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FEDERAL HOUSING ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON, D. C. June 13, 1936 Honorable Marriner S. Eccles, Chairman, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, Washington, D. C, My dear Governor: Mr. McDonald has asked me to transmit to you the enclosed copies of a few of the letters Y/hich we have received from various sources concerning our recent bulletin on the Principles of Planning Small Houses• Very truly yours, Miles L* Colean, Technical Director. c 0 p Y JOHNS-MANVILLE Twenty-Two East Fortieth Street, New York, N. Y. May 21, 1936. Mr. Stewart McDonald, Administrator Federal Housing Administration, Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. McDonald: Our Mr. L. R. Hoff has kindly referred a copy of a study made by the Technical Division of the Federal Housing Administration on the subject of lov/ priced houses to the writer for personal consideration. The opportunity to note the results of the careful and scientific approach that your assistants have made to this problem is greatly appreciated. The benefits derived from a careful study of this subject will be invaluable to us in planning our action in the future in connection with residential construction in the low priced field. With appreciation for your interest, I am Very truly yours, JOHMS-MAHVILLE S&LES CORPORATION, P. A. Andrews, Vice President. PORTLAND CEMENT ASSOCIATION 33 West Grand Ave., Chicago. May 21, 1936 File 11-4 Stewart McDonald, Administrator Federal Housing Admini stration Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. McDonald: In Mr* Mehren's absence I am taking this opportunity to acknowledge and thank you for your letter of May 18 enclosing your new technical bulletin "Principles of Planning Small Houses." I have read this bulletin twice and want to congratulate those in your department who are responsible for putting together so much useful information in this publication. I think so much of it that I am arranging to have copies sent to all of the Portland Cement Association fieldmen and district offices. Yours very truly, W# G. Kaiser Manager, Cement Products Bureau COPY F. K. PAXTON COMPANY PINE AND HARDWOOD LUMBER PILING, MILLWOEK PREFRABRICATED BUILDINGS 101 Broadway Knoxville, Tennessee Mr. H. P. Vermilya, Asst. Director Technical Division Federal Housing Administration Washington, D. C. Dear Sir: Please accept our thanks for your Technical Bulletin No* 4> F. H. A. Form No* 2219. We have checked this bulletin and find as follows: House House House House A B C D Your Price $1,200.00 to 1,65O.CO to 1,750.00 to 1,750.00 to $1,500.00 2,000.00 2,100.00 2,100.00 Our Price # 900*00 to 1,200.00 to 1,400.00 to 1,400.00 to $1,200.00 1,600.00 1,700.00 1,700.00 Our price would include the house erected on the site and wherever bath room is provided for, our price includes all bath room fixtures, kitchen sink and two wash tubs together with plumbing and wiring. The water, sewer and electric lines are all brought to outside of building. Our prices are all predicated upon quantity production and we will have to work out some kind of plan whereby these can be marketed in quantities before they can be made available at these prices. If the buyer wishes to erect the house, we will make an appropriate allowance for this purpose. Our prices provide for heavy building paper on both outside and inside of studs with the dead air space filled with rock wool or glass wool. This same insulation is used in the partitions and roof panels. Floors are double and interior is finished in sound red knotted grade of pine using either 1x6, 1x8 or 1x10. Yours very truly, F. K. PAXTON COMPANY FKP:m F. K. Paxton COPY HARLAND BAETHOLOMEW AND ASSOCIATES CITY PLANNERS - CIVIL ENGINEERS - LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS 317 North Eleventh Street Saint Louis, Missouri May 20, 1936 Mr, Miles L. Colean Director Technical Division Federal Housing Administration Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. Colean: Thank you for your letter and copy of Technical Bulletin No, 4-> "Principles of Planning Small Houses," This is an excellent document and one which should be of much practical use to architects, city planners and others interested in the housing problem. You are indeed doing very valuable work in the Federal Housing Administration on matters of this type. If ever this bulletin is reprinted, might I suggest that you give consideration to at least a brief statement with respect to what land might reasonably cost for houses of the types you describe? Would it not also be well to discuss the cost of landscape work? Since you give very careful estimates of house costs it would seem to be well to have a recapitulation for the prospective owner showing both cost of land, cost of house and cost of landscape, I presume the Federal Housing Administration is interested chiefly in individual houses on individual lots because they lend themselves to the making of the type of loans normally made by the FHA. It would be very helpful if someone — probably your department — could publish some material in the form of a bulletin similar to No, 4 relating to group houses. Our people are so accustomed to the individual house on the individual lot that there is a phsychological objection to community housii^g. There are many advantages of community housing, particularly in the low-cost housing field that are not generally understood and appreciated by the great majority of people. There should be more material available for individuals to read and learn of the numerous advantages of community planning and housing. Yours sincerely, Harland Bartholomew COPY TITLE INSURANCE CORPORATION OF ST. LOUIS 810 Chestnut Street St. Louis, Mo. CAPITAL |85O,OOO.OO May 9, 1936 Mr. Stewart McDonald, Administrator Federal Housing Administration, Washington, D. C. Dear Mr. McDonald:I am in receipt of your Technical Bulletin No. 4-, "Principles of Planning Small Houses," and wish to thank you for sending me this. I wish also to compliment your Organization and you personally for having written this brochure. I think it is quite the most sensible thing that I have seen for a long time. Perhaps some of my enthusiasm for this presentation is due to the fact that it is precisely in line with my own ideas on the subject. You will remember that in our recent conversations in Washington, I took up considerable time of the group in stressing the fact that the previous development of your Housing Administration seemed to run to houses which were too expensive for the man of average income, and that you should not continue in the position of encouraging people to go in debt beyond their means, to provide homes which they could not afford. In view of the excellence of this presentation of yours, I think it should be given the widest publicity. I think, for example, that many thousands of these pamphlets should be sent to people who now live in rented quarters and that other publicity should be along the lines of extensive newspaper advertisements. By placing before the public a method of acquiring a home within its means, you will be rendering it the highest type of service, and more important, will not be encouraging people to undertake something which they cannot fulfill. Yours very truly, McCune Gill, Vice-President.