Sarah Hills Susanka

Background

Sarah Hills Susanka was born on March 21, 1957 in Bromley, United Kingdom. She is the daughter of Brian Hills, an industrial designer, and Margaret (Hampson) Hills, a ballet teacher.

Education

Sarah Susanka holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon and a Master of Arts from the University of Minnesota.

Career

After graduating from the University of Oregon, Susanka worked for several architecture firms. She was a founding partner of the Minneapolis-based residential architecture firm, Mulfinger, Susanka, Mahady & Partners (now SALA Architects) before becoming a full-time writer. She appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, the Charlie Rose Show, and NPR's Diane Rehm Show. She is regularly called upon for her insights as a social commentator and trend-spotter by USA Today, The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times; magazines such as Newsweek, Better Homes & Gardens, Reader’s Digest and AARP. In 2014, Sarah was invited by The Wall Street Journal to write an essay on "The Future of Home." It appeared in the 125th Anniversary edition of the newspaper among essays from other thought leaders including Bill Ford and Mark Zuckerberg.

Nowadays Sarah is a registered architect and certified interior designer as well as a Senior Fellow of the Design Futures Council.

Achievements

• Sarah Hills Susanka has been listed as a notable architect by Marquis Who's Who. Susanka was named one of 18 innovators in American culture in 1998. In 2004 Builder Magazine ranked her as No. 14 out of 50 Power Brokers. She has also appeared on the Environmental Power List in Organic Style magazine. In 2007, Sarah received the Anne Morrow Lindbergh Award.
  
  Fast Company named Sarah to their list of "Fast 50" innovators whose achievements have helped to change society. Newsweek magazine selected her as a "top newsmaker," and U.S. News and World Report dubbed her an "innovator in American culture."

Works

More photos

• book

  • Not So Big Solutions for Your Home

    (Sarah Susanka's Not So Big Solutions for Your Home explor...)

    2002
  • More Not So Big Solutions for Your Home

    (More Not So Big Solutions for Your Home is a collection o...)

    2002
  • Home by Design

    (In Home by Design, Sarah Susanka presents the 30 key desi...)

    2004
  • The Not So Big Remodeling

    (More big ideas from Sarah Susanka including hundreds of '...)

    2009
  • The Not So Big House 1998
  • Creating the Not So Big House 2000
  • Inside the Not So Big House 2005
  • The Not So Big Life 2007
  • Outside the Not So Big House 2006
  • Inside and Outside the Not So Big House 2006

Views

Susanka's main philosophy is quality over quantity. It is described in her first book, The Not So Big House and in seven of her following books. She also focuses on the quality of time and life experience.

Membership

Sarah Susanka is a member of the American Institute of Architects and the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects.

Interests

• Writers

  Rumi

Connections

Sarah Susanka married Lawrence A. Susanka on July 4, 1980. They divorced four years later. In 1988 she married James Robert Larson. The marriage ended in 2000. On May 7, 2001 Sarah married her third husband Alfred B. Urzi.

Father:

Brian Hills

Mother:

Margaret (Hampson) Hills

Spouse:

Alfred B. Urzi

ex-spouse:

Lawrence A. Susanka

ex-spouse:

James Robert Larson