Local Catalogue Homes
The turn of the 20th Century brought about major changes in American
homes. Plumbing, electricity, and phone service were becoming
standard for new construction. At the same time, railroad and
automobile transportation enabled catalogue merchants to distribute
their catalogues by mail and ship items to homeowners who may
have had limited access to such a wide variety of goods in the
past. The mechanization of the lumber industry and the growth
of city populations made it possible and profitable for catalogue
merchants to start offering house plans and entire precut homes
for sale.
Typically a kit home was shipped by train, so they tend to be
found in towns with rail service. Along with a set of plans and
instructions, they came complete with structural lumber, flooring,
trimwork, doors, windows, heating systems, cabinetry, light and
plumbing fixtures, shingles, nails, and even paint. Usually any
brick or concrete block to be used was purchased locally. Customers
could either hire a contractor to put it all together or else
build it themselves. They also had the option of purchasing the
plans only and then using the materials list to buy the parts
locally.
Because catalogue merchants wanted to sell in volume, they offered
products that would appeal to a wide variety of consumers. For
this reason, kit homes are very similar to other homes of the
time, such as bungalows, foursquares, and cottages. The quality
of materials and designs they used were comparable to other homes
of the era. It is the particular combination of details such as
precise size, room layout, window and door location, roof design,
and porches that makes a house a likely candidate for having been
ordered by catalogue. Sometimes hardware or structural lumber
was stamped with the manufacturer’s name or a code number;
this can be an additional clue. Unfortunately, most of the manufacturers’
records are gone, so determining whether or not a home was ordered
by mail can be a bit like solving a mystery!
The following area homes were noted in a windshield survey on
May 11, 2004 by Sears home expert Rose Thornton, author of The
Houses That Sears Built. These are homes that appear to be
designs from one of four major manufacturers: Sears Roebuck (Chicago),
Gordon-Van Tine (Davenport), Lewis, and Aladdin (both of Bay City,
Michigan). Please note that further research would be needed to
verify whether or not these are indeed kit homes.
Burlington
1100 S. Eighth Sears “Hamilton”
522 S. Ninth Sears “Carlin”
551 S. Tenth Sears #147
2200 S. Tenth Gordon-Van Tine “Mercer”
717 S. Twelfth Gordon-Van Tine #511
1701 S. Thirteenth Sears “Vallonia”
1407 S. Garfield Aladdin “Stratford”
2401 Gnahn Sears “Crescent”
403 Gratton Sears “Starlite”
2101 Gratton Sears “Claremont”
828 S. Leebrick Gordon-Van Tine “Gilmore”
1914 Louisa Sears “Crescent”
2201 Madison Sears “Bryant”
2237 Madison Gordon-Van Tine “Patrician”
1101 South Lewis “Malvern”
1103 South Lewis “Malvern”
1102 S. Starr Sears “Avondale”
1406 S. Starr Gordon-Van Tine “Gilmore”
1007 Summer Sears “Oakdale”
2127 Summer Gordon-Van Tine “Santa Rosa”
West Burlington
405 Spring Gordon-Van Tine #507
406 Spring Gordon-Van Tine #507
410 Spring Gordon-Van Tine # 502
412 Spring Gordon-Van Tine #502
Yarmouth
20493 Eastern Sears “Altona”
Here are links for further information on kit home manufacturers
of the first half of the 20th Century:
Information and
links about Sears homes
Online archives
of Aladdin homes
In addition, a number of catalogue reprints are available.
