Better Homes And Gardens February 1998

Guide to Kit Houses & Homes
List of Manufacturers of Kit Homes
How to Identify Kit Houses

• POST a QUESTION or COMMENT about kit homes: sources, history, identification, repair, inspection

InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website.

List of Kit Home Manufacturers in North America and other locations.

This article lists the manufacturers of kit or catalog homes sold in the United States and provides links to additional references, kit home identification, kit or catalog home restoration and repairs, and kit home architectural and hardware details, markings, and stencils.

Benefiting from Hunter's work as well as our own search we list a number of kit or catalog home manufacturers here.

We also provide an ARTICLE INDEX for this topic, or you can try the page top or bottom SEARCH BOX as a quick way to find information you need.

A List of Manufacturers of Kit Homes and their Identification Markings

We've had modest success finding details about other kit home companies selling in the United States and Canada and have made a few additions (found below) to a list complied by Rebecca Hunter. She lists a variety of kit house companies.

[Click to enlarge any image]

• Aladdin Kit Homes: Aladdin Kit Home company (originally the North American Construction Co., Ltd.) operated between 1906 and 1981 in the U.S. Details are
  at ALADDIN KIT HOUSES. Aladdin Readi-Cut Homes: Beating Sears to the kit home market, Aladdin, in Bay City Michigan, 1906-1981 began selling kits in 1906. The company sold "pre-cut" home kits to build cottages and later arts-and-crafts homes.

  In Canada Aladdin kit homes were sold by the Canadian Aladdin Company (originally the Sovereign Construction Company), Canada's largest mail-order kit home company in Toronto with offices in St. John, Winnipeg and Vaqncouver and with production lumber mills in Ontario, New Brunswic, and B.C..

  Also see Sterling Kit Homes and Lewis Liberty Kit Homes below. The American Aladdin Kit Home company and Sterling and Lewis-Liberty companies eventually merged. 35 kit home models were available in 1949. Over 75,000 homes were sold by Aladdin. By the 1960's delivery of these kit homes shifted from rail to truck delivery, which may mean that there will be more homes of this vintage and later built further from rail stations.

  Rebecca Hunter says that Aladdin Readi Cut homes and also Lewis and Sterling Kit homes (see below) may be identified by grease pencil markings on lumber:

  "Company numbers are handwritten in grease pencil, usually in the middle of a board. They consist of numerals, usually hyphenated in groups of 2 or 3. Some of the numbers are fractions, e.g. 42-18-11 3/4. Part names may be stamped in ink." [Note: this is not the case for all Aladdin Kit homes, as we demonstrate at ALADDIN KIT HOUSES where stencilled markings are indicated on building framing and sheathing - Ed.]

  More about Canadian Kit Homes is in Henry, Les, Mail-order Houses, at the Canadian Museum of History, http://www.historymuseum.ca/

• B.C. Mills Timber and Trading Company Kit Homes, Vancouver Canada, shipped both houses and pre-cut banks and commercial buildings from 1904 - 1911.

Shown here: a Bennett DuraBilt kit home, the Danbury. [Click to enlarge any image]

• Bennett Kit Homes: Better-built Kit Homes & Ready-Cut Kit Homes were sold by the Bennet Home and Lumber Company was founded by Ray H. Bennett in North Tonawanda NY 1902- ca 1935.

  Online discussions include a 1926 Bennett Homes Kit house, in Clarence NY,a book upcoming by Dale Wolicki, and some catalog photos at http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/1920-Bennett/ which cites that "Bennett Homes are concentrated in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, as well as into the upper Midwest."

  Sources of information for Bennett Kit homes include

  Forgotten Buffalo Website, Ray H. Bennett Homes of North Tonawanda NY, photos of Ray H. Bennett homes, Web page: http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/forgottenbflofeatures/rayhbennetthome.html

  Harris, Richard. "The talk of the town: kit manufacturers negotiate the building industry, 1905-1929." Journal of urban history 36, no. 6 (2010): 868-896.

  North Tonawanda History Museum, Ray Bennett Lumber Co., 712 Oliver Street, North Tonawanda, NY 14120 USA, at Niagara Falls, Website: https://www.niagarafallsusa.com/directory/north-tonawanda-history-museum/ The current museum website is not much help, hard to find, poor online presence, but this museum previously hosted photographs and historical information about the Ray Bennett Lumber Co.

• Better Homes & Gardens House Plans: Better Homes & Gardens, or BHG, in partnershipo with TheHouseDesigners and a part of the Meredith Corporation, is a contemporary seller of house plans and blueprints for more than 4000 house designs. BHG has been a provider of house plans in the U.S. since the1930's (Bild-Cost home plans), continuing with BHG's Five Star House Plans in the 1950's and still active selling house plans today: Website: http://houseplans.bhg.com/

  In earlier incarnations, Better Homes & Gardens has a long history in the home improvement and remodeling indujstry including remodeling competitions begun with a 1932 "How We Rebuilt" contest. (Goldstein 1998). In the 1950's BHG also provided suggestions for the construction of fallout shelters. (Lichtman 2006).

