g room floor;
eight feet from living room floor to that of the bedroom floor; and
seven feet from bedroom floor to the level of the eaves, which in
turn measure eight feet below the ridge of the roof; the cubical
contents would result from multiplying 600 square feet by the sum of
seven, eight, seven, and four, or 15,600 cubic feet. With this figure
established, it is simple to approximate costs as follows:

Wooden construction $0.45 per cubic foot
Brick veneer construction 0.55 " " "
Solid brick construction 0.65 " " "
Field stone construction 0.60 " " "
Cut stone construction $0.75 to 1.50 " " "

This tabulation, an average for the United States as a whole, is as
accurate as any generalization can be and a safe one for forming a
preliminary estimate, but local conditions may increase or decrease
costs. The architect can readily determine which. This table, of
course, does not include cost of land, construction of driveway,
landscaping, or expenses incident to bringing electric service or
telephone wires to the house.

From these calculations, it is an easy matter to take the outside
dimensions of a house you are considering remodeling and compute its
cubical content. Then you can ask your architect whether it can be
remodeled as you wish for a price competitive with building a new
house of like design and equal size. In order for this to mean
anything, you should determine what proportion of the price paid for
the property represents land value and what reflects the existence of
the structure itself. As a simple example, we will concede that land
in the neighborhood is held at $500 an acre and you can buy a
five-acre tract with a house on it for $3,750. Here $2,500 represents
land value, and $1,250 house value. The question resolves itself into
comparing remodeling costs plus house value with those for a new house
of like size and kind.

If so much must be replaced or rearranged that the figures for house
and remodeling are in excess of those for a new structure, the wise
course would be to abandon the idea and build instead. But the old
house may have certain details that make you willing to bear the added
expense. If so, you at least know the comparative costs and have
definite standards by which to shape your course.

From personal observation, we believe that there are many instances
where the total cost