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BUILDERS
NEW YORK, JANUARY 25, 1913
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TENDENCIES IN MODERN DEVELOPING |
By WILLIAM HERBERT
Large-Scale Methods of
Operating Have Brought
About Better Designed
and Cheaper Houses.
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IN the last article of this series a
sketch -was given of the conditions
which have determined the prevailing
tendencies in suburban development. It
wa.s pointed out that as a consequence
III the active sul)url)an movement in
IVO.S ;ind 1906, followed by the panic of
19(17, competition among development'
companies became severer than ever be¬
fore. Those companies whose manage¬
ment was most enterprising and which
could command sufficient capital inau¬
gurated a systematic policy of creating
a demand for their property by making
il easier and more attractive to live in
the suburbs. They began not merely to
sell lots but also to build and sell houses,
and once this practice was started they
were compelled to make a very careful
and intelligent study of the needs of
their customers. Every one who has
followed the course of suburban devel¬
opment at New York will admit that as
a result of this study a real advance has
been made, botli in the conveniences of
sul)urban life and in the standards of
construction and design of suburban
houses.
Tha development company erecting
houses for sale was obliged to meet ac¬
tive competition from two sources and
a powerful latent competition from a
third source. It was obliged to meet
the competition of other companies,
some of which controlled large capital
and were managed by ingenious and
able men. It was obliged to meet the
competition of the ordinary speculative
builder of houses in the newer residen¬
tial districts of the outlying boroughs.
It was obliged, finally, to satisfy many
customers who had been accustomed to
an exacting standard of convenience es¬
tablished in their mind by long famil¬
iarity with New York apartments. The
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Other Changes of the Last
Few Years Have Also Been
Very Favorable to Buy¬
ers of Suburban Property.
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HESinEXCE OP FRED A. FLAGG. AT
MURRAY HILL.
Hut, particularly the cheaper sort, is
(ifteu siu;ill and dark; but, from the rne-
chanical point of view, it makes life
very easy for the housekeeper, and a
housekeeper who has been accustomed
to all the latest expedients for econo¬
mizing labor will not readily return to a
method of living which demands a
larger expenditure for hired service or
a greater exertion ot her own strength.
These various sources of competition
made it necessary for the development
companies to individualize their houses
and make them particularly attractive.
Their advantage over the speculative
builder consisted in the fact that they
could oflfer to their customers houses
which were not so monotonous in loca¬
tion and appearance as the ordinary
run of houses built in rows. At the
same time, these residences must con¬
form to prevailing standards of taste
and conveniences; and must be offered
at prices which would make a customer
believe that, even though he was paying
a little more for his dwelling, he was
getting more for his money. He was
getting a house in which he could take
some pride and which was more likely
to increase in value.
The consequence was that, as com¬
pared to the ordinary speculative build¬
er, the development companies began
ti. employ a higher grade of architect¬
ural ability and training. They did not,
of course, usually engage the services of
high-priced architects, such, for in¬
stance, as a man would employ who
was building a house in the country at
a cost of $50,000. In a few cases archi¬
tects of this class were employed with
some success to design unusually ex¬
pensive houses, but as a rule their ser¬
vices are not available, both because
they charge more than their market
value to the company and because they
are reluctant to accept conditions which
are imposed by the necessity of finan¬
cial success. In and around New York,
however, there are a large number of
young and well-trained architectural de¬
signers, with plenty of ability and taste,
but not over burdened either with
money or reputation. They may be
practicing themselves in a small way or
they may have obtained valuable ex¬
perience in the employ of their more
successful colleagues. In either event,
they are glad to do some designing on
their own account under certain general
conditions imposed by the management
of the development companies. It is
young men belonging to this class who
have been largely responsible for the
design of attractive houses erected in
sucli large numbers of late years in
many of the suburbs near New York.
These houses undoubtedly are, on the
average, better-looking, more conveni¬
ently planned, better constructed and
cheaper than they would have been in
case they had been erected by the indi-
THE XEW ROCHELLE TENNIS CLUB, AT WYKAGYL.