216 Remarks on the Charges made by 



artist can do at home, he agrees to do them for a certain sum. This mode of 

 doing business was ultimately adopted by the late eminent Mr. Repton, though 

 he commenced, we believe, by charging by the day, at the rate of five guineas, 

 with travelling expenses in a postchaise, taking with him his valet. 



Between thirty and forty years ago, the most eminent architects, such as 

 Mr. Nash, Mr. Wyatt, &c, seldom made a professional visit in the country 

 under a hundred guineas, travelling expenses included ; while the charges of 

 these gentlemen for plans frequently amounted to several hundred pounds, 

 and, we have heard it said, occasionally to upwards of a thousand pounds. 

 Mr. Wyatt's charge, when consulted in his own house, we have heard it said, 

 was ten guineas an hour. Competition, and the increased value of money 

 since 1814, have, however, now rendered the charges of architects and land- 

 scape-gardeners much more moderate than formerly; greatly, as we think, 

 advancement of the arts which they profess, and to the benefit of the public 

 at large. 



We shall conclude this article by an extract from the Suburban Gardener, 

 and by one also from the Architectural Magazine, for the sake of showing that 

 the above opinions are not newly taken up on our part, but that we have held 

 them for seven years ; and also that they are held by others as well as 

 ourselves. 



" As we have strongly recommended professional men to be consulted 

 previously not only to building and planting, but even to purchasing a property 

 for the purpose of forming a residence, it may be useful to give some idea of 

 the charges which surveyors, architects, and landscape-gardeners make for 

 giving their advice. An opinion, or a visit, may be obtained at from one to 

 five guineas, according to the reputation of the party employed ; exclusive of 

 travelling expenses, if the artist should be required to leave his home to look 

 at the premises. If, after seeing the grounds, or the house, or both, he finds 

 it necessary to make a written report, the charge for that report would be one, 

 two, or three fees more ; that is, at the utmost, from three to fifteen guineas. 

 If plans are to be made, the charge will depend on their nature and extent ; 

 always bearing in mind that the difference in the price charged for plans is as 

 different as the price charged for single visits ; and that the general rule by 

 which the artist charges for his plans or his reports is, the time which he is 

 occupied in making them. Hence, a plan or report, from an artist whose 

 charge is five guineas a day, would cost five times as much as the same plan 

 or report from an artist who charged a guinea a day. It was formerly the 

 general custom for architects, and it is still so in a considerable degree, instead 

 of charging for their plans, to charge a per-centage on the amount of the work 

 done, as a remuneration both for the plans and for superintending their 

 execution : but this may truly be called an absurd mode of remuneration, 

 since it implies no available responsibility on the part of the architect, and it 

 makes no distinction between the skill required for the designs and working- 

 drawings of the most elaborate mansion or villa, and the merest accumulation 

 of bricks and mortar, in a manufactory or barracks; and, at the same time that 

 it overpays the architect for a palace or church, it does not pay him adequately 

 for a cottage. It used also to be the custom formerly for the architect not 

 only to receive a per-centage from his employer, but also another per-centage 

 from the builder, or the different tradesmen employed in executing the work 

 from his plans ; so that, instead of 5 per cent, the nominal remuneration 

 usually paid by the employer to the architect, he was often in the actual receipt 

 of 10 or 15 per cent. These extravagant and anomalous charges formed one 

 of the causes which have led to the establishment of large building companies, 

 who at once give designs, and carry their plans into execution, by contract; 

 not only without charging any per-centage, but at the risk of loss (which is 

 serious, they having a real capital to lose), if they should have deceived them- 

 selves in forming their estimates. The large sums paid to architects, in con- 

 sequence of the mode of remunerating them by a commission on the amount 

 of the work, form one of the grand causes which have led to the retardation of 



