A young girl narrates her family's move from the city to the country, where they have bought a piece of land and live in a trailer while they build a house from the ground up, with help from relatives and friends.

Describes the stages involved in building a house and the various people who contribute, from the architect who designs it through the contractor and the various skilled workers to the person who does the final inspection.

You don't need to depend on (or pay) a general contractor to manage your construction project. Whether you're building a new home or renovating an existing one, you can manage the job yourself. Carl Heldmann outlines how to purchase your own land, set a reasonable budget and schedule, describe your needs and vision to an architect, and hire subcontractors to do the actual building. Cut out the middleman and save as much as 25 percent on your beautiful...

"Matthew Wolpe and Kevin McElroy give you 14 complete building plans for chicken coops that range from the purely functional to the outrageously fabulous. One has a water-capturing roof; one is a great homage to mid-Modern architecture; and another has a built-in composting system. Some designs are suitable for beginning builders, and some are challenging enough for experts. Step-by-step building plans are accompanied by full-color photographs and...

Verging on adolescence, Joe finds himself more and more aggravated by his dad's attempts to control his life. Declaring freedom, Joe and his best buddy Patrick, along with an odd kid called Biaggio, escape to the woods, where they construct a house, just for them, with no parents or responsibility. There they discover that they are in control of their destinies, all alone out in the forest.