[This] house... has a wood frame, the stucco being laid over wire lath. The photograph show the architect's plan to create a unified effect in a rectangular house, the three doorways being treated exactly the same.

[The] plans and exterior ...here given were taken and the costs estimated, exclusive of heating, plumbing, electric work, interior decorations, and lighting fixtures, because the interior work is subject to a wide variation of cost according to the design and materials used, kind of heating, and number of plumbing fixtures.

The cost of wood construction:

Wire lath and stucco...$16,970.00
Cypress siding (painted white)...16,400.00
Clapboards (painted white)...16,500.00
Shingles (stained)...16,200.00

The cost per cubic feet on the above figures [84,837 cu. ft]:

Wire lath and stucco...20c.
Cypress siding (painted white)...19c.
Clapboards (painted white)...19c.
Shingles (stained)...19c.

The cost if built of brick or terra cotta blocks stuccoed:

Brick...17,125.00
Stucco on tile...17,465.00

The cost per cubic feet on the above figures [84,837 cu. ft]:

Brick...20c.
Stucco on tile...20½c.

The per cent, increase in cost of brick construction over wood and over wire lath stuccoed is, respectively, as follows:

Brick over wood...4.63%
Brick over wood...0.91%

The per cent, increase in cost of terra cotta blocks stuccoed over wood and over wire lath and stuccoed is, respectively, as follows:

terra cotta blocks stuccoed over wood...6.72%
terra cotta blocks over wire lath and stuccoed...2.92%

Insurance rates:

Wood construction (wire lathed and stuccoed)... Cost for 5 years: 75c. per 100; Cost for 15 years: $375.82
Wood construction (siding, clapboards, shingles)...Cost for 5 years: 75c. per 100; Cost for 15 years: $371.25
Brick...Cost for 5 years: 50c. per 100; Cost for 15 years: 256.87
Terra Cotta Stuccoed...Cost for 5 years: 50c. per 100; Cost for 15 years: 261.97

The repairs on the various types should also be considered in estimating the cost. It is allowed that the clapboard finished house would need painting every three years, after the first three years, besides general repairs to outside woodwork. Of course, where cypress shingles are used and where some of the prepared stains are employed, the longevity of the woodwork is somewhat extended. The replacing of shingle roofs has not been considered in making out [the following], which is given to show all other repairs that are ordinarily to be considered.

Repairs:

Wood construction (wire lathed and stuccoed)... Average Cost per Year for Painting and Repairs: $35.00*; Total Cost for 15 years: $525.00*
Wood construction (siding, clapboards, shingles)... Average Cost per Year for Painting and Repairs: $100.00; Total Cost for 15 years: $1,500.00
Brick...Average Cost per Year for Painting and Repairs: $35.00*; Total Cost for 15 years: $525.00*
Terra Cotta blocks Stuccoed...Average Cost per Year for Painting and Repairs: $35.00*; Total Cost for 15 years: $525.00*

It can be readily seen from these figures that the more permanent building is the more economical in the end. The main object of this article is to make the prospective housebuilder feel that he owes it to himself, and also to the community in which he lives, to build the outside of his dwelling of as permanent a character as possible, and also to make it a credit to his neighborhood.

Let us hope that the plea for more permanent construction has not been made in vain.

*These figures are for painting and repairs on exterior woodwork only. No attempt has been made to give the cost for upkeep of a wire lath and stucco wall. the efficiency of this type of construction, as is generally recognized, is dependent on the style of house, its location and exposure, quality of workmanship, quality of materials used, etc. But is no exaggeration to say that in the matter of durability alone it will not compare with a wall built of brick or one built of terra cotta blocks and stucco, on either of which types the cost of upkeep would be very little, not only for 15 years but for a much longer period.

 

Low Cost Suburban Homes.

LOW COST
SUBURBAN
HOMES

A BOOK OF SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MAN WITH THE MODERATE PURSE

EDITED BY
RICHARDSON WRIGHT

Contents: THE SERVICE OF THE ARCHITECT, by Howard Hammitt; HOW TO GO ABOUT PLANNING YOUR HOME, by C.E. Schermerhorn; THE COST OF DIFFERENT KINDS OF BUILDING, by George Hunt Ingraham; THE PROMISE OF AMERICAN HOUSE BUILDING, by Ralph Adams Cram; AN ALBUM OF LOW COST SUBURBAN HOMES; ADDRESSES OF CONTRIBUTING ARCHITECTS.

Originally published in 1916 in New York by Robert M. McBride & Company. well illustrated, 55 house plans (144 floor plans).

House Illustrations, partial list:
Colonial; Stucco with Lattice, Colonial with Clapboard; Concrete with Decorative Ornament; Half-timbered Cottage adaptation; English style; Stucco Farmhouse with Sweeping Roof; "Large-Small" House; Brick, Stucco and Half-timber; Stucco; Hollow Tile and Stucco; Wood Frame with Stucco; Brick; English Half-timbered Cottage type; Pennsylvania Colonial Native Stone; Parallel line architecture; Colonial; Colonial; Parallel lines; Pennsylvania Stone Work; California Chalet; House with a Square Plan in Hartford, Conn. (Hollow Tile Stucco); Dutch Colonial Suburban; Square Colonial Adaptation of Simple Lines; Colonial by Suggestion for an Open, Level, Suburban Site; Views of a Commodious Bungalow; A Small House with A Patio on Staten Island, New York; A Suburban House in Rochester, New York; Picturesque Cottage type; An Unusual but Simple Suburban type; A Colonial Design of Excellent Proportions; Cottage type of Brick and Stucco; A Dutch Colonial House near New York; A Dutch Colonial House in North Carolina; A Stucco House of Small Proportions; A Half-timbered Cottage type; An Attractive Seashore Cottage; English Country house type of Stucco and Red Shingles; A Shingle House of Moderate Cost; A Compact Little Dutch Colonial House; A Hollow Tile and Stucco House; A House to Suit the Average Family; A Successful Seashore Cottage; A Dutch Farmhouse; Pennsylvania Colonial Farmhouse in Philadelphia Neighborhood; Stucco and Stained Shingles; House for a Small Family; English Cottage in New Jersey; Small Brick House of Individuality; Clapboard House of Dutch Colonial lines; New England Suburban Residence; English Country House in New Haven, Conn.; Suburban Residence of the Middle West; House of Spanish Precedents; Stone Walls, Whitewash and Shingle; Seashore House with Simple Plans; English Cottage lines in New England Home; Stucco and Thatch in a Southern Suburban Home; Small Roomy House for the Suburbs, and more.

Architects represented:
Lewis Colt Albro, Norman Baird Baker, Bates & How, Dwight J. Baum, Caretto & Forster, Ralph Adams Cram, Kenneth W. Dalzell, Davis, McGrath & Keissling, Druckenmiller, Stackhouse & Williams, Duhring, Okie & Ziegler, A. Raymond Ellis, Aymar Embury II, Albert Faulkner, Howard Hammit, Hanker & Cairns, Horace T. Hatton, Hunt, Myron & Elmer Grey, George Hunt Ingraham, Charles Barton Keen, Kelley & Graves, W. Duncan Lee, J. Lovell Little, Jr., Martin & Kirkpatrick, Claude Miller, Murphy & Dana, Putnam & Cox, James Purdon, Watson K. Phillips, C.E. Schermerhorn, Frank Lloyd Wright.

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