IV. VALUATION OF PROPERTY.

The valuations in which the architect is consulted are properly only those wherein buildings have been or may be erected; from which if he wander, the probability is that he will create difficulty for himself, tending to exhibit him as a pretender to knowledge not within the regular course of his occupation. The general principles, therefore, on which we propose to touch, are confined to the species of property above named, as distinguished from that in which the resident valuator near the spot in the different provinces is the best adviser, from the local knowledge he possesses. The auctioneers who with unblushing effrontery pretend to a knowledge of the value of property in the metropolis, are utterly incompetent to the duties they undertake, from an ignorance of the durability and cost of buildings, which can be attained by the practice and experience of the architect only.

Buildings may be so disadvantageously placed on their sites as to realise nothing like a proper interest on the money expended in their erection; and, indeed, so as altogether to destroy even the great value of the ground on which they are built. Thus, to place before the reader extreme cases, which generally best illustrate a subject, let him suppose a row of hovels built in Piccadilly, and a house like Apsley House placed in Wapping High Street. In both cases the productive value of the ground is destroyed, there being no inhabitants for such dwellings in the respective quarters of the town. From this it must be evident that the value of town or city property, which consists principally of buildings, is divisible into two parts; namely,

That arising from the value of the soil or site; and

That which arises from the value of the buildings placed upon it.

We will suppose for a house which is fairly let at a rent of 100l. per annum, no matter what the situation of it be, that it could be built for 1000l., and that the proprietor or builder would be content with 7 per cent. for the outlay of his money, a rate by no means larger than he would be entitled to claim, seeing that the letting, after it is built, is a matter of speculation, and that loss of tenants and other casualties may temporarily deprive him of the interest of his capital. In this case, then, the rent of the mere building

would be 701.; and as the full rent assumed is 100%.,

100-70=30, which is manifestly the value of the ground or ground rent.

Thus in the cases of valuation of freeholds, wherein the gross rent can be accurately ascertained, there can be no difficulty in coming at the real value of the ground rent, because the building rent, or that arising from the expenditure of money on the soil, can be immediately ascertained by the architect, with the rate of interest on it which it is fit the builder should have. The remainder of the rent is that inseparably attached to the value of the soil, and belongs to the ground landlord.

The reason for thus separating the two rents is this: the ground rent, attached as it is to the soil, is imperishable. It is true that the value of ground is constantly fluctuating from the power of fashion over certain localities; but with this the valuator cannot deal. The changes are slow; and the Lord Shaftesbury in the time of Charles II. would have little thought it possible, when he placed his residence in Aldersgate Street, that his successors would have dwelt in a house in Grosvenor Square; neither, even five and twenty years ago, did it cross the mind of the then possessor of the Grosvenor property that the Five Fields at Chelsea contained a mine of wealth in the ground rents of Belgrave and Eaton Squares. Such are the mutations of property, with which the present question is not involved, unless the gift of foresight, in a degree not to be expected, be given to the valuator. The other portion of the value of house property is strictly the result of the perishable part of it, namely, the building itself; and this is limited by the durability of the building, which has great relation to the time it has already existed, and to the substantiality with which it has been constructed. The durability, then, or the number of years a building will continue to realise the rent, is the second ingredient in a valuation, and is a point upon which none but an experienced person can properly decide.

The rate of interest which the buyer is content to obtain in the investment of his money in buildings, or, in other words, in the purchase of the perishable annuity arising from the building, will necessarily vary with the value of money in the market. In the compensation cases under public improvements, wherein it is obligatory on the owner to part with his property, the 5 per cent. rate of the table is generally used, by which the buyer makes too little interest on the perishable part of the property. Few would be inclined to invest money in such property at so low a rate, for a rent which every year, from wear and tear, becomes less valuable. Individuals understanding the subject would scarcely be found to purchase, unless they could make at least 7 per cent. for this part of the capital. In the cases above mentioned, twenty-five years' purchase, that is, 4 per cent., is the usual price at which the ground rent is taken.

We will, having thus prepared the student, present an example of a valuation conducted on the principles named. Thus, suppose a building and the ground on which it stands to be together worth 150% per annum, and that its durability is such that a purchaser may count on receiving that rent during a term of fifty years. We will suppose

the house to stand upon a plot of ground 24 feet in frontage, and 60 feet in depth; that the size of the house is 24 feet by 40 feet, and that to build a similar one would cost 1440l., which, at a rate of 7 per cent. upon the expenditure, would produce a building rent of 100l. 16s. per annum.

We therefore here have the imperishable part, viz. the ground, of the
value of 491. 4s. per annum, which, giving the purchaser 4 per cent.
interest for his money, is twenty-five years' purchase for the fee-simple
by the Fourth Table, that is
An annuity (from the building) of 100%. 16s., to continue for fifty years,
is, by the Fourth Table at 5 per cent., worth 18-256 years' purchase,
that is

1840 0 11

The value of the old materials at the end of the term, if taken to be pulled down and sold for 150l., will be that sum at the end of fifty years to be received at the present time, discounting at 5 per cent. from the Second Table 1107 × 150

Total value of the freehold

In the above valuation the ground estimated by its frontage would be and ground is usually let by the foot when demised for building.

The next case of valuation is that of a beneficial lease, in which the rent paid by the lessee is less than the actual value of the premises. The difference between them, therefore, is an annuity for the term of the lease, which is so much benefit to the lessee, and is estimated by the Fourth Table; thus,

Suppose the actual value of given premises be
Rent reserved by the lessor

Beneficial annuity belonging to the lessee

£100

50

£50

If the term of the lease be twenty-one years, such is the length of the annuity, and the question stands as under:

An annuity for twenty-one years, discounting at 5 per cent., is by the Fourth
Table worth 12-8211 years' purchase, which multiplied by 501.

It is to be observed that the annuities must be clear after the deduction of all outgoings which may be necessary to keep it unencumbered.

In the valuation of warehouses, the only safe method of coming at the value of a rental is by the quantity of goods or tonnage they will contain, after leaving proper gangways, and not overloading the floors. In corn warehouses, however, the grain being distributed over the surface of the floor, the squares of floor are taken to come at the contents. Goods warehoused are paid for to the warehouseman usually at a weekly or monthly rent; and it is commonly considered that the profit he should make ought to be one half of the rent he pays to the landlord, so that in fact two thirds of the actual rent realised goes to the proprietor, and the other third to the warehouseman or lessee. The following is a table of the space occupied by different goods :

The mean of the above is 38 853 cube feet to a ton; and, indeed, 40 feet is the usual allowance taken by warehousemen, 35 feet being that calculated in shipping.

Thus, a

Sugar in hogsheads will be found to be about 69 cube feet to the ton. hogshead 3 ft. 6 in. high, 3 ft. 4 in. diameter at the ends, and 3 ft. 11 in. in the middle, weighs about 15 cwt.

The following are the usual dimensions and weights of tea in the chests, which, however, are not always uniform : —

Wheat, taking the average weight of a Winchester bushel at 60 lbs., will give 48-13 cube feet to a ton.

In the valuation of leases held on lives, the operation, after bringing the rent to a clear annuity, is conbucted by means of the sixth, seventh, and eighth tables, as the case may require.

A

GLOSSARY OF TERMS USED BY ARCHITECTS ;

ALSO

A LIST OF THE PRINCIPAL ARCHITECTS

OF ALL TIMES AND COUNTRIES, ALPHABETICALLY ARRANGED,

AND

A CATALOGUE OF THE MOST USEFUL WORKS ON ARCHITECTURE.

ABACISCUS.

A.

A word sometimes used as synonymous with abacus, but more correctly applied to a square compartment enclosing a part or the entire pattern or design of a Mosaic pavement.

ABACUS. (Gr. Abağ, a slab.) The upper member of the capital of a column, and serving as a crowning both to the capital and to the whole column. It is otherwise defined by some as a square table, list, or plinth in the upper part of the capitals of columns, especially of those of the Corinthian order, serving instead of a drip or corona to the capital, and supporting the nether face of the architrave, and the whole trabeation. In the Tuscan, Doric, and ancient Ionic orders, it is a flat square member, well enough resembling the original title; whence it is called by the French tailloir, that is, a trencher, and by the Italians credenza. In the richer orders it parts with its original form, the four sides or faces of it being arched or cut inwards, and ornamented in the middle of each face with a rose or other flower, a fish's tail, &c.; and in the Corinthian and Composite orders it is composed of an ovolo, a fillet, and a cavetto. The word is used by Scamozzi to signify a concave moulding in the capital of the Tuscan pedestal. ABATE, NICHOLAS. See ARCHITECTS, list of, 240.

ABATON. (Gr. Abarov, an inaccessible place.) A building at Rhodes, mentioned by Vitruvius, lib. ii., entrance whereof was forbidden to all persons, because it contained a trophy and two bronze statues erected by Artemisia in memory of her triumph in surprising the city.

ABATTOIR. (Fr. Abattre, to knock down.) A building appropriated to the slaughtering of cattle. See p. 797.

ABBEY. (Fr. Abbaïe.) Properly the building adjoining to or near a convent or monastery, for the residence of the head of the house (abbot or abbess). It is often used for the church attached to the establishment, as also for the buildings composing the whole establishment. In such establishments the church was usually grand, and splendidly decorated. They had a refectory, which was a large hall in which the monks or nuns had their meals; a guest hall, for the reception and entertainment of visitors; a parlour or locutory, where the brothers or sisters met for conversation; a dormitory, an almonry, wherefrom the alms of the abbey were distributed; a library and museum; a prison for the refractory, and cells for penance. The sanctuary was rather a precinct than a building, in which offenders were, under conditions, safe from the operation of the law. Granges, or farm buildings, and abbatial residences. Schools were usually attached for the education of youth, with separate accommodations for the scholars. A singing school, a common room, with a fire in it, for the brothers or sisters to warm themselves, no other fire being allowed, except in the apartments of the higher officers. A mint, for coining, and a room called an exchequer. The abbey was always provided with a churchyard, a garden, and a bakehouse. The sacristy contained the garments of the priests, and the vessels, &c.; vestiaria or wardrobes being assigned for the monks. Many of the ordinary duties of these persons were performed in the cloisters where they delivered their lectures.

ABELE TREE. A species of white poplar, enumerated among woods by Vitruvius (book ii.

chap. ix.) as being, in many situations, serviceable from its "toughness," and also from its colour and lightness fitting it for carvings.

ABREUVOIR. (Fr.) A watering-place for horses. In masonry it is the joint between two stones, or the interstice to be filled up with mortar or cement, when either are to be used.

ABSCISS, OF ABSCISSA. (Lat. Ab and Scindo.) A geometrical term, denoting a segment cut off from a straight line by an ordinate to a curve.

ABSIS. See APSIS.

ABSTRACT. A term in general use among artificers, surveyors, &c. to signify the collecting together and arranging under a few distinct heads the various small quantities of different articles which have been employed in any work, and the affixing of a price to determinate portions of each, as per square, per foot, per pound, &c., for the purpose of more expeditiously and conveniently ascertaining the amount. See p. 620, et seq. ABUSE. A term applied to those practices in architecture which, arising from a desire of innovation, and often authorised by custom, tend to unfix the most established principles, and to corrupt the best forms, by the vicious way in which they are used. Palladio has given a chapter on them in his work. He reduces them to four principal ones: the first whereof is the introduction of brackets or modillions for supporting a weight; the second, the practice of breaking pediments so as to leave the centre part open; third, the great projection of cornices; and, fourth, the practice of rusticating columns. Had Palladio lived to a later day, he might have greatly increased his list of abuses, as Perrault has done in the following list: the first whereof is that of allowing columns and pilasters to penetrate one another, or be conjoined at the angles of a building. The second, that of coupling columns, which Perrault himself in the Louvre has made almost excusable; the third, that of enlarging the metopa in the Doric order, for the purpose of accommodating them to the intercolumniations; the fourth, that of leaving out the tailloir in the inferior part of the modern Ionic capital; the fifth, that of running up an order through two or three stories, instead of decorating each story with its own order; the sixth, that of joining, contrary to the practice of the ancients, the plinth of the column to the cornice of the pedestal, by means of an inverted cavetto; the seventh, the use of architrave cornices; the eighth, that of breaking the entablature of an order over a column, &c. &c.

ABUTMENT. (According to some, from the French aboutir, to abut, among whom the learned Spelman; but according to others, from the Saxon abutan, about.) The solid part of a pier from which the arch immediately springs. Abutments are artificial or natural: the former are usually formed of masonry or brickwork, and the latter are the rock or other solid materials on the banks of the river, in the case of a bridge, which receive the foot of the arch. It is obvious that they should be of sufficient solidity and strength to resist the thrust of the arch. See p. 401, et seq., and ARCH in this glossary. ABUTTALS. The buttings or boundings of land.

ACANTHUS. (Aкaveоs, a spine.) A spiny herbaceous plant found in various parts of the Levant. Its leaf is said by Vitruvius to have been the model on which the Grecian architects formed the leaves of the Corinthian capital. See p. 61.

ACER. (Celt. Ac, a point; Lat. Acer, sharp.) A genus of trees comprehending the maple and sycamore, the wood whereof is not of much value. That of the acer campestre furnishes the cabinet-makers with what they call bird's-eye maple.

ACCESSES. See PASSAGE. ACCIDENTAL POINT. In perspective, the point in which a straight line drawn from the eye parallel to another straight line cuts the perspective plane. It is the point wherein the representations of all straight lines parallel to the original straight line concur when produced. Its name is adopted to distinguish it from the principal point or point of view. See PERSPECTIVE, p. 649, et seq.

ACOUSTICS. (Gr. Akouw, to hear.) The doctrine or theory of sounds, as applicable to buildings. See p. 801, et seq., THEATRE.

ACROPOLIS. (Gr. Aкрos and Пoλis, city.) The upper town or citadel of a Grecian city, usually the site of the original settlement, and chosen by the colonists for its natural strength. The most celebrated were those of Athens, Corinth, and Ithome, whereof the two latter were called the horns of the Peloponnesus, as though their possession could secure the submission of the whole peninsula.

ACKOTERIA. (Gr. Akpwτnpiov, the extremity of anything.) The pedestals, often without base or cornice, placed on the centre and sides of pediments for the reception of figures. Vitruvius says that the lateral acroteria ought to be half the height of the tympanum, and the apex acroterium should be an eighth part more. No regular proportion, however, is observable in Grecian buildings.

The word acroterium is applied to the ridge of a building; it has also been used to signify the statues on the pedestals; but it is only to these latter that it is strictly applicable. The word has moreover been given to the small pieces of wall in balus