San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-10-14

ings necessary to the construction o
the building and these drawings in
clude, beside little sketches of tn
proposed house, plans of every floor
and elevations of every side, drawn b
scale; also drawings Of the more com
plicated pieces of construction ant
even drawings Of all moulding and or
naments. Then, too, he should furniSi
detailed and complete specification
describing materials, manufacture ant
method of erection of everything that
goes into the house. All this work
which the architect must do is very
little appreciated by the average home
builder. / venture to say that no one
who is not an architect realizes the
number of days which it has taxed
TO prepare the designs needed. 1t is
not the actual drawing that takes SO
long but the thought and care neces-
sary TO secure the maximum of use
able space on every floor and to per-
feet the appearance of the exterior.
There is one piece of advice which
would give in the selection of an arch
itect and that is, the man who is will
ing TO work too cheaply is not worth
employing because he cannot give you
tHe NaIue OF yOut money.
The architects first duties are to
develop the clients ideas into work
able form by means of sketches, so
that the size and general appearance
Of the building, as well as approximate
cost, may be determined. This is not
an easy thing to do. Much patience Is
needed on both sides. Always remem
Der that an architect cannot by some
magic make big house cost as little
as small one, nor can he tell you
before the working drawings are made
what the cost will be. Always remem-
Der that an architect is employed to
design your home but that it is the
contractors business to build it.
Know Size of Rooms.
If you know exactly the size of the
house you want. the number of rooms
and the dimensions of the rooms. you
will have yourself and your architect
much work. Remember always. that,
while large rooms are usually deSir-
able. large rooms cannot be put into
small houses. Home builders do not
always realize that low ceilings in n
small house will make the house seem
larger and will be far better to LOOK
at than higher ceilings would be. Be
fore you decide TO have large openings
between your hall and living room,
and the hall and dining room, con-
slider whether you really wish to give
an impression Of space as you enter
your house or do you prefer the cozi-
ness of smaller, more intimate rooms
This you must decide for yourself,
the architect cannot decide these
things for you. The same thing applies
to the placing of the stairs. Do you
want the front stairs right at the
entrance door or would you rather
have them a little distance from the
front door?
When it comes TO the kitchen, is
it not well to have a kitchen of mod
crate size so that steps innumerable
may be saved in doing the homework?
the question Of bedrooms. baths and
sleeping porches and dressing rooms
must be decided. Would we prefer
well-ventilatcd bedrooms or smaller.
darker rooms with sleeping porchcs:
Will we have one bath or more. ard
shall the hall be large or small? All
these things must be decided by the
builder and not by the architect.
Avoid Freak House.
In building house which is Gin
do not try to make it so
unusual that it is ridiculous. There
are so many types fitted to your eli
mate from which to select. that there
seems to be no good reason to build
freak houses.
You may have decided that the
services of an architect are not neces-