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up+dn House Page & Plans for Johnsen Schmaling's House ONE Now on Hometta.com

up+dn is 1,300 sq.ft. 3 bedrooms, and 2 bathsThe house page for up+dn by Brett Zamore is now live on Hometta.com, with plans to be available for sale soon. A marvel of stylish efficiency and affordability, it's an accessible, modern family home from one of Hometta's most beloved designers. Go see.

House one, a 2/2.5, two-story, 1,833 square-foot beautyAlso new on Hometta.com today, plans for Johnsen Schmaling's striking House ONE are now available for sale. Fore more of the latest on Johnsen Schmaling, see this feature on their OS House, which Metropolis Magazine has dubbed the Ant-McMansion for its seamless integration to its historic Racine, Wisconsin neighborhood.

Become a Hometta member today for online access to the full House ONE plans, as well as five guest logins for your builder and other construction professionals to view the plans for bidding and other planning purposes.

The 10 Worst Things About Suburban Sprawl

An piece from Joshua Smith's Suburbs of the Emerald CityThis new piece from Jeff Speck (co-author of the influential book Suburban Nation) has been floating all around the internets this week. Key section:

Over a decade ago, when we started writing our book, "Suburban Nation," we had no idea how quickly the conversation was about to change. The New Urban critique of sprawl, initiated by my co-authors in the late seventies, was at first an aesthetic discussion -- by God, this stuff is ugly....But now, a preference has become a mandate, as sprawl has quietly been identified as a central cause behind a growing list of mounting national crises including foreign oil dependency, climate change, and the obesity epidemic. With economists, environmentalists, and epidemiologists all bemoaning suburbia, it is a good time to step back and remind ourselves what we're still up against.

Somber, true, useful reminders. But my favorite line was his critique of the ubiquitous, garage-fronted "snout house:" 

"Nothing says 'suburban anomie' quite like the dull stare of the American wide-mouthed garage-house."

For more on this topic, view our audio slideshow in which artist Joshua Smith discusses sprawl and his installation piece Suburbs of the Emerald City.

Brett Zamore's Original Shot-Trot

Image courtesy of Brett Zamore Design

Brett Zamore's house and Hometta, Etc. plans have consistently been among the most popular Hometta has offered, for their stylish updating of traditional forms, as well as their efficient and affordable design. Numerous iterations of his Kit House system have been built, but tomorrow you'll have the opportunity to visit his widely celebrated, first-ever Kit House, the Shot-Trot, as part of the Eastwood Civic Association Historic Home Tour.

The Shot-Trot was also featured in Karrie Jacobs' book, The Perfect 100,000 House. Buy it at the Hometta Reading Room!

View plans for the Shot-Trot at Hometta.com.

TEDxHouston Talk by Mark Stuart Johnson

Hometta was honored when our founder, Mark Stuart Johnson, was invited to give his thoughts on housing at TEDxHouston earlier this summer. Now, his talk is online: