The Honeywood Files (2 page)

BRASH TO SPINLOVE

Dear Sir (
sic
), 30.1.24.

I am in receipt of your communication and am astounded at your estimated valuation. It is desirable I should finally intimate at once my conclusive inability to contemplate such a monstrously outrageous figure. May I be permitted to mention that though a matter of ten thousand pounds—the difference between the two estimated valuations you give—appears to you to be of no importance, such a sum is of considerable importance to me. My anticipated conception of the cost of the house is ten or twelve thousand pounds. If I consented to expend fourteen thousand on the mansion and garage, etc., that would be an outside maximum figure. I have, as you remind me, to provide for laying out garden, fencing, roads, etc. Then there is water supply, drainage, and electric light to be included in the anticipated total of cost. Have you considered these? Your suggestion that I should expend in all nearly forty thousand pounds is, if you will permit me to say so, preposterous. I must request you to reduce your prices very considerably, for I cannot consent to entertain proposals of such dimensions as those you formulate. I apprehend it is not necessary for me to indite a reply to other matters communicated in your letter, but I may mention that Lady Brash, who is temporarily residing in the neighbourhood, yesterday observed black smoke issuing from the chimney.

Yours faithfully,

We may feel sorry for Spinlove. He is not to blame and he did not deserve to be taken so heavily to task. Such things, however, frequently happen. Brash is disappointed; he is old enough to be Spinlove’s father, and although he does not suppose, as many do, that an architect is a superior kind of builder who submits estimates and then builds, his ideas of the duties of an architect are evidently confused. Spinlove made a mistake in not asking Brash what he meant to spend, and he will not be likely to make that mistake again.

It will, however, be a long time before he has to ask the question, for it is usual for a private owner to bring forward, at the outset, a point so much on his mind as the cost of his project, and it is strange that Brash did not do so. No harm has, however, been done, for Brash has no intention of being unfair, and if Spinlove handles the matter wisely he will rise in Brash’s confidence and esteem.

SPINLOVE TO BRASH

Dear Sir, 2.2.24.

I am sorry my letter caused you disappointment. That would not have happened had I known the sum you wished to spend, for I should then have cut the coat according to the cloth, as the saying is.

May I explain that, given certain materials and a style of building, the cost of a house is in the main determined by its size—by the measure of its cubic contents. On the enclosed sheet I give, approximately, the number and dimensions of the rooms of such a house as might be built for the fourteen thousand pounds you are prepared to lay out. You will see that the house is smaller and more plainly finished than was indicated in the original proposal. Central heating, drainage, water, and electric light services are, of course, included as before. I should mention that until a complete design has been worked out it is impossible to give you a close idea of cost; but if you will let me know what you want to spend I can scheme accordingly.

The round alternative figures I gave you were intended to cover uncertainty of the value of the decorations, fittings, and finishing you intended, which is a matter for you to decide and not for me. I need hardly say that I have no wish to persuade you to spend more than you want to spend. My hope is that I may be able to help you to lay out your money to the best advantage.

Yours faithfully,

Spinlove piqued and on the defensive is a more impressive person than Spinlove ecstatic and full of himself. He has answered Brash effectively. He has put him in the wrong and he has done it neatly, and with politeness and dignity.

BRASH TO SPINLOVE

Dear Sir, 6.2.24.