  Our research has not found records of BHG ever selling kit homes. [Citations welcome]

• Bilt-Well Kit Homes, Bilt-Well Mill Work Co. Beginning in 1866, Bilt-Well, a Peoria, Illinois company, produced millwork, including cabinetry, doors, windows, trim, as well as kit homes. See this

  BILT-WELL MILL WORK DESIGN BOOK NO. 55 [PDF] (1937)

...

Above: a Bilt-Well kit home, # BW-4246 and BW-4247, and an example of millwork produced by Bilt-Well Millwork Co.

[Click to enlarge any image]

Below: a Colt Houses Timber Framed Home Kit Home produced by WH Colt & Son.

• COLT HOUSES (1954), [PDF, 2.1 MB] provided here including the example just above, is a document containing house plans produced by W.H. Colt & Son, Ltd., Bethersden Nr. Ashford, Kent. In 1954, Colt timber houses, manufactured by Colt at the company's factory in the Kentish Weald had been sold since 1930.

  By 1954 ColtTimber-Frame Houses had b een under production for 30 years.

  The company described their homes as: "... they must not be considered as resembling ordinary "prefabs." When erected, each house has an individual character and there is no feeling of mass production or standardisation." - courtesy of Building Technology Heritage Library, produced by the Association for Preservation Technology, is a superb resource for old building researchers, owners, or restorers. website: https://archive.org/details/buildingtechnologyheritagelibrary

  Reference: W.H. Colt & Co., Colt Houses, 1954, Also see information about modern Colt houses in the U.K. at http://colthouses.co.uk/

Below: Page from a 1925 Dodds Kit House Catalog.

• Dodds Homes, ca 1914 by Everett S. Dodds, a Nebraska home designer, produced a plan book of affordable ($3000 - $5000) house designs. From our research Dodds produced home designs, probably a number of which were built in Nebraska, but not actual kit-homes.

  more information is
  at the Nebraska History blog https://history.nebraska.gov/blog/do-you-have-dodds-pattern-book-house-your-neighborhood
  and
  at antiquehome.org and at "the daily bungalow"
  and
  at the Association for Preservation Technology (APT)

• Eaton Catalogue Homes, provided by the T. Eaton Company in western Canada were provided from about 1904 through 1939.
  More information: See Henry, Les, Mail-order Houses, a http://www.historymuseum.ca/

  At above / left, a page from a 1940's Eaton Kit Home catalog showing home No. 678.

[Click to enlarge any image]

• Fenner Factory Cut Homes, North Portland, Oregon, provided kit homes between 1912 and 1928. Shown above: the Fenner "Columbia" kit home.

Below: a Gordon Van Tine Company Kit Home, the Brentood

• Gordon Van Tine Catalog Homes: Ready-Cut Kit Homes Davenport Iowa 1907 (perhaps 1912) to 1946 or 1947 (depending on source).

  Gordon VanTine kit home catalog pages like the page from a 1931 catalog shown above indicate that the company was founded in 1865.

  For identifying marks on Gordon Van Tine Catalog Homes see notes at Montgomery Wards Kit Homes just below.

  See http://www.gordonvantine.com/ for more about the Gordon-Van Tine Company.

Below: a Harris Kit Home.

• Harris Homes: a Chicago company in business from 1913 to 1960, perhaps selling kit homes between 1912 and 1925. Ms. Hunter [see references below] indicates that Harris Kit Homes may be identified by markings on framing: "numbers are stenciled in ink, often in the middle of a board, and may be numerals alone, or numerals and letters, or Roman numerals. E.g. 76, HR 50, RI 32 or AII.

  Home model number and/or order number may be written in grease pencil."

  Harris Brothers Company, 35th & Iron St., Chicago, "Harris Home Beautiful" provided a large number of cottage & home plans and specifications & plans for supplementary buildings such as garages.

  The Harris company offered kit homes in two forms: plans plus materials for on-site assembly (the Harris Plan-Cut home) or partly-assembled building sections (the Harris Unit-Built system) using panelized partly-assembled building walls or roof sections using the company's patented "unit-built" system.

  Harris advertised that their Harris Unit-Built garage kit could be erected in a single day. The Harris kit home company also provided a variety of schoolhouses that were also "unit built" - an early version of panelized construction.

