House and Garden 
the gutters are all plowed cypress and need no repairs; 
flashings and other metals are minimized and are 
zinc. 
The trim is mainly white-wood or cypress with 
some oak and birch, on stairs and where wear and 
tear is expected the floors are quartered Georgia 
pine, the walls are finished on plaster-board, which 
eliminates to some extent the usual dampness while 
building. The fireplaces are built mainly of Roman 
brick, as the chimneys were erected. The light fix¬ 
tures, ornamental hardware, bath-room accessories, 
range boiler, etc., were included in the building 
contract, the walls were tinted in distemper the first 
year, the woodwork is finished in white egg-shel or 
enamel. All the cupboards, book-cases and dressers 
that would cost no more than furniture were designed 
and built into the structure. There is but little 
leaded glass, nor grills, nor interior cabinet work, but 
the building is well and systematically studied, 
planned and built for these further embellishments, 
which can at any time be added inside and out, 
without radical change, and at merely the cost of 
the features added. 
This cost included really everything that is 
attached to the house ready for occupancy, except 
window shades and electric-light bulbs, and such is 
what an architect usually includes when talking of the 
“ Cost of a House. ” 
This illustration shows up a matter that is often 
shamefully neglected, largely first on account of the 
fact that the “Cost of the House” generally creeps 
up rather higher than anticipated, not so much on 
account of omissions as on account of the little 
additional things that present themselves to the mind 
of the client as he sees the building approach com¬ 
pletion; and second neglected on account of the lack 
of appreciation of how much a house can be enhanced 
in appearance and value by proper planting. 
I he planting around this house shows the sacrifice 
of a great opportunity, for the grading, roads, under¬ 
drains, lawns and lattice work, all costing consider¬ 
able, have been excellently and thoroughly executed, 
whereas the few shrubs and plants that are necessary 
to beautify the immediate home grounds are missing. 
In the extreme left one sees a lot of little hemlocks 
about two feet tall which are excellent trees, but should 
be supplemented for several years by some taller 
growth. The lawn tree selected seems to be a 
Lombardy poplar used probably because found 
handy, but such a tree is not appropriate on a lawn 
standing by itself, and it is not a pretty tree while 
growing, while there are plenty of handsome trees 
such as oaks, maples, tulips, lindens, beeches that 
would have grown as well. Hydrangeas in the 
foreground and a couple of privets in the distance 
make up the shrubs, whereas around the house many 
low growing shrubs such as barberry, etc., and ever¬ 
green trailing vines would nestle to the building, and 
relieve its sharp cut lines instead of merely nastur¬ 
tiums and annuals, which are late in making their 
appearance and which disappear with the frost. 
Many vines such as wistaria, bignonia, and honey¬ 
suckle could by this time have been half way to the 
roof on wire netting, without doing damage to the 
woodwork as might an ivy. 
All these latter items cost something, but are sel¬ 
dom considered and included in the “Cost of the 
House,” although sufficient appropriation should 
always be laid aside for them, for the last matter to be 
attended to, that of planting of shrubs and trees 
really adds more to the appearance of the house than 
any other expenditure, inside or out. 
PREVAILING CUSTOMS, STYLE vs. GOOD TASTE 
H OW often do we hear of some one who is 
undecided about finishing this or that about 
his house until he is sure that it is of the latest 
style. Matters of materials, matters of equipment 
and matters of arrangement surely have to be up to 
date and fully abreast of the times, but matters of pro¬ 
portion, of design, if good of their kind, are always in 
style, always in good style no matter what the majority 
of one’s neighbors may be doing through the influence 
of some local enterprising paperhanger or decorator. 
Seldom is a house anything but handsome that is 
a straightforward solution of a healthy set of domes¬ 
tic necessities and, on the other hand, no amount of 
“up-to-date” or “stylish ’’embellishments will ever 
make a design of poor taste anything but unsatisfac¬ 
tory in the long run, no matter what attractions it may 
offer a casual and shallow observer for the moment. 
Good taste is what stamps all the many monu¬ 
ments of the world that are handed down through 
generations as examples for imitation. A moment’s 
reflection would soon dissolve a good deal of un¬ 
necessary worry on the part of the person whose 
surroundings have not given him the opportunity of 
making himself a connoisseur in the matter of art by 
leaving the matter of the prevailing custom or 
“style” entirely out of consideration, and to infuse 
into his architect or designer the .confidence that 
what he wants is something in good taste, the best 
of its kind without regard to any passing fad. 
Architecture is a far too serious art to allow of such 
fleeting influences; it should be influenced, of course, 
or in it there would be no development, but its only 
influence should be honest, worthy necessities, 
clothed in good taste. 
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