The only difference in the accommodation in each case is that, in the “flat,” the rooms are accessible to one another without the use of stairs, while in the “tower” six flights of stairs in all are used, constituting in the aggregate a ladder, as it were, of about a hundred steps; also in the fact that in the “tower” the owner has to manage his own heating, ventilating and hot-water supply apparatus, while in the “flat” this work is done for him; that in the “tower” wooden staircases and no elevators are used, while in the “flat” fireproof staircases enclosing elevators are provided; that in the “tower” the main partitions are often of wood while in the flat they are of brick a foot thick and each “flat” is separated from its neighbor by a brick wall a foot thick and all the floors are completely deadened against the transmission of sound; and finally that in the “tower” no external fire-escape is provided, while the “flat” has convenient external fire-escapes of iron. Otherwise the accommodations are in both cases precisely the same.
The total cost of this apartment-house, including the building-lot valued at, say, $5 a square foot, has been carefully estimated at $617,771.
This is the highest of two competitive estimates given by two responsible builders, and comprises general cooking-plant, electric-lighting, steam-heating and ventilating apparatus, iron staircases and fire-escapes, elevators, copper roofing, architect’s commission, and, in short, everything required for occupancy and use except wall-paper.
The first floor contains 16,688 square feet of available room. (By “available” I mean room which is directly occupied by, and which must be separately provided for each owner. That is, it excludes staircases, furnace, laundry, etc., which might be used in common by many owners and therefore need not be duplicated for each, and which are only indirectly serviceable to each owner in contributing to the usefulness of those which are directly enjoyed.) The six floors above contain 23,288 square feet of available room each, making a total of 156,416 square feet. Adding 10,880 square feet for basement storage and trunk-room for the suites, and 2,000 square feet in the basement for barber’s shop, apothecary, carriage and other offices along the street fronts, we have a total of 169,296 square feet of available room in the entire apartment-house. Dividing the total cost $617,771 by this figure we have $3.65 for the cost of each square foot of available room in the building.
Our “tower” measures twenty-five feet front on party lines, by seventy feet deep. Its available rooms comprise parlor, library, music-room, eight closeted-chambers, two bath-rooms, a trunk-room, a dining-room, and we may add a kitchen for those who still believe in having an independent cook.
The area of these rooms is as follows:
| Parlor | 374 sq. ft. |
| Library | 374 “ |
| Music-room | 154 “ |
| Chamber No. 1 | 384 “ |
| Chamber No. 2 | 528 “ |
| Chamber No. 3 | 170 “ |
| Chamber No. 4 | 252 “ |
| Chamber No. 5 | 162 “ |
| Chamber No. 6 | 286 “ |
| Chamber No. 7 | 242 “ |
| Chamber No. 8 | 315 “ |
| 2 Bath-rooms | 144 “ |
| Trunk-room | 136 “ |
| Dining-room | 408 “ |
| Kitchen | 384 “ |
| China-closet | 136 “ |
| Other closets | 410 “ |
Making a total of 4,859 square feet of available room in the “tower.” Its total cost on a twenty-five foot lot of the average depth on the Back Bay, i. e., 112 feet, the land being valued as before at $5 per square foot, would be at the lowest estimate $32,000 at the present prices, the wood finish being equally good with that in the “flat.” If we figure, however, for the same style of lighting, heating, ventilating and fireproofing, and provide an elevator and outside fire-escape, the cost could not be put below $40,000.
The same amount of available space, i. e., 4,859 square feet in our “flat” would cost at $3.65 per square foot as above estimated, $17,735.
If now we consider that the management of a private kitchen and an Irish cook does not actually constitute the essence of a home in its broadest sense, but, that on the contrary, it really deprives a home of its greatest charm, namely, peace of mind and rest of body, the kitchen and the cook’s bed-chamber may be omitted from our “flat” in view of the public kitchen. The area of our “flat” then becomes 4,475 square feet, which, at $3.65 per foot, brings the cost down to a little over $16,000.