  Other Harris kits included lumber, roof shingles, siding, intgerior lath, oak flooring,door frames, windows, moldings, glass, insulating felt (roofing felt), hardware, nailes, roof gutters and leaders, even paints, stains, varnishes. More information: antiquehome.org

Question: do these grease-pencil markings"X14-0-5" in my home identify which brand or kit model it may be?

(July 16, 2020) Tumblin said:

I am wondering if anyone has information on how to find this home/cottage/garage built between 1906 and 1925?

It looks to me that is states X14-0-5 in the blue grease pen.

Moderator reply:

Not coding I've seen, Tumb but we'll keep the photo here to invite reader comment.

Indeed some kit homes like the Harris Homes discussed here had a model number written in grease pencil on some of the framing members.

• Hartmenn's Homes, Chicago IL:
  Reader inquiry: (Sept 20, 2014) E Browder said:

  Does anyone have information on kit homes made by Hartmenn's in Chicago? I am doing research on Master Architect Elton Moughton, Jr., one of their architects from Florida.

  Reply:
  EB. I also researched Hartmann and Hartmenn spelling variations for kit homes but with little success to date, except an Australian contact that's more contemporary. For information about the Australian Hartmann see
  Hartmann & Cunington
  4 Seahorse Crt, Bribie Island, QLD 4507
  0418 712 796
  QLD-Regional >> Sunshine Coast

• Honor Bilt kit homes (Sears) [citations needed], included a simple two story colonial style home, the Beaumont.

  The Honor-Bilt home kit included lumber, "Fire-Chief" roll roofing, wood wainscot used for a porch ceiling, felt paper, gutters and leaders, hardware, paint, kitchen cabinets and other fatures.

  [Photo copies of pages from the Honor Bilt Home instruction book are available on request - Ed. ]

Below: the Elmdale, a Lewis Kit Home.

...

• Lewis Liberty Catalog Homes: Bay City Michigan. See "Lewis/Liberty Homes - 59 Years in the Ready-Cut Homes Business," Robert Schweitzer and Sally Linvill Bund, Michigan History, Volume 79, Number 2, March 1995. Also see Rebecca Hunter reference information below.

  Liberty Kit Homes like the Elmdale and the Hollywood (1922) shown above were provided by Lewis Manufacturing Company, Bay City MI between 1925 and 1973

• Lustron Steel Homes: The Lustron company, started in Columbus Ohio in 1947 with a government loan after WW II by Carl Strandlund, provided [mostly] ranch-style steel home kits - the entire home was built of steel products: framing, walls, trusses, roof covering, even interior ceiling tiles.

  Strandlund was interested in a porcelain coated steel process that was to be corrosion resistant. See www.lustron.net and also http://www.lustronconnection.org/steelhomestoday.html (a website put up by Kodiak Steel Homes, a modern producer) which gives some history of the company and cites

  "The Lustron homes were designed to be maintenance free, cost approximately $7,000, and were produced in 1949 and 1950. These homes were considered to be three times stronger that a traditional stick built home and were advertised as being rodent proof, fire proof , lightening proof, and rustproof.".

  After selling 2,498 homes (a much smaller number than the number of orders received) in 1950 Lustron declared bankruptcy. 1800 Lustron homes are collected at the U.S. Marine Corps training center in Quantico Virigina, but beginning in January 2006 the Corps announced that these homes would be given away. (If you didn't apply by April 2006 you're probably too late.)

• Modern Homes Construction Company: Burnham Kelly, ‎Roger Thyer - was the President of Modern Homes Corporation, located in Dearborn, Michigan.

  He spoke about the requirements for pre-fab house construction at a conference (Building Research Institute 4th Annual Meeting - 1955) that is described in this book:

  Kelly, Burnham, and Roger Thyer. Prefabrication of Houses: What it Demands of Building Products and Equipment. National Academies, 1955. The conference proceedings (soft bound) book may be available from abebooks.com.

  Thyer also spoke in the same year on the use of plastics in buildings, and is listed in proceedings published in the Building Research Institute's "Plastics in Buildings" published by the National Academy of Sciences and the National Research Council in 1955. This publication is available as an online scanned tex via google's books project.

  The company had manufacturing plants for pre-fab homes in Dearborn MI and in Port Jervis NY. There are some home brochure type publications illustrating Modern Homes Corporation lines a "Luxury Line" and a "Value Line".

  • Modern Homes Construction Company - VALUE BROCHURE [PDF]

    - use your browser's "BACK" button to return here

  • Modern Homes Construction Company - LUXURY LINE BROCHURE [PDF]
  • Modern Homes Construction Company - PORTFOLIO BROCHURE[PDF]

    Reader query: I have documentation showing that my grandmother's home in rural Georgia was purchased through "Modern Homes Construction Company" (I have the purchase contract). With it came home insurance through the Modern Homes Insurance Agency, Inc. of Valdosta, Georgia.

