information in the writing itself. This book is a find and the feeling I get is that the author is on my side and trying to help me create my own weekend cottage versus just showing off by writing about homes that most of us could never actually have.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful yet practical
Review: I've spent a lot of time looking at all the new decorating books for spring. I buy several decorating books every year and love, love, love them. But I am picky. I love this book which I came across by accident at the bookstore. This is not exactly a decorating book, although I plan to use it as such. It's big and gloriously crammed with color photos of "getaway" homes. The book tells how to go about finding a second home or weekend home but it also writes about decorating and remodeling and so on. Those ideas work for any home. I like nautical style, so I found a lot of that in this book. It shows variations on cabin and seashore styles in both home types and interior decorating. It's great to flip through this book, and I have trouble putting it down. That's what got me interested in it at the bookstore. I finally had to buy it because I kept finding pictures of one room after another that had ideas I wanted to use in our home. Just great. Glorious to look at and helpful also.

Rating:
Summary: For interiors (furniture) Not Interiors (space)
Review: This book is a decent resource for a person furnishing their first or second home, but it's not a good manual for creating your second home. The photograph angles capture walls, windows, and furnishings, but fail to show the quality of the living space. There are very few exterior photographs and many of them appear to be from the 3/4 angle. There are no floor plans or building details. If you're looking for interior decorating ideas, this is a decent reference. If you're looking for creative planning ideas for building your first or second home, you'll want a more comprehensive reference.

Rating:
Summary: For interiors (furniture) Not Interiors (space)
Review: This book is a decent resource for a person furnishing their first or second home, but it's not a good manual for creating your second home. The photograph angles capture walls, windows, and furnishings, but fail to show the quality of the living space. There are very few exterior photographs and many of them appear to be from the 3/4 angle. There are no floor plans or building details. If you're looking for interior decorating ideas, this is a decent reference. If you're looking for creative planning ideas for building your first or second home, you'll want a more comprehensive reference.

Rating:
Summary: If you love cottages, buy this book
Review: This is a gift we bought ourselves. Just having this beautiful book on the coffee table makes me feel that we're that much closer to our dream. Next year, we WILL have a second home. We have decided that we won't wait any longer. (Did 9/11 have something to do with that?) I came across this book, and I couldn't believe it because it was just what we wanted and needed. We love the houses and all the different locations, we're getting lots of ideas for what to look for in a location, and the book is a pleasure to look at. A wonderful package. I may even get an extra copy as a Christmas gift for friends who have talked about wanting to find a second home too.