a house
in good condition usually needs a little renovation. During the
negotiations for purchase, his lawyer kept him from legal pitfalls.
Just as important now in bridging the gap between what he has and what
he wants is an architect.

If he has been consulted before purchase, so much the better. If not,
it is high time to seek him out unless one happens to be a genius like
Thomas Jefferson who could draft a Declaration of Independence with
one hand and design a serpentine wall with the other. Such a person
has no need of this book anyway and will long since have cast it
aside. Most of us are just average citizens with some ideas which we
want to put into concrete form but find difficult because we are
either inarticulate or untrained.

That is what various specialists are for, and it is a wise man who
realizes his own limitations. A sugar broker may have ideas about a
portrait but he won't try to paint it himself. He will commission a
portrait painter, in whom he has confidence, to make a likeness of his
wife or child as the case may be. Even more necessary are the services
of an architect when building or remodeling a house. Trying to be your
own architect is as foolish as drawing a sketch of little Jerry on
canvas and then calling in a house painter to smear on a daub of blue
for his coat, a bit of yellow for his hair, white for his collar, and
just anything for the background. At worst, though, this futuristic
result can be taken to the attic, turned face to the wall and
forgotten; but a botched house won't let you forget. You have to live
in it along with your mistakes, day after day and, possibly, year
after year. When and if you finally call in an architect and have them
remedied or obviated, the cost will be considerably in excess of what
his total fee would have been in the beginning.

So, find the best man practicing in the vicinity where your future
home is to be located and cast your burdens on his drafting board.
Give him ample information as to what suits your fancy and conforms to
your family needs. Then he can proceed with the preliminary sketches.
From these eventually will come the plan of action to be followed by
the various artisans who will do the work. But house plans, whether
for new construction, remodeling or renovating, do not spring from the
drafting board complete and final overnight. They are based on more
preliminary effort than most people without building experience
realize.

Thi