    The home was purchased 9-9-1963 and was a Eldarada [sic - Eldorado?] Deluxe with inside Group - Shelled on Lot". Internet searches find a couple lawsuits in the mid-1960s against these companies or Sears Modern Homes which supposedly doesn't go past 1940/42.

    Anyone know anything more about these companies. My ultimate goal is to find the original picture/description of the home and it's options from a catalog. Thanks! email me at JoyKerseyAThotmailDOTcom

    - Joy Fisher 11/26/2014

Below: Two examples of Wardway kit homes from Montgomery Ward.

... ... [Click to enlarge any image]

• Montgomery Wards Catalog Kit Homes: also referred to as Wardway Kit Homes. Montgomery Wards, a Chicago company, sold catalog homes or "kit houses" under the name Wardway Homes from 1910 to 1931, with sales of pre-cut home kits beginning in 1921 and ending in 1931.

  Rebecca Hunter says that Wards Kit Homes might be identified by lumber markings "numbers are handwritten in grease pencil, usually in the middle of a board. They consist of numerals, hyphenated in groups, e.g. 17-21-19, or 3-5 digit numerals. Part names are stamped in capital letters about 1" high (e.g. "ceiling joist" "top rail"). Delivery address may be stamped or stenciled in ink."

• Lewis Kit Homes: for possible identifying marks on Lewis Kit homes see notes above at Aladdin.
• Pacific Kit Homes: a California catalog home company in the construction business from 1908 to at least 1940. (The company made surfboards 1929-1940), possibly selling kit homes for at least some years between 1919 and 1925.

  Hunter estimates that the company sold 37,000 homes in states west of the Rocky Mountains. Rebecca Hunter suggests that Pacific kit homes may be identified by framing components that "... are marked in grease pencil with a 4 digit number, probably the order number, and the names of the parts."

• Ready-Built Homes: also marketed as "Ready Made Buildings" often cited along with Sears and Wards, searches turn up too many builders using this term, including Alfred G. Oxley, Elizabeth New Jersey, president of Sterling Service Homes, who was reported have been jailed for fraud after he failed to provide the "ready built" homes sold to his clients for $36,000. each.

  "OXLEY NOW IN THE TOMBS.; Head of "Ready-Built" Homes Scheme Is Held in $25,000 Bail." New York Times, 25 July 1922. We're still looking for details )

• Robinson's Kit Homes: often cited along with Sears and Wards, we're still looking for details (Jan 2008)

  Robinson's Money-Saving Mill-Made Cut-To-Fit Houses. C.H. Robinson Company, Providence, Rhode Island. 1914. NTL Stacks TH4819.P7C22 1914

• Sears Catalog Homes: Also referred to as "Sears Modern Homes". Details are

  at SEARS KIT HOUSES. Sears Roebuck is estimated to have sold 100,000 catalog homes in the U.S. between 1908 and 1940, with probably the heaviest individual sales years before 1929.

  Sears Roebuck's business model differed from some or all of the other kit home marketers by offering an accompanying home mortgage to their customers beginning in 1916.

  Thornton says there were 370 different home models; Hunter says there were 450 different house models. Sears sold building products before 1900, and sold kit homes from 1908 to 1940.

  • Sears Homart Home Kits: From 1940 to 1950 or 1951 Sears sold Homart pre-fabricated home kits in a more limited distribution.
  • Sears Honor-Bilt Homes: were distributed by Sears Catalog and represented a higher-quality construction.

    Framing spacing intervals were 14 3/8" instead of the standard 16" (or even 24" in some older non-kit homes), and interiors used a better grade of lumber to fabricate flooring and trim.

    These Sears home kits provided pre-cut lumber to the necessary lengths and dimensions to frame the home, Sears' "Ready-Cut system".

  • Sears Standard-Bilt Kit Homes: were a more economical line of kit houses (see Honor-Bilt above) and were less insulated. "Simplex Sectional" homes were a still simpler home design sold by Sears.

• Sterling Kit Homes: Bay City Michigan. About 60 different home models were offered using the "Sterling System of Home Bulding". For possible identifying marks on Lewis Kit homes see notes above at Aladdin; also see Rebecca Hunter's information listed below.

  Sterling Kit homes were provided by the International Mill and Timber Company in Bay City Michigan between 1915 and 1971.

  Shown below, a Sterling Kit Home, The Windsor, and another Sterling Kit Home, the San Carlos, a Craftsman Bungalow style home.

...

[Photos of pages from Sterling Kit Homes are available on request from Inspectapedia and are also found in other public forums online - Ed.]

• United Grain Growers Kit Houses: UGG kit homes: UGG provided mail-order kit homes in Saskatchewan, Canada (Saskatoon) and possibly other locations between 1914 to 1926. included "... 6" shiplap siding and plaster on wood lath interior walls".

