The rent, perhaps a quarter of the income, that was paid for a place so small that the cat had to jump on a chair when the baby sat down, will be a clear gain.

Mrs. Warrington’s cottage at Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, forms a very interesting subject, and is built from designs of well-known architects of Philadelphia, who have taken up building small, inexpensive modern houses in a practical manner.  The house is built with a stone foundation and a wooden superstructure with exterior walls covered with metal lath and cement stucco which is stained a cream color.  The trimmings are stained a soft brown and the sashes are painted white.  The roof is covered with shingles, and is left to weather finish.  The front porch, from which a vestibule leads into the house, has a hooded cover formed by the main roof sweeping down sufficiently to form a protect tion.  The vestibule forms an entrance to both the living room and the kitchen; the kitchen is at the front of the house, allowing the main rooms and a private porch to be at the south side.  The interior throughout is trimmed with cypress and stained a soft brown.  The second floor joists are exposed to view and are stained in a similar manner, while the ceiling space between the joists is plastered.  A broad archway separates the living and the dining rooms, and while it forms a separation, it does not preclude the possibility, when desired, of throwing the two rooms into one large apartment.  The large, open fireplace is built of clinker brick, and its facings extend from the floor to the ceiling; it has a wooden shelf supported on corbeled brackets.  A semi-boxed stairway rises out of the living room to the second floor.  There are three bedrooms with good-sized closets, and a bathroom on the second floor.  A cellar, under the entire house, has a cemented bottom, and contains a laun dry.  This house costs about $2000 complete.

Houses built of cement blocks are growing in favor.  Cement blocks can be made anywhere by unskilled labor.  All that is needed is a competent foreman to direct the making and seasoning of the blocks and laying them in the walls.

The cost of concrete compared to frame or brick structures is, if anything, all things considered, in favor of concrete.  Houses built of wood are likely to become increasingly expensive because of the deforesting which is going on in all parts of the United States.

There are abundant books of plans and costs published, showing what may be built, and several responsible publishers recklessly offer to refund the cost of the plans if the expense of building the house exceeds their estimates.

There are also a number of manufacturers of ready-made portable houses, running in cost from about three hundred dollars for four rooms, upward.  Some of these are adapted to all-the-year-round use and may be used where land is taken experimentally.

CHAPTER XX