Estimate, cost of materials and labor:
| 1,000 | bricks, laid, at $12 per M. | $12.00 | |
| 124 | yards plastering, at 20c. per yard. | 24.80 | |
| 636 | ft. of timber, at $15 per M. | 9.54 | |
| 2 | sills, 4 × 6 in. 18 ft. long. | ||
| 1 | girder, 4 × 6 in. 18 ft. long. | ||
| 2 | sills, 4 × 6 in. 16 ft. long. | ||
| 9 | beams, 3 × 6 in. 16 ft. long. | ||
| 4 | posts, 4 × 6 in. 10 ft. long. | ||
| 14 | ceiling boards, 2 × 4 in. 16 ft. long. | ||
| 75 | wall-strips, 2 × 4 × 13, at 11c. each. | 8.25 | |
| 98 | siding, 9½ inches, at 25c, each. | 24.50 | |
| Cornice materials. | 6.00 | ||
| 50 | shingling lath, at 5c. each. | 2.50 | |
| 6 | shingling planks, at 20c. each. | 1.20 | |
| 12 | bunches shingles, at $1.25 per bunch. | 15.00 | |
| 36 | flooring, 9½ in., at 25c. | 9.00 | |
| 7 | windows, complete, at $6. | 42.00 | |
| 4 | doors, complete, at $5. | 20.00 | |
| 2 | stoops and closets, complete. | 20.00 | |
| Nails, $4; painting, $14; carting, $5. | 23.00 | ||
| Carpenter’s labor, not included above. | 20.00 | ||
| Incidentals. | 12.21 | ||
| Total cost. | $250.00 | ||
Fig. 1.—EXTERIOR OF COTTAGE.
Fig. 2.—INTERIOR OF COTTAGE.
DESIGN II.
COUNTRY COTTAGE, COSTING $450 TO $550.
This plan of an inexpensive country dwelling is adapted to the wants of many people whose circumstances will not admit of a larger outlay. It was originally prepared and published in response to many calls for very low-priced country houses, “some as cheap as lumber and nails can make them.” The present one approximates that point, and will aid in devising others.... Two Elevations are given for the same ground-plan; the first ([fig. 3]) is for a one-story house of the simplest design, with an entrance door, a neat porch, and two windows in front. The rear is arranged similarly. The roof is conspicuous, in keeping with its importance. No matter how cheaply one proposes to build a house, it is essential not to slight the roof. A roof fit for a one-story cottage would answer equally well on a three-story house, so that relatively the cost of this part becomes greater, as the other parts become reduced and cheapened.... Ground-Plan, ([fig. 4]).—The accommodations are quite sufficient for a small family, consisting of three rooms, two lobbies, a kitchen-pantry, and a clothes-press. The Lobbies protect the rooms from direct contact with the outside doors. The Living-room is large, and accessible alike from each entrance; it has windows front and rear, and is convenient to the pantry; one entire side is unbroken, giving additional space for furniture, etc. The Pantry is shelved on two sides, and has a sash opening from the rear lobby, receiving light through the head-light over the rear entrance door. The front Bedroom is of good size—large enough to be used as a sitting-room; it adjoins the rear bedroom, and a clothes-press, and has a window facing the road. The rear Bedroom is the most retired, and has a window looking to the rear. The Press or closet is shelved and hooked in the usual manner. The door between the bedrooms might be dispensed with, but its convenience more than repays its cost.... Construction.—The Foundations are of common stone and mortar, laid in trenches, so as not to be affected by frost, and show 1½ feet above ground. The supports for the central partitions are stone piers, 4 feet apart. The Chimneys are of hard brick and mortar, passing through the first story in two flues, but joined together beneath the roof, and finished above as a single chimney. All the timber of the exterior frame is of 4 × 6-inch spruce. The sills are laid flatways on the foundation, and the upright frame-work stands upon them. The beams are of 1¼ × 8-inch spruce planks; they are notched 4 inches, to fit on the sill, and bear on the foundation, and are nailed to the studding and sills, binding the whole together. The ceiling-strips are of 1¼ × 5-inch spruce, resting on the ties, and nailed to the studding. The rafters are 2 × 4-inch wall-strips. All beams, studding, and rafters, are placed 16 inches apart from centers. The siding is of 10-inch dressed pine. The roof is covered with 18-inch pine shingles, laid on 1¼ × 2-inch shingling-lath. The porch-frame is of dressed and cornered timber, and is roofed with shingles on flooring laid face down. The flooring is 1⅛ × 9-inch spruce “milled.” The interior is plainly cased: for doors and windows, 3¼ inches wide; base, 6 inches; chair-back in the living-room, 3 inches; all beveled. All sashes and doors are 1¼ inch thick. The interior side-walls and ceilings are white-sand finished, on brown mortar and seasoned lath. Many efforts have been made to devise something cheaper than plastering for the inside lining of walls, but no substitute has yet been found to equal it in cheapness or durability. Plastering, as usually prepared and applied, conduces to the healthfulness of any apartment, emits no odor of mouldiness, has no attraction or harbor for vermin, is impervious to air, and a non-conductor of sound. Where linings of thin wood or paper are used, it is necessary to deafen the partitions and ceilings, otherwise they will be noisy. Sound made in any one part will reverberate through the house with drum-like suggestiveness. Most of such materials absorb moisture rapidly from the atmosphere, and when at any distance from the house-fires, so as not to be warmed and dried, the moisture is retained in them. This is especially the case in chambers and closets. Rather than seek a substitute for plastering, it is better to extend its use, and, where practicable, apply it as an outside covering, as well as for inside linings, as described for [Design VI.] The Second Elevation, ([fig. 5],) shows an enlargement of the first, by increasing the outlines of the roof, giving space for a Second Floor, ([fig. 6]). Such space, though not immediately required for bedrooms, would be valuable for many purposes. The appearance of the building is improved by the enlargement, and the extra cost will not exceed one hundred dollars.
Cost of Cottage—No. 1: