170 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
April, 1909 
OS A MRE a i iw ite Raila? a ii 
38—The house of Mr. Henry Fenn, Upper Montclair, is a pleasing and restrained treatment in half-timber work 
coat is one measure of cement and three of sand; one to four 
or five would do. 
“In mixing use a clean platform of boards, the barn floor, 
or a large box. Put the sand and cement together dry, and 
turn repeatedly with a shovel to thoroughly mix; make a 
hollow in the pile, pour in water, and continue to turn and 
mix with a shovel until an even mortar is made that will 
spread nicely under the trowel. It is a very easy and simple 
process, requiring no previous experience, and the amateur 
may feel entire confidence in the results if a reasonably good 
cement is used. “Trowel on the second coat as soon as con- 
venient, making it a little richer in cement than the scratch 
coat. Use, say, one measure of cement to two of sand. By 
all means avoid trying to make this last named coat ‘‘nice 
and smooth.”’ Let it be rough and irregular, for the worse 
le 1G ide Wet tir. 
The coat of cement 
plaster when done 
is about three- 
fourths of an inch 
to one inch thick, 
and is as hard and 
enduring as stone. 
“This work was 
done late in the fall, 
so the injurious ef- 
fects of the summer 
sun and rapid dry- 
ing were escaped 
without the neces- 
sity of shading. 
39—The first floor plan shows the studio at the rear of the house overlooking the garden 
“Take nouce that this abandoned building, which would 
not have sold for one hundred dollars, was converted into a 
good looking house (Fig. 26) for a sum of one hundred and 
seventy-three dollars, a house that could not have been built 
anew for one thousand five hundred dollars, as estimated 
by local carpenters. [he house has a good cement cellar, 
a large porch with floor and roof of cement, three large 
rooms downstairs, and two upstairs. [he items more in 
detail are as follows: 
‘“‘All material for the cellar, including walls, cast extra 
thick, floor and steps, cost forty-six dollars. 
‘‘All material for the body of the house, including nails, 
wire lath, cement and sand, cost eighty-two dollars. 
‘“‘All material for the porch, which extends part way 
around two sides of the house, including an extra heavy 
cement floor a foot 
thick, cost forty-five 
dollars. The total 
cost of materials 
was but one hun- 
dred and_ seventy- 
three dollars, which 
sum, it must be 
understood, does 
not include labor. 
All the work was 
that of “self-help,” 
just as would be the 
case on a farm. 
“Two or three 
old buildings which 
