t Floor._]

What a house will cost to build is a question always asked with the
utmost simplicity, and a prompt and reliable answer always expected, and
if not forthcoming at once, gives rise to a suspicion that one's
professional ability is not of the most thorough character. There are
so many conditions to govern results in house building, that even an
approximate estimate may fall very wide of the mark. Two houses may be
built from the same plan, and we may also say, from the same
specifications; one by day's work, and the other by contract, and they
shall be so exactly alike in all respects when finished, that an
unprofessional observer would detect no difference, and yet one may
honestly cost just double the amount in money expended on the other;
even the same builder may build two houses precisely alike in all
respects, and yet the cost be quite unequal. On one site stone may be
easily obtained, a sand bank on the premises, a running brook close at
hand, saw mills, brick yards, and lime kilns within moderate distances
and accessible by good roads. The other site may be quite the reverse in
situation, or have some decided disadvantages in obtaining some very
necessary materials. We once built a fine stone house where stone was
abundant and close at hand, but all the lumber and brick had to be
hauled thirteen miles over hilly roads; the cost of that house has
nothing to do with the cost of a similar house in a different locality.

[Illustration: FIG. 52.--_Second Floor._]

A competent business superintendent has a great deal to do with the cost
of a house; one that understands all the tricks of every building trade,
that knows the market well, and the value and quality of all building
materials, and where inferior workmanship and materials can be used to
an equal advantage with those of first class. To slight work and yet do
it justice; to give it all the strength and endurance necessary,
requires one of skillful acquirements. A mechanic may persuade a
proprietor into many a long day's work, as it pays well to nurse good
jobs when other work is slack, but an architect who understands such
things would save the value of useless work.

The cost of a house depends on a well-studied plan; this plan does not
consist alone in the arrangement of rooms, windows, doors, etc., but
involves a careful study of the anatomy of construction. One may save by
a proper distribution of timbers, as well as make a very great saving b