  The United Grain Growers' Grain Company (UGG) was formed in 1917 by the merger of the Grain Growers' Grain Company (UGGG) and the Alberta Farmers' Co-operative Elevator Company. The UGG continued as a grain storage and distribution cooperative until 2001 when it merged with Agricore.

References for Identifying Kit and Catalog Homes from Various Manufacturers

• BOOKS on Sears and other Kit or Catalog Houses - reference books on Kit Homes online
• Aladdin 'Built in a Day' House Catalog, 1917 Dover Publications, 1995. ISBN: 048628591X, also see http://clarke.cmich.edu/aladdin/catdir.htm for Aladdin kit home catalogs in the Clarke Library
• Aladdin Company archives at the Clarke Library, University of Central Michigan - see http://clarke.cmich.edu/aladdin/Aladdin.htm
• Aladdin House Catalog, in reprint form, is available from Amazon.com
• Aladdin Houses are cataloged by the Arts & Crafts Society at http://64.66.180.31/archive/aladdin.shtml
• More information including a description of the Aladdin model Georgia No.2 Aladdin home built in Claremont NY is in this archive http://clarke.cmich.edu/aladdin/Aladdin.htm
• America's Favorite Homes : Mail-Order Catalogues As a Guide to Popular Early 20th-Century Houses, Schweitzer, Robert and Davis, Michael, 1990, Detroit, Wayne State University Press, ISBN: 0814320066
• Building Technology Heritage Library , produced by the Association for Preservation Technology, is a superb resource for old building researchers, owners, or restorers. website: https://archive.org/details/buildingtechnologyheritagelibrary

  This library offers large collection of books (over 8000 in July of 2016), catalogs and other documents that are provided free to the public in a variety of electronic forms such as in PDF format or as .epub documents.

  The collection includes documents that are rarely found in other libraries nor in other online collections for preservationists.
  Excerpt:
  
  The Building Technology Heritage Library (BTHL) is primarily a collection of American and Canadian, pre-1964 architectural trade catalogs, house plan books and technical building guides. Trade catalogs are an important primary source to document past design and construction practices.

  These materials can aid in the preservation and conservation of older structures as well as other research goals. ... The BTHL contains materials from various private and institutional collections. These materials are rarely available in most architectural and professional libraries.

  Note: On the home page for each item, there is a section as the bottom called "Reviews" It will list previous comments or ask "Be the first person to write a review." Please comment about items, as this helps the library and association better understand their users.

  Special thanks to Mike Jackson, FAIA American architect and InspectApedia reader for suggesting this superb resource. Mr. Jackson can be contacted by email at arch419@aol.com

• Elgin Illinois Ornamental Concrete Block in Residential Architecture from the Elgin Heritage Commission, Hunter, Rebecca, 2005. Available from Gail Borden Public Library Elgin IL.
• 117 House Designs of the Twenties, Gordon-Van Tine, Dover Publications, 1992. ISBN: 0486269590
• Bennett's Small House Catalogue, 1920 Reprint Edition, February 1994. Dover Publications. ISBN: 0486278093.
• Goldstein, Carolyn M. Do it yourself: Home improvement in 20th-century America. Princeton Architectural Press, 1998.
• Homes in a Box: Modern Homes from Sears Roebuck, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 1997. ISBN: 0764304321.
• Homes and Interiors of the 1920's, Morgan Woodwork Organization. Ottawa, Ontario: Lee Valley Tools Ltd., 1987. Reprint of Building With Assurance 1921
• Houses by Mail, Katherine Cole Stevenson & H. Ward Jandl, Preservation Press, 1986, ISBN 0-89133-120-4 (available in reprint from Amazon.com) Use the house type key on page 39 to speed look-up in this field guide to Sears Catalog pre-cut homes.
• Houses from Books, Reiff, Daniel D. University Park PA: Philadelphia State University Press; 1990.
• Lichtman, Sarah A. "Do-It-Yourself Security: Safety, Gender, and the Home Fallout Shelter in Cold War America." Journal of Design History 19, no. 1 (2006): 39-55.
• The Ideal Catalogue House: Mail-Order Architecture and Consumer Culture, 1914-1930., Joselow, Evie T., PhD. Dissertation, 1998, City University of New York
• Sears Houses: The Houses that Sears Built, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Sears Catalog Homes, Rosemary Thornton, Gentle Beam Publications - http://www.gentlebeampublications.com/, 2004, ISBN 0-9715588-1-7 Also see Rosemary Thornton's own website listed below
• Sears Houses: Finding the Houses that Sears Built, A Guide to the 60 Most Popular Designs, Rosemary Thornton, Gentle Beam Publications - http://www.gentlebeampublications.com/, 2004, ISBN 0-9715588-2-5. Thornton's books are listed at Searshomes.org
• Sears Houses: There's no place like a catalog, Sturdy Sears homes arrived by mail: many survive nearby, newspaper article, Poughkeepsie Journal, Section F p. 1-2, 7 January 1990
• Sears Houses: Beyond Sears: Mail Order Homes in Elgin Illinois from Aladdin, Lewis, Sterling, Harris Brothers, Gordon-Van Tine and Montgomery Ward, Hunter, Rebecca, Elgin Heritage Commission 2004. Available from the Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin IL.
• Sears Houses: Elgin Illinois Ornamental Concrete Block in Residential Architecture, Hunter, Rebecca, Elgin Heritage Commission, 2005. Available from Gail Borden Public Library Elgin IL.
• Sears Houses: Elgin Sears House Research Project, Hunter, Rebecca, Elgin Heritage Commission 1999. Available from the Gail Borden Public Library, Elgin IL.
• Sears Houses: Putting Sears Homes on the Map: A compilation of testimonials published in Sears Modern Homes Catalogs from 1908-1940, Elgin IL, Hunter, Rebecca 2004, ISBN 0-9762096-0-8, 116 pp, $20 available from Rebecca Hunter Press, 847 697-4551, FAX 847-697-455
• Sears Barns: Sears, Roebuck Book of Barns Reprint of the 1919 Catalog, preface by Rebecca Hunter and Dale P Wolicki, 2004, ISBN 0-9762096-1-6, 84 pp, $20, available from Rebecca Hunter Press, 847 697-4551, FAX 847-697-4550
• Rosemary Thornton publisher and researcher of information about Sears Catalog Homes
• Sears Roebuck Archives includes the national Sears Home Registry at http://www.searsarchives.com/homes
• "Sears Catalog House Enthusiasts" a contact list at http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/enthusiasts.htm


