If you want something that offers more oppor­tunity for gracious living, for a more leisurely ap­proach to life, for a different type of entertaining, or perhaps you just want a view, what you want to do is to build a house (your own house).

If you want things the way you want them, if you are not satisfied with the average house, if you want luxury but can't afford to pay too much of a premium for it, if you do not like so much uni­formity, if you are a rugged individualist (alas, the breed is getting scarce), if you do not like the same level lots, the same lack of imagination shown in the design of tract houses, the stereotyped way of living associated with subdivisions, you want to build a house.

Owning a home gives a feeling of permanence and security to a family that a hired stopping place can never give. There is great satisfaction in planting a shrub or painting a wall, or just placing the first brick to build a house and knowing that you are doing it for yourself and not for someone else. When you own the house, you can stay long enough in one place to get the benefit of your work. You can locate a good garden spot and not feel that the fer­tilizer you put on it will do more good for the next tenant than it will do for you. The trees you plant will grow for you and not for the landlord.

If you like to live in your own house, if your home is your castle, if you would rather be home than anywhere else, if a family enjoys being together, if a holiday can be spent leisurely at home instead of dashing madly about the country seeking excite­ment, if you would like to raise a few flowers and enjoy gardening, if you like to entertain friends at home instead of taking them to the restaurant, if you like to sit around your own fire in the winter eve­nings, if living is more than mere existence to you, if you have children and they want pets, if you want your children to enjoy their home, to be proud of the place where they live, to grow up feeling that home is the most blessed place on earth, if these things are important to you, then you need to build a house of your own on a good-sized lot.

Although not everyone can build a house on a large lot in an idyllic country setting, over­looking mountains or lakes and still have it accessi­ble enough for everyday living, a few can. Why not be one of the few?

Even if a lot more thinking and a lot more work will be required to build a house, when you consider how many years you will have to work to pay for the house you buy, perhaps in the long run there is actually less work in building your own house in the first place.