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out old, forgo6en domiciles and lovingly restores them, salvaging a home's soul and allowing a new genera5on to enjoy it as it was meant to be enjoyed. In his book, A dedica5on to Beauty, Shakespeare documents his life's passion for restoring her- itage homes in the greater ontario area. He and his well-trained team of ar5sans painstakingly discover lost wonders and nurse them back to health. His work began with his own personal jour- ney saving an old log cabin that had been des5ned for the burn pile and he has con5nued over the course of decades rescuing an5que homes both for himself and others. the book is rife with Cabins A guide to building your own nature retreat By david & Jeanie S5les Modern, urban, and suburban life can be soul-crushingly banal. the bleat of non-stop traffic, the roar of airplanes flying overhead, masses of people everywhere you look; it can become overwhelm- ing. david and Jeanie S5les, how- ever, offer an offramp from the informa5on superhighway in their book, Cabins. the concept is sim- ple: create a sanctuary of your very own in some out-of-the-way loca5on where you can rejoin na- ture, see the stars, and exist in the silence of the moment. If that feels daun5ng, Cabins lays it all out for you in detail and does all it can to present the idea of building your very own home-away-from- home as something both desirable and a6ainable. the authors lay out the process in a series of step-by-step chap- ters. the first chapter is all about planning your cabin; finding the land, learning the intricacies of your loca5on, mee5ng the neigh- bors, checking with governmental surveys and regula5ons, research- ing access to your loca5on and so on. next comes a series of in- depth discussions of all the different types of cabins one can construct, from log cabins to post- and-beam crea5ons to stone cabins and more. Pros and cons of each are included so you can truly decide what type of construc5on is best for your needs and abili5es. Following that is a massive sec5on on the construc5on itself featuring sec5ons including the crea5on of founda5ons for your cabin, planning and building windows and doors, adding insula5on and roofing, hooking up electricity, water, plumbing, and sanitary systems and anything else you can think of (and many things you won't think of without help) that you will need to know before you begin. the book is filled with over 400 detailed photographs, illustra5ons, and designs to help you visualize your project - including mul5ple detailed floorplans to help inspire your dream. there is even an en5re chapter on how to best ou4it your cabin with furniture and accessory ideas. A%er reading Cabins, you may discover an inspira5on to do what was once unthinkable - build a cabin of your own. While the authors do not sugarcoat the amount of 5me, effort, and determi- na5on needed to succeed, they nevertheless create a wholly-inspiring case for taking the leap emo5onal, gripping tales of restora5on and unexpected dis- covery, and comes with over 300 color images of these beau5ful structures, showing the inspiring culmina5on of his work. Along the way, you get a sense for Shakespeare himself. Like his famous namesake, the man is a true ar5st dedicated to his cra% above all else. Every detail comes alive in his pages, and the stories of the owners add a personal touch that allows the reader to iden5fy with the players and expe- rience the joy all involved share when their house has been re- stored to its former glory. Shake- speare has spent his life searching out beauty in all its forms, and A dedica5on to Beauty is the natural summa5on of his search, itself a lovely work of art. HOOK 59

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