BUILDING NEW HOUSES 61 



Brick Houses. 



Even if brick were available at a more moderate cost, 

 and labor was reasonable in price, this material seems 

 out of place in the country and has little to recom- 

 mend it above wood (Fig. 12). 



Stone Houses. 



A stone house (Fig. 14) is more in keeping with country 

 surroundings but is also open to the objection that the 

 cost of labor first in getting out the stone, and then in 

 building, makes it almost prohibitive to those of ordi- 

 nary means. A brick house may be made with a hollow 

 wall, but a house of ordinary stone must be made solid, 

 and additional furring and lining inside must be used to 

 keep it dry and warm. Rustic stone is largely used in 

 the construction of the foundations and first story of 

 dwellings and is in keeping with the natural country 

 surroundings; but this is open to the objection that the 

 walls must be made thick and a frame or furring be put 

 inside to keep the house dry and warm. With the in- 

 creased cost in building material persons of ordinary 

 means are looking for something cheaper than stone, 

 brick, or wood, and as a large percentage of the cost of 

 building is the labor, some system is needed by which 

 material of low cost may be put together by the owner or 

 by ordinary labor. This problem seems to be in a fair 

 way of being solved by 



Cement or Concrete Buildings. 



A material that is now attracting much attention for 

 buildings of moderate cost, is Portland cement and 

 sand. This material is found in many sections of the 

 country. It is sold at a very reasonable price and if 

 trusts are not allowed to obtain a monopoly of the 



