La Canada   1948-1952

As we finished going over the various items, he said, "now there will be an additional charge of 10% for my work and profit and then of course there is the 5% overhead." I knew the 10% figure was coming and expected to pay it but I was totally unaware of the 5% for overhead. He explained that the 5% was to cover his costs such as his office (which he had in his home), telephone, etc. I asked him why he didn't tell me to begin with that the charge would be 15% of the costs. He had no ready answer but tried to smooth it all over. He could see that I was rather upset and felt that he had been unfair with me. In a gesture of smoothing my fellings he said that since I felt as I did and because there had been some mix up on the glazing (I had glazed some sash that he had delivered to my house in mistake, that was to be used on another house) he would knock off $150. I had little choice except to sue him and this was out of the question because the costs of building the house had exceeded the estimates by more than $1,000 and I had no money with which to pay it.

I asked Nephi if he would carry the $1,000 for 18 months until I could pay it off. He agreed to do so and under these circumstances I had little alternative but to go along with his loose bookkeeping and increased costs and profits. Looking back, I learned a lesson and will never do business with anyone on that basis again, but will insist that contracts be in writing. On the other hand, we were able to build our house and under other circumstances would not have been able to do so. No contractor would give you a building contract at that time; it was all cost plus and I am sure that Nephi did everything he could to keep costs down and let me do all the work I could handle. Then, too, he took a note for $1,000 which really helped us a lot. The house was a pretty one, quite well built, and we have always enjoyed it and liked it.


YEAR (FILE ) SUBJECT
---- ------- ---------------------------------
1948 (4683) Griffin children at La Canada home
1948 (7006) Griffin children at La Canada home

LA CANADA - THE UNWRITTEN HISTORY

John Griffin's autobiography ends in 1948 as the family moves into the LaCanada house, though the LaCanada period extended 27 years for the remainder of thier lifetime, until 1975. This period of time can be told through photographs, letters, and documents which have been preserved. The early LaCanada years centered around the young family growing up, the development of the Church in the area, and Dorothy's embarkation on a teaching career in LaCanada.

LETTERS
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(L481001) Dorothy Griffin to Maude / LaCanada, CA
(L510731) John Griffin to Mother / LaCanada, CA

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