22 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
January, 1913 
“Dutch" dormer windows, while the other has peaked-top dor¬ 
mers, far more expensive to build. 
And yet, I'll wager that most people would consider the house 
built from the design at the right the more attractive house when 
finished! 
Very often such a pet plan is devised as 
Plan I, and insisted upon regardless of the 
fact that it has twenty per cent, more outside 
wall surface than a compact arrangement like 
Plan II. Outside wall is very much more 
costly than partition wall; besides, a long- 
drawn-out plan compels more or less waste 
space for passages to reach the bedrooms; 
and passages cost at least a dollar and a half 
per square foot. Amateur plan-schemes are 
always more or less wasteful and uneconom¬ 
ical ; that is, of course, to be expected. If 
one is willing to supply the extra funds, one 
should most as¬ 
suredly have a 
house planned ex¬ 
actly according to 
one’s own fancy; 
but too often the 
client either will 
not or cannot pay 
the difference. In 
such cases one 
should give some 
latitude to one’s 
architect, and per¬ 
mit a little rear¬ 
rangement of the 
plan; too many 
clients seem to forget that the 
really skilful architect is just as 
expert in planning as he is in 
■exterior designing. 
One of the most serious items 
of extra cost is the millwork — the 
■doors, the windows and so on. If 
one can get these in “stock - ’ — that 
is, buy them ready-made—there is 
a saving of from fifty to one hun¬ 
dred per cent, over “special” or 
made-to-order work. In a six- 
room cottage this saving will be 
from $50 to $100, and in a larger 
•house it is even greater in propor¬ 
tion. 
Now, to use stock millwork 
properly is a difficult matter; it 
means immense labor and research 
on the part of the architect. It is 
so much easier to make the detail 
drawings for whatever quaint con¬ 
ceit comes into one’s head, than 
painfully to puzzle over stock cat¬ 
alogues, revising one’s ideas to 
fit! Nevertheless, it’s surprising 
what wonderfully good results 
•one can get out of most unprom¬ 
ising material. Casement windows, for instance, do not come in 
stock, so one takes “rim” sash, sets them on their sides and lets 
the carpenter make simple frames for them. Paneled wainscoting 
is extremely costly, but paneled cupboard doors are very cheap, 
and one can make very satisfactory effects out of them. Colonial 
doorways with sidelights are high-priced when made “special 
but with a stock five-cross-panel door, a pair of stock eight-light 
sash, two cupboard doors and some stock molding, a very satis¬ 
factory substitute can be had; or, by using three cupboard sash 
and glazing them with simple leaded glass in 
Colonial pattern, one can get still better 
effects. 
For very large windows having more than 
twelve panes, “factory” sash can be had. 
These will perhaps show some small defects, 
but a little paint and putty will cover up 
everything. 
Now, many will insist on hardwood finish. 
“I can buy it for almost the same as soft 
wood,” they say. Quite true; but it takes 
twice as long to install, and you pay your 
carpenter a good stiff sum for this. Cypress, 
pine or redwood will stain up very attractive¬ 
ly ; even hemlock, 
so treated, has a 
wonderfully 
beautiful grain, 
and has been used 
in some very cost¬ 
ly houses. 
Be careful of 
the stairway: 
quirks, twists and 
spirals are very 
costly things. If 
you study some of 
the best old Colo¬ 
nial work, you’ll 
be surprised to 
find what extremely good results 
were often obtained on very sim¬ 
ple lines. Fussiness doesn’t nec¬ 
essarily spell beauty. 
Now, another point. Perhaps 
you have seen a most attractive 
little cottage of field-bowlders, 
built for an absurdly small sum. 
Exactly; field-stone could be had 
for the picking up, over there, 
but you may have to pay a hun¬ 
dred miles of freight, besides 
three rehandlings; and so, stone 
will be the most expensive thing 
you can possibly use. Brick, we’ll 
say, is made almost at your very 
door. Suppose you pick out the 
overburned, blackened “arch” 
bricks, and use them. Build the 
wall so that only the ends of the 
bricks show — no “stretchers” 
whatever. This gives a wonder¬ 
fully picturesque texture; dark 
black-brown tones, with a sparkle 
of lighter tints. Of course, these 
bricks can be had very cheaply 
indeed. 
Always use local materials as 
far as you possibly can; a skilled architect can get good results 
out of many old things, no matter how unpromising they may 
seem at first. Even concrete blocks will make most beautiful 
little Colonial cottages, provided one insists on the smooth-face 
(Continued on page 52) 
L- 
-H 
Overburned bricks when laid with the 
headers to the weather give an inter¬ 
esting effect of color and pattern 
The house at the left would be very much more expensive to heat that than at the right. The 
square plan shows an economy of outside wall and a saving in passages to reach the bedrooms 
^ i < 
If a stock door is purchased the architect can combine stock 
sash and cupboard paneling, in an effective Colonial doorway 