• List of kit home catalogs available at National Trust Library:
• Aladdin Homes. Number 29. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. 1917. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61
• Aladdin Homes. Number 32. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. 1920. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61
• Aladdin Homes. Number 37. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. 1925. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61
• Aladdin Homes. Number 44. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. 1931. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61
• Aladdin Houses. Number18. North American Construction Company, Bay City, Michigan. 1910. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N6
• Aladdin Houses. Number 26. North American Construction Company, Bay City, Michigan. 1915. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N6
• Log Cabins. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. 1935. NTL Stacks: TH4840.S43 1935
• Modern Homes. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. 1936. NTL FOLIO TH4819.P7S42 1936
• One House or a Hundred. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. 1920. NTL FOLIO TH4819.P7S435 1920
• A Plan Book of Harris Homes. Harris Brothers Company, Chicago, Illinois. 1918. NTL Stacks TH4819.P7H27 1918
• Ready Built Buildings. Ready Built House Company, Portland, Oregon. 1915. NTL Stacks TH4819.P7R42 1915
• Robinson's Money-Saving Mill-Made Cut-To-Fit Houses. C.H. Robinson Company, Providence, Rhode Island. 1914. NTL Stacks TH4819.P7C22 1914
• Wardway Homes, Montgomery Ward, Chicago, Illinois. 1924. NTL Stacks TH4819.P7M66 1924

We recommend all three of these publications. Item #1 is a great reference catalog of home designs, organized to help as a field guide. Rosemary Thornton's two books contain additional specific details which you will find instrumental in identifying Sears Catalog Homes.

Reader Comments & Q&A

@Ben Edwards,

Can't see much but certainly there could be a kit house. You will read in this article series the clues and details to look forward to identify kit built homes.

We may have a kit house, pic from the 30's, abandoned for 35 years, have more pics if needed What do you think so far?

@Janet M YANDLE,

Sure,

See

SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION

https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Sears_Kit_House_Identification.php

Hi- We just purchased a small home in the Northern Neck of VA. A neighbor says it's a Sears house. While I couldn't find evidence, I do believe the house could possibly be a kit house. The county has it listed as being built in 1930. The front porch was enclosed at some point. A bathroom(the only one) may have been added at a later date. I was hoping someone on here could point me in the right direction!

@Em,

That was and remains a popular home design;

Take a look at the identification clues and suggestions of details for which to check found at

SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION

https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Sears_Kit_House_Identification.php

@inspectapedia.com.moderator, Thanks so much for the response. Do you recognize this home at all? I've searched and searched for evidence of it being a kit home and can't find any.

@Em,

As a complete Sears kit home 1908 is a good starting point, but in fact the company was selling home building materials and designs for years earlier.