I am obliged for your letter of February 2nd. The dimensions of the apartments you indicate impress me as much too restricted. I am particularly disappointed in the dimensions of the reception rooms, and I desire at least three more bedrooms. You have included for only two bathrooms: a third is most imperative. I appreciate your theory of the dimensions of the house influencing the cost, but apprehend there must be an erroneous misconception and that a residence of the character you indicate could not possibly involve an expenditure of ￡14,000. If this is so I shall either have to disburse a larger sum or relinquish the ambition of building altogether. Lady Brash yesterday inspected a mansion that might, with suitable alterations, she thinks, accommodate us. Before arriving at a definite decision, however, I enclose a sketch depicting exactly the residence we anticipate we shall require. The arrangement will suit us admirably and if you will draw proper plans following my sketch we shall have something definitely depicted before us. I have not delineated the bedrooms; I leave that to you. I will also desire you to prepare some sort of a picture depicting the exterior view of the house; just a slight sketch will suffice—but Lady Brash particularly desires a
pretty
house. When the plans are drawn I comprehend that it will be admissible for you to indicate a more exactly accurate estimate. You will perceive that the dimensions I have allocated to the various apartments are in excess of those in your last communication but less than was originally desired.

Believe me,

Yours truly,

P.S.
—A friend of ours has recently purchased a charming bungalow on the South Coast, the walls of which are composed of Brikko and the room covered with Slabbo. I have not viewed the edifice myself, but Lady Brash informs me that it is extremely pretty and that residences can be erected with these materials much more inexpensively than with bricks and slates. It occurs to us that you could considerably reduce your price by availing yourself of these substances, and I also understand that their use makes it possible for walls and roofs to exactly match in colour.

It is to be noticed that Brash has climbed down. He evidently regrets his previous asperity, and asks Spinlove to believe that he is his truly. These sensitive tokens of the set of the wind are not to be ignored. It is a frank and cordial letter; the lofty diction which prefers “recently purchased” to “just bought,” and so forth, is the result of success supervening on defective education, and has no significance.

SPINLOVE TO BRASH

Dear Sir, 8.2.24.

Thank you for your letter enclosing sketch. I note your wishes, but there are difficulties which will, I fear, prevent my giving effect to them. For instance, it will scarcely be possible to attempt to make any plan until the position of the house on the site, or at least its aspect, is settled. I am also sorry to say that when your plan is drawn out to scale—that is, when the various walls are arranged in the positions fixed by the dimensions you give—the house will not take the form you indicate, nor, indeed, any practicable form. For example, the front is nearly one-third as long again as the back, so that the gun-room, kitchens, etc., would form an inaccessible wing and the passage marked “private corridor” would be outside the building altogether. It is necessary, too, that all habitable rooms should have windows opening on to the outer air, and even w.c.s and larders must conform to this rule, which is enforceable by law and takes no account of the private tastes of the owner, so that the arrangements, adjoining the room marked “Den,” will have to be completely remodelled. Also, I am afraid, it will be impossible to enter the house from the front door, except, of course, by going up the front stairs and down the back, which cannot be your intention. Up the back stairs and down the front is also the only way the servants can get to the door to answer the bell; moreover, the front stairs could be used to reach the bedrooms only by going out by the back door, or by one of the windows, and in at the front door. I mention these matters in order to make clear why it is impossible for me to adopt your plan, but I will make sketch designs for a house with a S.W. aspect which will give you the accommodation you show and provide, as nearly as may be, the areas you have fixed for the chief rooms.

I do not know either of the building materials you mention. There are a good many new patent materials which may be suitable for cheaply-built bungalows, but which could not be used in such a house as you intend. A uniform colour in walls and roof is a thing to be avoided rather than sought, and I think that the coincidence you refer to is accidental and due to callousness on the part of the builder. I shall hope to send you sketches in the course of the next ten days.

Believe me,

Yours truly,

This letter is a serious error of judgment. One might think that it was facetious and ironical, but the true explanation is, no doubt, that Mr. James Spinlove, a.r.i.b.a., has no sense of humour. He has regarded Brash’s plan as a serious proposal; finds it a hopeless obstacle to all solutions of the problem and with enormous earnestness, sits down to explain why he cannot make use of it. Unfortunately, Brash’s sense of humour—if he ever had any—is squashed flat under the dead weight of that self-importance which gained and supports his knighthood, so that the fat is probably in the fire. Spinlove is starting badly. I feel almost ashamed of him, for he is in a sense my protégé, and I had no idea he could be so foolish. All he had to do was to thank Brash for his plan in a cheery note and take it for what it was worth—namely, for the information it may give of Brash’s needs and prejudices. Spinlove’s design need not follow the other: he will have conclusive explanations for his deviations, but probably no questions will be asked. A client’s plan expresses only nebulous ideas, and the vivid actuality of the architect’s design usually drives it out of remembrance. Spinlove might have made things quite safe for himself by telling Brash, when thanking him for his plan, that he proposed to prepare one himself so that the two might be compared and the best points of each combined in the final scheme. Spinlove, however, did nothing so tactful.

