FOREWORD 



"Oh, . . . that mine adversary had written a book." 



TO that man "whose heart within him burns" to build, as well 

 as own, his own roof-tree, the following record may be of 

 interest. It is composed, with not over a dozen exceptions, of 

 features used by the author in his thirty-five years' experience 

 in country living and building, including the transformation of 

 a rough farm into a residential park at an expense aggregating 

 over one million dollars. 



An endeavor has been made to give concrete information 

 in compact, easily handled form, needed by the layman, and to lead 

 the reader from shack to mansion, through the intermediates of plat- 

 form tented camp, bungalow, ordinary country house, and elaborate 

 villa. Even many of the features used in Pinnacle, the "House Ideal," 

 can be adapted to and made serviceable in less expensive houses. 



The thousand and more original photographs include country 

 living in many of its phases, different stages of building, and emphasize 

 improvement in the year by year growth of tree and shrub. 



A treatise on the making of a real country place must be inclu- 

 sive. One member of a family may be interested in the building 

 of a bungalow, another desires an elaborate villa and a knowledge 

 of the construction of both. A third turns only to the pages that 

 treat of the two mile arboretum strip of trees, shrubs, and flowers, 

 while a fourth loves dogs, horses, and cattle, and another's realm of 

 happiness is represented by birds and butterflies. The girls' and boys' 

 Nirvana ranges from a real planned and pictured playhouse to pets 

 chipmunks and turtles; lambs and Shetlands and from tobogganing 

 and snow house building to stunts in boating and bathing, while the 

 family as a whole are interested in a safe and sane plan to gain a 

 competence. 



The question asked by many seekers after country life, "Can I 

 make my little farm pay, or what proportion of the expense will it 

 carry," is answered from experience, and a way is shown for the city 

 clerk with a comparatively modest income to become independent 

 within ten years. 



The indices of text and illustrations are intended to give a fairly 

 complete synopsis in a ten minute perusal of the subject matter of 

 "How to Make a Country Place", which includes hints on amateur 

 farming, horticulture, villa and bungalow building, and general 

 country development, as attempted by an amateur. 



It is hoped that some who have never built will be sufficiently 

 interested to join, the ranks of those Progressives to whom certain 

 solons (?) of the race quote with sardonic joy that proverb of the pessi- 

 mist, "Fools build for the wise." 