See details at

SEARS KIT HOMES

https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Sears_Kit_House_Identification.php

Hi! My home was built in 1907 and a previous owner claims it is a Sears kit home. Given it was built in 1907 and Sears didn't start selling kits until 1908, I have always doubted the story. However, we just found an identical home in a nearby town, so I'm again curious whether my home is indeed a kit home. I'm in the Midwest. What other companies would have been operating here in 1907?

@Elaine Thielke Steinbach,

This note is from the page above

Sources of information for Bennett Kit homes include

Forgotten Buffalo Website, Ray H. Bennett Homes of North Tonawanda NY, photos of Ray H. Bennett homes, Web page: http://www.forgottenbuffalo.com/forgottenbflofeatures/rayhbennetthome.html

Harris, Richard. "The talk of the town: kit manufacturers negotiate the building industry, 1905-1929." Journal of urban history 36, no. 6 (2010): 868-896.

North Tonawanda History Museum, Ray Bennett Lumber Co., 712 Oliver Street, North Tonawanda, NY 14120 USA, at Niagara Falls, Website: https://www.niagarafallsusa.com/directory/north-tonawanda-history-museum/ The current museum website is not much help, hard to find, poor online presence, but this museum previously hosted photographs and historical information about the Ray Bennett Lumber Co.

This home was a Ray H. Bennett pre-bilt home from pre-assembled parts.

I am looking for a Cape Cod style home built around 1937-1942 on Sweeney St. in North Tonawanda across from Majors park. My parents owned this home in 1943. I would like a picture of it. They bought it in 1943 for $4000.

@Angelica,

Could be any of several kit manufacturers, or could even have been stick built. You'd need to look for some of the clues that we give in the article series above.

What type of kit home is this? This is in Washington, DC, built in 1926

@Michael D, That looks like stencils I've seen on Aladdin kit homes and possibly some sears kits. But that wod-lath plaster base behind it may not be from a kit -

It would be helpful to know more about the house: what is the country and city of location of this house, when was it built, and what do its internal hardware and other kit house clues (given above on this page) look like?

We are renovating a wood frame house and it has stenciled descriptions as to what the boards are used for. Can anyone identify the company that sold this house, if it is a "kit home"?

OK thanks; We'll keep the discussion live here.

Following up about the #46 stamped in the small brass circle in our 1920s rear exterior threshold:
It is not in relation to our house number or street number. We are near corner of 29th Avenue and crossroad 52nd Street.
This is baffling, and we appreciate the effort to figure out what it is.

Thank you!

I tried to see if we could find find anything about the use of brass number plaques on kit homes, but it's a particularly difficult search because millions of homes use brass numbers or number plaques to identify the house number or street number; we're overwhelmed by those in any search result.

I tried seaching for "antique or kit house with brass number for model ID or number plaque" - no cigar.

I also tried "antique kit house model number by brass tag" -indeed there were some brass style or model identification tags used on antique thins: equipment, machines, motors in particular.

These Woodall oval brass tags came up in our search. The example below is copied from numbered brass Woodall tags for sale on Etsy.com (2021/02/12) We don't know if these are actually house ID tags or key tags or something else.

That oval brass number placque with number 46 is not and never was the street number of this house, right?

Thank you. Our house is in Gulfport, Florida. I attached a pic. Let me know what other info would be helpful. Thank you!
hulahula@tampabay.rr.com

Annette,

How interteresting; I have not come across that particular kit house detail but it's certainly possible that the 46 was an ID number; Knowing the country, city, and perhaps seeing a photo of the medallion you describe may help us do some research.

Our bungalow was built sometime between 1925 and 1927. In the rear entry door threshold, there is a weathered metal circle about the size if a dime with the numer 46 in it. Does this type of medallion help to identify the house, what is it?
Thank you.

Anon:

Thanks that's a pretty interesting question, but we don't have a list of all of the locations in which kit homes were built around the world nor even just in North America. In the article above and in the other articles in the series we do list named locations for cute home manufacturers but we have no reason to know that that is all of them.

I'll continue to watch for opportunities to add more manufacturing sites. But you should understand that you could have a kid home constructed or that is assembled in Washington state that may have been built and shipped from another state as was often the case.

For example the Tacoma Washington historical society discusses kit homes built in your state.

Is there a list of locations were kit homes were built? Specifically, were any kit homes built in Washington state, and if so, which manufacturers? Thanks!

Sorry, no Cat.

But the article series given here has lots of excellent references you might scan to compare with your house design, and we include suggestions for other ways to identify the kit home model and brand.

Do you recognize this? Is it from a sears house kit from the 1920's? Which one? Thanks

Dave

Thank you for the interesting box-beam photo and report of 4 ft. panelized kit construction. Indeed in North America as well as Europe there have been several generations of panel-construction methods that including shipping a kit of pre-fab panels built in a factory and assembled on-site.

