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DEVELOPING A HOME
THE PORTABLE IHOUSE BEFORE IT HAD BEEN DEVELOPED INTO A HOME.
   human nature, but I must admit that
   s growing   house  which   somehow
   ems to expand at just the right time to
.ieet our requirements is one of the most
  lightful phases of   home    making.
  Whatever joys belong to the home, sacri-
  cing one thing to obtain another, is
  rs in this development of a house.
  Back of the house is a little room built
  Ipecially for our one bit of extravagance.
  e have an artesian well over ioo feet
  eep, and last season we put in a pump
  'erated by a gasoline engine, so with
  e addition of a suitably located tank
  -e were able to have a bathroom with
hot and cold water and a laundry with
set tubs. Our home was then quite equal
to a city house in conveniences.
  We now have a comfortable home and
  up to the present the cost has been but
$950, nor has this been paid out all at
once. Quite the contrary. The expend-
iture has been carried over several years,
adding a little here and there as seemed
necessary, and as our means warranted.
The various items figure about like this:
Foundation, including  excavation  ........ $120
Masonry ...    ..................225
Carpentry, including lumberi............. 450
Hardwvare  ...............................  20
Painting  .................................  20
  P m bing  ................................  25
  Total ................................ $ 9 5
  The masonry, including not only the
  laying of such stones as required for the
  foundation by the carting of the material
and what is described as three coat plas-
tering-in that is included the lath-
ing. In some localities these figures
would vary, in one running     higher
and in another lower. Probably where
lumber was low, .the total cost would be
as low as $8oo. In a region where lum-
ber was high it might exceed the $9o0, but
what is here given is as near the actual
cost aside from the pump and engine as it
is possible to give.
  The house as it stands is severely plain,
but we have sought to overcome this ob-
jection, if it is one, by surrounding it with
vines and all sorts of old-fashioned
flowers. Further than  that we have
brought from the woods and fields a great
variety of marvelously beautiful wild
flowers, and have succeeded so well in
not damaging them that they thrive as
well as in their native haunts.
  There are, of course, numerous ways
to make home surroundings beautiful.
We chose this one. We have planted
trees about the grounds which later will
furnish abundant and grateful shade and
flowering shrubs yield their fragrant
blossoms all the season.
  This reminds me of one little personal
touch which may interest. The large
window in the south of the living room
is a casement set with 5x7 glass, all old
negatives washed clean after they had
fitted the amateur photographer's longing
to imprison some of the beauty he had
found around him.
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