i5°4 



The Cornell Reading-Courses 



Outside entrance doors should be sheltered by a hood on brackets, 

 by a portico, or by a porch. It is usually desirable to separate the living- 

 porch from the main entrance. Here, if anywhere, a little genuine design 

 should be afforded. A portal is an intimate feature and should express 

 dignity, hospitality, and beauty to all who enter. A natural-finish oak 

 door with plate glass panel can hardly be considered appropriate for a 



decorative doorway, because it is out 

 of keeping, both in material and color, 

 with the remainder of the exterior. 



THE COST OF BUILDING 



The more experience a person has 

 had with building operations, the less 

 willing is he to make definite state- 

 ments on the subject of cost. The 

 actual cost of building a given house 

 is determined largely by local condi- 

 tions. The cost of labor, the cost of 

 materials used, the distance of the 

 new building from the base of supplies, 

 and the amount of hauling involved, 

 are items that vary with every job. 

 Thus no fixed price may be quoted 

 as to the cost of a given building, any 

 more than a fixed price may be 

 quoted for eggs per dozen, the year 

 round and in all localities. The 

 reading public should therefore place 

 no faith in the building figures quoted 

 in popular magazines. They are mis- 

 leading in the extreme; for they 

 usually represent either a set of con- 

 ditions which have not been fully told or which are so unusual that they 

 may not be duplicated. In general it may safely be said that a 

 modest house of usual construction may be built for considerably less 

 money by rural labor than by city labor. 



One way of estimating the probable cost of a new house is to compare 

 it with another dwelling recently built in the locality. If the size and 

 cost of the house already built are known, one may compute the average 

 cost per cubic foot by dividing the total cost by the number of cubic 

 feet that the house contains. If the house that is planned is to be of 

 better grade than the one that was figured on, it will cost more per cubic 



Fig. 74. — A hooded entrance, beneath 

 which is an uncovered porch with built- 

 in seats 



