Should this house be our home?

              Be Our
Home?
Next to choosing a wife and a career,
choosing a house ranks among the most
important decisions a man will make
during his lifetime. Sir Winston Chur­chill
put it this way, "First we shape
our buildings, and afterward our build­ings
shape us."
A house represents far more than 10
to 20 tons of building materials. It can
represent a way of life, because it ex­erts
a major influence on how a family
lives. It will also represent a major
financial investment, which will usually
overshadow all other family expendi­tures.
Housing accounts for nearly 30
percent of the average American fam­ily's
living expenses, versus about 25
percent for food.
Beyond the economics of home-buy­ing,
a house can hold enormous per­sonal
meaning to a professional man's
family, and particularly to a wife and
children—the younger the children, the
more so. Obviously, home-buying
should be done logically and sensibly,
with some good knowledge to guide
you. Even if you have bought a house
or two before and think that you are a
seasoned hand at the home-buying
A. M. Watkins, who trained as an engineer,
is a leading writer and consultant in the
homebuilding and housing fields. He is the
author of many magazine articles and four
books on housing and homebuilding. He has
contributed articles to such national maga­zines
as The American Home, Better Homes