House for a Guaranteed Cost 
A Reputable Building Firm has Guaranteed to Build This House under Normal Conditions for 
Fifty-four Hundred Dollars within Sixty Miles of New York City 
Ree P TO the present it has been the custom to 
=A Me print illustrations of houses without giving 
the cost, or, at most, giving an approximate 
price. On taking this subject up with 
various building contractors, it was found 
that in no case has a house been built at 
“ anywhere near the cost given with the illus- 
tration. The trouble is due principally to one of three causes: 
First, the house was built several years before, and all 
know that labor and materials are continually advancing, 
and a house built three or more years ago would cost perhaps 
twenty per cent. more to-day. 
Secondly, many architects figure roughly at so much per 
square foot, others per cubic foot, forgetting that the same 
square or cubic area may be finished in pine with no orna- 
mental trim, or in mahogany with carved beam ceilings and 
heavy wainscoting—the cubic prices would, of course, vary 
considerably. 
Thirdly, it will be noted that nearly all of the illustrated 
books of houses with estimated prices originate in Western 
cities, and it would cost usually one hundred per cent.more to 
build the same house in the vicinity of the city of New York. 
This state of affairs has discouraged many intending house- 
seekers, and we now propose to do what we have never seen 
before, that is, to illustrate and describe an artistic dwelling, 
giving a definite figure at which a reputable firm of builders 
have guaranteed to build this dwelling absolutely complete 
and with no extras whatever, except lighting fixtures, which 
are never included in a building contract. 
It will be seen at a glance that the house has been carefully 
studied, both for comfort and homelike effects. At the very 
entrance the front door, by its unique design, gives promise 
of an attractive interior. 
The porch is roomy, and floored with red tiles, giving a 
warm, substantial aspect the moment you set foot on it. 
The dining-room is entered also through a casement open- 
ing, which can be tastefully hung with draperies, and around 
the walls is a heavy paneled wainscoting, six feet high, with 
a wide plate-shelf running all around. Four crossed beams 
in the ceiling add to the inviting appearance of the room. 
At the back, under two criss-cross casement windows, is a 
combination dresser and china closet built into the wall—a 
handsome ornament in itself, and completing the stamp of 
coziness, which is the greatest charm of a dining-room. 
The butler’s pantry is ample, and thoroughly equipped 
with cupboards. ‘The kitchen has every modern convenience, 
the range is of the best make, an enameled iron sink, soap- 
stone wash-tubs, and tile hearth; the careful alignment of the 
galvanized iron pipes completing the symmetry of the room 
‘‘where woman’s work is never done.” It will be noticed that 
even the ice-box has been allotted a place where it can stand 
away from the heat of the kitchen, and the maid’s comfort 
has been consulted to the extent of a small porch which she 
can enjoy all to herself. 
Upstairs are four good-sized bedrooms, with plenty of 
closet room, and the bathroom is finished in white enamel 
and nickelplated pipes throughout. 
The attic is entered through a scuttle, and has ample room 
to store all the trunks and other articles innumerable that 
are only wanted at long intervals. 
The floors are of narrow boards of comb-grained North 
Carolina pine, and finished in wax, so as to fit them for rugs 
if desired. 
Chestnut is a wood with a beautiful grain, which can be 
tinted in many attractive ways and colors, and for that rea- 
son it has been selected for the entrance-hall, stairs, living- 
room and dining-room, the rest of the house being finished 
in fine cypress and stained any color the owner may choose. 
A good dry cellar is an absolute necessity, and this one is 
well floored with concrete to give an even, dry surface. The 
coal-bin is placed near the steam-heater, and the house is 
supplied with a steam-heating apparatus capable of heating 
every room to seventy degrees in zero weather. 
Even the doors of the rooms have been carefully worked 
out, and are just ‘‘different” from what is commonly found 
in homes. The upper panel is divided into small square 
openings filled with beautifully colored hammered glass, and 
when the room doors are closed, the effect from the hall, as 
you reach the second floor, is a pleasant surprise. 
Now as to the outer walls of the house, and those are its 
most important features. Instead of wood framing, the 
walls are made of terra-cotta hollow tile, and the exterior 
covered with cement stucco. These hollow tiles are new, and 
yet they are old. They are new in that they have now been 
The elevations: 
Front and side 
