Some company builds machines that make buttons. One of those machines lasts (say) 20 years. The machine is not buttons; the machine provides buttons. The com

Some company builds machines that make buttons. One of those machines lasts (say) 20 years. The machine is not buttons; the machine provides buttons. The company sort of provides buttons, but at one step removed. We say that machine is an asset. The machine is eventually "used up" over its lifetime, but that doesn't make it "consumable" in the sense used here - that's true of many assets (we call it "depreciation"). I think "house as button machine" is a consistent model that matches dragonwriter's usage.