Has today's economy made you put off your dreams of a new home? The new book, Prosperity Plans, published by architect Donald J. Berg, might get you dreaming again.

Berg's idea is that today's architects, builders and prospective homeowners can learn from a series of fascinating "Growing House" designs created in 1934. That was the time of the Great Depression and Dust Bowl droughts, when Americans faced economic horrors that make today's problems seem mild.

The designs, first published in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's booklet, Farmhouse Plans, show how low-cost, small houses can be planned to grow into larger, more comfortable homes, over time. The idea was to help homeowners spread the cost of construction over many years as houses were expanded in two, three or more stages.

The Growing Houses all started with attractive cottages, each with a kitchen, bath and one or two multi-purpose rooms. Carefully planned additional stages of construction added more bedrooms and more formal living spaces with very little demolition and little or no disruption of family life. Each stage created a new home that looked as good or better than the one before it.

Prosperity Plans includes a complete reprint of the original 1935 booklet with forty home plans, a new forward by Berg, and photos of the homes and the times.