Bok found out that these small householders never employed an architect, but that the houses were put up by builders from their own plans.
Bok turned to _The Ladies' Home Journal_ as his medium for making the small-house architecture of America better.

He realized the limitation of space, but decided to do the best he could under the circumstances.
He believed he might serve thousands of his readers if he could make it possible for them to secure, at moderate cost, plans for well-designed houses by the leading domestic architects in the country.

He consulted a number of architects, only to find them unalterably opposed to the idea.

They disliked the publicity of magazine presentation; prices differed too much in various parts of the country; and they did not care to risk the criticism of their contemporaries.

It was "cheapening" their profession! Bok saw that he should have to blaze the way and demonstrate the futility of these arguments.