%The Cost of Different Kinds of Building 
W 
A COMPARISON OF THE BUILDING MATERIAL COST APPLIED TO THREE CHAR¬ 
ACTERISTIC HOUSES, WITH A CONSIDERATION OF THE RELATIVE FIRST COST, 
UP-KEEP AND INSURANCE NECESSARY FOR A PERIOD OF FIFTEEN YEARS 
by George Hunt Ingraham 
T HERE was a time in this big, new 
country of ours when the forests 
were a bugbear to the scattered inhabitants 
and a great hindrance to the cultivation of 
the soil. The cry was, “Cut the trees down 
and burn them up to get them out of the 
way as soon as possible.” In the country 
districts of to-day there is the same dis¬ 
regard of the forests, and the government 
has had much difficulty in arousing any sen¬ 
timent for the conservation of our timber. 
At that time lumber was very cheap, and 
houses could be built very quickly with little 
expense. They were scattered, and there 
was less danger from fire. If a house burned 
down, one had merely to step into one s back 
yard for new material. To-day, with all the 
changed conditions, lumber is high, and we 
are slowly learning to conserve our forests 
for use where no other material will answer, 
and to look for a safer and more permanent 
material for exterior construction. We are 
fast becoming an old world and must adopt 
the customs of the old worlds. 1 here, the 
more permanent materials have been long 
in use, and there it has been often found 
that a well constructed tile roof is in perfect 
condition after three 
hundred years, when 
the wooden shell 
underneath is crum¬ 
bling away. Our 
white pine trees, once 
so numerous, are 
now few, and white 
pine lumber is very 
much increased in 
cost. Fortunately 
to take its place 
other materials are 
at hand. Bricks are 
.easily made and Port¬ 
land cement is far 
cheaper than it used 
to be, so that now, 
when a man wants to 
build a house for 
himself, let him first 
choose an architect 
who understands the 
relative cost of ma¬ 
terials, and who will 
plan a simple, dig¬ 
nified house, with few 
angles, that will be of 
the least expense to 
take care of as the 
House No. 1 shows a moderate cost plan, with but one variation from the rectangular. It is a good 
example of an appropriate use of hollow tile and stucco in an unpretentious house, showing its adapta¬ 
bility to fit well into the situation. Putnam & Cox, architects 
years go by, and one that will not be a 
menace, but rather a permanent, artistic ad¬ 
dition to his surroundings. If such build¬ 
ings are in favor, our travelers on their 
return from Europe will not feel that many 
of our city districts are in comparison cle- 
lapidated, unsightly. 
Simplicity in plan (that is, a house of 
oblong dimensions without too many angles 
and corners) not only gives a more artistic 
and dignified result, but at the same time 
simplifies the cost, and a house so con¬ 
structed in more permanent materials, as 
against a more complicated design in wood, 
would give the balance in favor of the 
simpler and more permanent construction. 
The first thing a house builder should do 
is to select a good architect—one who is 
familiar with the better and more permanent 
types of construction — and not stint him too 
much on the cost of the exterior of the 
building. It would be better to give 
up some elaborate interior effect or ma¬ 
hogany finish for a more permanent ex¬ 
terior. Once have a good shell on the out¬ 
side walls and what is saved on repairs can 
be put aside for the expense of making over 
a room later on, or 
for more elaborate 
decoration of the in¬ 
terior. 
There are various 
types of good wall 
construction that a 
house builder should 
consider, namely: 
(1) Brick—a good 
red water-struck or 
the so-called tapestry 
bricks. ALb rick 
house for its most 
artistic results should 
always verge on the 
red shades, the darker 
the better, and never 
on the yellows. 
White or light joints 
and wide joints give 
more character to a 
red brick structure. 
(2) A frame house 
with brick veneer 
makes a cheaper sub¬ 
stitute for brick, but 
only has one merit — 
that it is better than 
either clapboards or 
(36) 
