When You "Build for Permanence" Build Far Enough Out

By Jack Dionne

This is NOT an argument against "Building For Per.manence." Not by any means. It is simply a side light on the subject that was brought home forcefully to me the other day while looking over a fast growing city.

A wise old lumberman was driving me around his town, showing me the growth and development and particularly, of course, the building that was going on in the city.

We drove along one of the main streets. We were just a little over a mile from the heart of town. He pulled up in front of a place where a crew of men and wagons were busily engaged in tearing down a good looking brick house. And it was THEN that I grabbed this idea.

"Just seven years ago," said my lumber friend philosophically-and I knew that a story was coming-"just seven years ago the man who owns that house had me help him with his plans for building it. I wanted to build him a colonial frame structure. But he would not have it. 'We build too temporarily when we build homes in this country,' he said to me. 'I like the European idea of building permanent homes, and I am going to build one that will be there and in good shape a hundred years from now.' So he built THAT home that those men are tearing down. Five years from the time it was completed, there was a garage across the corner. A year later there was a garage next door. Then came a grocery stor€ across in the other direction. So he has moved a couple of miles fartheJ out, and the home he built to last a hundred years,,js cqsting;e lot of money to wreck, because he built it solid, to gtqy."

The wise old lumberman looked at me with a twi+kle in his eye,and said: "So you see there.are two si'des to this permanent building idea. The house I suggested wou!fl have cost only two-thirds of what he paid for that one, and it would have cost less than one-half as much to get rid of it. It might have been moved off and sold. As it is, his home inves{ment at the end of seven years, is a total loss.'l lst Moral: If you would build your home for permanence, be sure and build it a long way out and in the RIGHT direction.

'l'lre result of that talk lvas that I have been looking with new eyes over the towns I have visited recently, to see how much of this same thing is being done. Try it, brother. fn every growing city you visit you will findnot several-hundreds of excellent homes in the same situation. They look lovely, and give fine satisfaction. . But soon the business district creeps out and surrounds them, and the next thing you know the home is a total loss.as such, and has to go to make room for a business building. It is the history of all growing cities.

2nd Moral: Remember that Washington's home-all wood-stands in perfect condition at Mount Vernon.