June, 
1914 
HOUSE AND GARDEN 
489 
the especial bete noire of architects and 
contractors. 1 know, because 1 am a 
contractor myself. People bring pictures 
of houses to me that are accompanied by 
a printed statement that “this house can 
be built for $1,985.00,” when the actual 
figures will run close to $3,000.00. A 
friend of mine built from a California 
bungalow book. He first tried to get 
some contractor to take his house at 
the book price, which was in this case 
$2,200.00. He failed in this because none 
of the contractors he approached hap¬ 
pened to be in business for their health. 
He then decided that all contractors were 
robbers, anyway — -which has an element 
of truth in it — and built his house by 
day’s work, buying all of the material and 
superintending the construction himself. 
When he paid the last bill he showed me 
his check-book stubs. I promised never 
to tell anyone, so I will keep my promise. 
The total was $3,789.00, and he still had 
to pay for digging a well. But the book 
is still smilingly telling someone that “this 
house can be built for $2,200.” Where? 
Certainly not in any section where ma¬ 
terial costs real money and where labor¬ 
ers do not merely work because they need 
outdoor exercise to keep from getting the 
gout. 
The actual cost of our bungalow was 
$4,500. This included everything — well 
water supply, cess-pool, grading our lot, 
making a lawn, planting trees and shrub¬ 
bery, steam furnace, electric-light fix¬ 
tures, kitchen range, wall paper, wire 
screens; in short, a complete house with¬ 
out furniture, except various built-in 
window seats, sideboard and kitchen cabi¬ 
nets. If you add to this a contractor’s 
profit of 10% and an architect’s fee of 
5% the cost would have been approxi¬ 
mately $700 more. 
You can build one like it in your own 
locality for the same price if the follow¬ 
ing price conditions are true: Laborers, 
$1.75 a day; carpenters, $2.50 a day; 
masons, $3.60 a day; framing timber, 
such as hemlock or chestnut, $30.00 a 
thousand feet; shingles, $6.50 a thousand, 
etc. You can build it for less if you 
merely want a summer cottage. This 
should eliminate at least $600.00 worth. 
Our grounds cost about $250.00 to get 
into shape. Yours may not cost anything. 
We have a large living-room, dining¬ 
room, porch for summer or winter use, 
three bedrooms and bath, also a maid’s 
room on one floor. All the rooms are 
large except the maid’s room—but then, 
we have a small maid. The house is 
well supplied with closet space. There 
are two splendid closets in our principal 
bedroom. My wife and I each have one. 
If more houses had this arrangement, 
Reno would soon become a tank town. 
The house is remarkably cool in summer 
and warm in winter. We feel that it is 
just what we want. If we should sell it 
to-morrow we should like to go across 
the road and build one just like it. That 
is the real test. 
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Stained with Cabot's Creosote Stains 
Sidney Lovell, Architect, Chicago, III. 
That Bungalow 
which you intend to build next Spring 
will need the soft, artistic tones of 
Cabot’s Creosote Stains 
to make it complete and harmonious. 
Paint doesn’t suit bungalows. It forms a hard, shiny 
coat that is foreign to their character and “atmosphere.” 
The Stains produce deep, rich, and velvety colors that har¬ 
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You can get Cabot's Stains all over the country. Send for 
free samples of stained wood and name of nearest agent. 
SAMUEL CABOT, Inc., Manfg. Chemists 
11 Oliver Street, Boston, Mass. 
In writing to advertisers please mention House & Garden. 