BRASH TO SPINLOVE

Dear Sir, 9.2.24.

I apprehend that it is surely not necessary for me to elucidate that the very rough sketch I transmitted to you to inform you of the mansion I desire was not intended as a maturely conceived proposition. I comprehend very little of “prospect” and “aspect,” and of what is “possible” and “impossible” for an architect, but I know the kind of residence I desire, and I consider that I have in various ways indicated my wishes with sufficiently lucid clearness.

The appropriate relative colours of the walls and roof of an edifice are, I consider, a matter of opinion and not of fact. I have not weighed the proposition and am amenable to guidance by your judgment, but I fail to comprehend why you should be so decisive in condemning buildings materials of which you admit you know nothing.

I await your sketches with interest,

Yours faithfully,

It will be noticed how much more dignified and effective Brash is when his native pepper rules. This letter shows him to be, as Dalbet described him, a real good sort. Spinlove ought to congratulate himself on getting off so lightly, and feel heartened to know the ingenuous nature of the man he has to deal with. I say ought to feel; but unawareness of his own stupidity and his lack of knowledge of men and affairs, have apparently caused this letter to throw him into consternation.

SPINLOVE TO BRASH

Dear Sir, 12.2.24.

You have, I entirely agree, given me the fullest particulars of your requirements, and my last letter was intended only to explain why the plans I am shortly sending you cannot follow the lines of the sketch you were so obliging as to give me, although they will, I trust and believe, fulfil its intentions. I very much regret that unfortunately I do not appear to have made this clear to you.

I ought also to have explained in commenting on “Brikko” and “Slabbo” that it is important, as I am sure you will agree, that the materials of which your house is built should be strong and that they should last. For this reason it is advisable to use in your house only materials which are known by experience to endure. Cheaply-built bungalows are in quite a different category, as I need, I think, scarcely point out.

The traditional association of bricks and tiles with the architecture of houses also makes it necessary to use bricks and tiles to give architectural character to your house. The substitution of unusual materials for such a purpose would create great difficulties in design, and the result would be certain to disappoint you greatly.

Yours faithfully,

It was not necessary for Spinlove to prostrate himself so completely, but the fault, if any, is on the right side. There is a respect due to years, and if Brash had any suspicion that Spinlove’s offending letter was facetious he is now disabused. Brash does not appear to have replied, for we next find:

SPINLOVE TO BRASH

Dear Sir, 19.2.24.

I send you to-day under separate cover sketch plans and perspective view of the proposed house. The sizes of the rooms are figured, and I hope the arrangements will be clear to you. The small scale block-plan shows the position on the site. These drawings are intended only as preliminary sketches, but they will at least serve to reduce the problem to practical issues. To the best of my judgment the building shown will cost ￡19,500. I do not think that the cost need be higher, but I do not think it will be much less.

Yours faithfully,

These preliminary sketches, it is to be noticed, show a smaller house than Brash wants, do not follow his pet ideas of plan arrangement, and the estimate is 40 percent more than he wants to spend. Brash also has in mind to give up the idea of building altogether and adapt an existing house. Spinlove, therefore, for whom this commission is a big opportunity, must feel considerable anxiety. Such positions frequently occur, anything may happen and no one could foretell what. A rise in stocks or a badly-cooked breakfast may settle the question one way or another. Apparently there was a rise in stocks.