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House Lessons  By  cover art

House Lessons

By: Erica Bauermeister
Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
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Publisher's summary

Have you ever fallen in love against all odds? Discover what happens when a house has its own lessons to teach in this moving and insightful memoir that ultimately shows us how to make our homes (and lives) better.

In this mesmerizing memoir-in-essays, New York Times best-selling author Erica Bauermeister renovates a trash-filled house in eccentric Port Townsend, Washington, and in the process takes listeners on a journey to discover the ways our spaces subliminally affect us.

A personal, accessible, and literary exploration of the psychology of architecture, this book is designed for homeowners, remodelers, and those who are simply curious about how our built environments shape who we become.

©2020 Erica Bauermeister (P)2020 Tantor

What listeners say about House Lessons

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Wonderful book for anyone home shopping

This one particularly hit home as we have been looking for a new place and everything Bauermeister talks about really felt relevant to where we are at in our lives. The only odd thing is around the ending with a sudden time jump in years. Plus the number of direct references to other authors does get a bit too tedious after a while. Otherwise. I loved the evolution of this story and all the detail.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Didn’t love the narrator

The narrator can make or break a book for me and I don’t love this one. She really makes a book that borders on the author sounding hoity toity, into annoyingly so. She makes the author’s references to other works sound like a high schooler giving a book report. I feel like if I had read the physical copy that part would not have bothered me so much. There are good lessons weaved in and things come full circle which I love.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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These are house-and life- lessons for us all

This beautiful memoire is so much more than the renovation of an old house, but the impact that process has on the people involved. Beautifully written, and beautifully performed, I was charmed by this book, wanting to visit this home and befriend the author and her family. It made me look around at my own home and see it with renewed eyes. I loved the audio version so much, I also had to purchase the hard copy.

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2 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Growth of a Family/Houses/ into a Home

love this true story of the author's family and how they grew in Old World and New, landing in Seattle. Discovering Gutsy house in Port Townsend and reworking it together into their Heaven on Earth Family Home. I want to someday see this wondrous place.
I already fee! as if I am an old friend!

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From beginning to end…Perfection

One of my absolute favorite books now. Every book of Bauermeister has been my fave but this one was a beautiful example of a life well made and the care and time it truly takes to make a good life…and home.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Retrospective Look at Renovation and Marrage

I loved the way the author weaved her personal struggles with marriage, motherhood, self identity with the likeness of renovating a home. I really enjoyed the richness of her storytelling!!

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Documenting life stages through house stages

I really enjoyed this book. I don’t write many reviews but wanted to take the time for this one. What an engaging story about family relationships and house design. I didn’t immediately connect the two but the book flowed for me. I highly recommend.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Poignant

More than just musings about renovations, leaving spaces we love and memories these places hold , we see renovating and moving as rights of passage and that home is not really a place but the people we do life with

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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disappointed

i love Erika's books so much but was totally disappointed with this one. no real story here. just a recall of her own journey but told rather blandly without much character interaction. don't waste your creditt on this one!!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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A beautiful memoir

I learned so much about the Pacific Northwest as well as home improvement processes. Well written.

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