The Cost Involved in Building a House 
By HENRY ATTERBURY SMITH 
I N many magazines and among people generally 
there is an evident misunderstanding regard¬ 
ing the “Cost of a House.’’ In comparing one 
house with another, or one architect’s or builder’s 
work with that of another, the cost should include 
only such constant quantities as are comparable. 
A great deal of ambiguity would be avoided if, with 
the structure proper, were included the fixed cabinets 
or other closets and window seats, mantels, etc., and 
perhaps wall coverings and light fixtures; also the 
“extras” that usually occur, but not the grading, 
paths, roads and planting, sewers, or wells; also not 
insurance, or interest or legal expense or even the 
architect’s fee. The reason for this is that all these 
latter items are seldom comparable at all, sometimes 
do not occur, and again sometimes are exceedingly 
expensive, whereas, the cost of building the structure 
itself is really the principal item and the one about 
which the prospective home seeker wants to be 
informed. 
If this was more universally understood, there 
would result less disappointment to people generally 
and to their architects, and a good deal of uncer¬ 
tainty would be cleared up. 
I o illustrate this point, the cottage shown has 
been “built at a cost” not exceeding $9,000, finished 
in the fall of 1905 within Greater New York, but on 
the owner’s books the house may represent an 
“investment” of $11,000 or $12,000 without inclu¬ 
ding the land. An architect does not always have an 
opportunity, nor perhaps does he always want to 
know the total amount of an investment, for in some 
instances his knowledge might work to the detriment 
of the owner in case of selling or appraising for loans 
or taxes, etc. The cost including the total of the 
contracts let together with any changes and altera¬ 
tions is always known, and such knowledge an archi¬ 
tect is generally at liberty to impart to another con¬ 
templating building. 
A prospective home seeker having bought a lot, 
say for $1,000, and having in mind a $10,000 invest¬ 
ment, would be thoroughly disgusted if he sought 
from his' architect such a $9,000 house. Before 
ordering a house he should carefully weigh what the 
grading would cost and what roads would be 
necessary, and what interest he would have to charge 
against the house, also whether his building would 
call for any unforeseen legal complication, etc. His 
contemplated home might or might not be in easy 
access to’ a water and sewer system. Then there is 
the fee for the architect’s services. These matters 
he must consider for himself, and he can if he 
chooses get the aid of his architect’s experience, 
although such service is without the capacity of the 
architectural work proper, and if important is usu¬ 
ally compensated for separately. With these mat¬ 
ters considered approximately, he can then give 
his architect a more accurate idea of what can be 
spent on the house proper in payments to contractors. 
Ibis is what is usually known as the “Cost of a 
House. ” 
Ehis “Cost of the House” lately is constantly 
increasing and architects are striving to offset this 
to some extent by a steady improvement in economi¬ 
cal planning and designing, and by a consistent 
selection of house finishes and equipment; and so by 
getting a solution of domestic necessities in a pro¬ 
portionately smaller area, with a more economical 
arrangement the increase in cost of building material 
and labor is somewhat offset. 
The house shown in this article illustrates this 
tendency toward economy of original outlay, as 
well as in future maintenance. It is evident by a 
study of the plans, that there has been an effort to 
eliminate hall and passage space, and to throw what 
space there is into available rooms and closets. 
This has not sacrificed any desirable features, but 
has really enhanced the domestic economy by 
eliminating just so much usual waste space to operate 
and in bringing the parts closer together. An 
examination of the exterior shows the evident econ¬ 
omy in maintenance, there being no roof balustrades 
or other encumbrances to hold snow, no flat decks 
to rust, no unnecessary ornament to be repaired; 
but the exterior shows a straightforward, simple 
solution of the problem in hand, and calls for as 
little expense as possible. A clapboarded house, 
however, is difficult to make as interesting as houses 
finished in many other ways. 
The interior in general is well proportioned, each 
part in proper ratio to other parts of the house; this 
applies to size of rooms, height of ceilings being 
eight feet and nine inches and eight feet four inches, 
proportion of doors and windows, amount of china 
closets, fixed seats and dressers. The position 
of each room is carefully studied as to view, and 
exposure, and is designed to open up into other 
rooms, in suites, or be isolated as may have been 
required. Each bedroom is provided with at least 
one large closet. The bath-rooms are distributed in 
such a way that one is convenient for the family, and 
another solely for guests. In this case the ap¬ 
propriation prevented complete back-stairs, but 
precaution has been taken to prevent the domestic 
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