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Show pro l. n - I iC1 f r r i Vl -V " rr " " 1 WILLIAM A. RADFORD, EDITOR Mr. William A. Radford will answer questions and give advice FREE OP COST on all subjects pertaining to the subject of building, for the readers of this paper. On account ef his wide experience as Editor, Author and Manufacturer, he 1b, without doubt, the highest authority on all these subjects. Address all Inquiries to William A. Radford, No. 178 West Jackson boulevard. Chicago. 111., and only enclose two-cent stamp for reply. A little house we've got, on a flower bowered lot, in a hustling, breezy, busy little city; it's big enough for two, for our wants are very few; there's only just myself and little Kitty. A simple little house like this is very much like going back to first principles, but it furnishes accommodation accommo-dation for a small family, just as well as a more elaborate affair. We all have acquaintances, especially among our older friends who commenced life simply and who are now enjoying the accumulations resulting from frugality frugal-ity and good management. If a young couple forms the habit of paying rent they are very likely to pay rent as long as they live. We often hear the remark that it is cheaper to rent than to own your own property. There never was a more foolish or misleading statement. state-ment. The man who lives in a rented house seldom gets ahead financially. This holds good whether he id working work-ing on salary or is conducting a business busi-ness on his own account. It would be difficult to say why, but it probably is because in the majority of cases a renter fails to give attention to the advancing value of real estate. I knew a man, a clerk in a lubricating lubricat-ing oil manufactory who rented a new house on a pleasant street about 20 years ago. At first he paid $20 per month, but in seven or eight years' time the rent was raised to $25. He is still living in the same house and is now paying $35 per month. The house has not improved with age, and he is continually looking about to better his condition, but can find no other three inches of earth must be repeatedly repeat-edly worked with a disk harrow, oi some such implement, every other day for a week or two to kill the weeds as they sprout, then if the top is well mixed with a good commercial fertilizer the grass seed may be sown and you have a lawn that will last as long as you want it, a lawn that will be green when others are parched with sun, a lawn that will look velvety vel-vety and add ten or twenty per cent, to the value of the property. This iB a secret that not many householders understand. It is not the house itself that makes a home desirable. de-sirable. I have seen cheap little houses made so attractive that strangers passing would stop to admire. ad-mire. A young man can build a house like this for $2,000; and the money that he would naturally pay out for rent will pay for it in a few years' time. He can grow fruit trees and have fruit enough for home use and some to sell without going to much expense or spending a great deal of time in the garden. An hour or two at night for a few weeks early in the beason will accomplish a good deal if the work is intelligently laid out. In building a house like this don't forget the outside embellishments. The lawn and the garden will be the making of the property, prop-erty, at the same time you will be setting set-ting a good example that is almost sure to benefit the neighborhood. Another very importanttem is the painting. A little house sometimes is conspicuous just because it is small and more attention is paid to it than other houses in the neighborhood, especially es-pecially if it is nicely painted and neatly neat-ly kept. Always choose quiet colors, for a small house; never attempt to make it showy. A drab with white trimmings always looks well. You may deviate from this without serious injury in-jury possibly, but you cannot improve on a light drab with white trimmings for a small house, especially if it is i iv K ml L - & f w fed f ' ''If il? N ,-44 ti a i ? ' property that suits him so well or that he can rent at a cheaper rate in proportion pro-portion to the advantages he now has. He has paid enough rent to buy the house, to pay all street improvements, improve-ments, city taxes, insurance and repairs. re-pairs. He tells me he was offered the property years ago for $2,500, which he thought was too much money. The lot itself is worth more than that today. This is one instance in a great many similar ones that have come to my notice. It is not always that a neighborhood neigh-borhood improves so rapidly and substantially, sub-stantially, but generally speaking, all property in American towns advances ad-vances in value. There is another very great advantage advan-tage in owning a home, and that is the comfortable feeling you have of being a landed proprietor and the fact that you are not obliged to have your rent money ready promptly when the month comes round. You can plant a tree or a shrub or some flower bulbs without the permission of the landlord, you can make alterations altera-tions in the house when it suits your convenience, and if the house or neighborhood neigh-borhood is not to your liking, you can rent it and borrow the money to build another, and the rent from the old one will help pay for the new. A little house like the one illustrated illus-trated here may be made attractive by making a nice lawn and planting plant-ing a few trees and flowers. The lawn is most essential and at the same time the most difficult undertaking on the average town lot. The grouud often is not very good, it is mixed with cellar earth and rubbish that is not well calculated for a good seed bed for grass. It is easy to put the ground in proper shape, however, if the job is started from the bottom. The ground must be plowed deep, and thoroughly worked to get the objectionable objec-tionable grass roots out of it. The condition of the soil will determine whether to seed the first year or the second year. If there is no humus in the soil it will pay to cover it thick with coarse manure and plow it under. This again leads to complications in the moisture problem, but if you have a hose attachment you can easily keep the ground moist- The top two or partly hidden among the trees and screened with vines. This little home illustrated is attractive at-tractive in outside appearance, and the interior is all that could be desired de-sired in a dwelling of this size. A glance at the floor plans show the arrangement ar-rangement of the rooms to be convenient; con-venient; they are well lighted, cheery and comfortable. |