Dwelling in Possibility: Searching for the Soul of Shelter

The mystery that attracts Howard Mansfield's attention is that some houses have lifeare home, are dwellings, and others aren't. Dwelling, he says, is an old-fashioned word that we've misplaced.When we live heart and soul, we dwell. When we belong to a place, we dwell. Possession, they say, is nine-tenths of the law, but it is also what too many houses and towns lack. We are not possessed by our home places. This lost quality of dwellingthe soul of buildingshaunts most of our houses and our landscape.Dwelling in Possibility is a search for the ordinary qualities that make some houses a home, and some public places welcoming.Table of ContentsIntroduction: House HuntingDwelling in the OrdinaryPages From an Ice Storm JournalThe Age of ClutterFinding Heaven in the Most Hated House on the BlockThe Perilous Career of a FootpathDwelling in Destruction The Hut on FireKeep the Home Fires BurningThe Storm After The StormDwelling in PossibilityCounting HousesShedsThe Beginner's Book of DwellingBibliographyAcknowledgments