I describe box joist and related construction metods and include photos of panelized construction homes we've inspected

at PANELIZED CONSTRUCTION https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Panelized_Construction.php

If you have more photos of the house sporting this box beam (consistent with panel-constructed homes) it'd be wonderful to see them posted over at that article - you can add one image per comment but as many comments as you like.

Hi
I have stumbled on a number of kit homes over the years.

One recent home from 1942 has a very curious construction.

4 foot wide panels, built over top of "hollow box joists" they are made from 2x4's and 1/4" plywood. (Glue visible at joints).
This is in Albany NY.
Dave

Sarah

That's a wonderful project, cataloging all known Bennett Kit homes in the U.S.

I've added all the details we have on information sources for Bennett homes. Beyond that you may want to try simple Google searching followed by reviewing each of those results. Some of those bear fruit, while some that I've pursued in the past, such as Pinterest postings, are fraught with inaccuracy and strange politics that mean those listings are unreliable.

I am trying to compile a list of all known (and unknown) Bennett homes in the US. I was wondering about the online discussion re the 1926 Bennett home in Clarence, NY. I've found at least 4 on one block in Clarence, along with authenticating a Sears, and another Bennett on Main St in Clarence.

Can you point me in the right direction? So far my list has overe 200 houses, but I have a lot more ot add. Thank you and regards, S.

Not coding I've seen, Tumb but we'll keep the photo here to invite reader comment.

I am wondering if anyone has information on how to find this home/cottage/garage built between 1906 and 1925? It looks to me that is states X14-0-5 in the blue grease pen.

Thanks so much!

Diane, please see the kit home identification methods suggested at

SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Sears_Kit_House_Identification.php

You'll see that there are quite a few things one can examine.

I am unable to post a photo-I live in CO, my dad is in CA-
I can only show the assessors page with address and date of home build and the assessors picture.
Please make a suggestion so that someone with knowledge on the home kits could help
Thank you so much!
Diane

Sorry Diane, that link cannot be posted, but you are welcome to post 1 photo per comnent and to ask questions or describe a problem with a building or its environment.

Diane said,

Please help with this house. ...link blocked... My dad has described the house he lived in as a child in Hicksville NY-it has 2 br, 1 bath, kitchen, LR-built around 1933-
I can't find it on the Sears Roebuck Kit catalog-
Would appreciate so much what company made this kit and the indoor layout plan
Thank you so much
Diane

Marnette

Thank you for an interesting question.

I don't think that a lumber yard stamp necessarily rules out kit homes considering that accept manufacturer in fact may have used lumber that had such stamps.

However it's not common in my experience.

I would rely on a collection of other clues to decide whether or not the building in question is a kit home.

Look for other stamps or markings or code numbers on lumber or on sheathing.

Also you'll see other clues in this article series, such as hardware details.

If some of the trim boards are stamped with a local lumberyard's stamp, does that then rule out being a kit home?

This house was built in 1947 and had metal bar joists and 2 and 5/8" studs

Nice little house, DS.

Take a look at SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Sears_Kit_House_Identification.php

where we give some tips on where to look to identify a Sears kit home.

Let me know what you find and don't hesitate to ask follow-up questions.

Address 31790 Peoria road, Albany Oregon.

Trying to identify this 1946, 2+1 home. I was told that it's a Sears house, but they stopped selling in the 1930s. There are two bedrooms on the right side. Living room in the front left and kitchen in the back left corner. The bathroom is squeezed into the back center.

I've got some of the books we cite but frankly the volume of reader questions prevents us from paging through all of them. You may do best by looking through kit home catalogs that date the year before and the year of construction of your home.

http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/1920-Bennett/ which cites that "Bennett Homes are concentrated in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, as well as into the upper Midwest."

Post more photos of your home, perhaps a sketch of its floor plan, and any photos you can have the patience to take of key details such as stencil or other makrings on framing lumber or sheathing, hinges, hardware, etc (one photo per comment) as that may help us or other readers find your home.

Thanks! I did - I went through all of them. The closest I can find are those two Bennett models. I'm trying to dig up other Bennett catalogs in the local libraries here in Cleveland, but curious as to whether y'all may have access to non-digitized versions that might match my wee house.
Thanks!!

Rosie,

You might want to draw out the floor plan of your home, then look through some of the kit home catalogs listed in the article above.

Trying to figure out the model of my 1929 home - it's similar to the Bennett Fulton and Harriet, but is definitely not those.

Specs: 6 room, 1 bath; 26x28 sf footprint.

Year: 1929 (according to deed; Garage was built in 1930)

Location: Cleveland, OH

Not specifically but it is certainly possible. Will keep your question posted here and perhaps another reader from your area can reply.

Do you know of any Aladdin homes in Gillespie Illinois?

Justin

You might want to look in the attic and basement for (and post photos of) any stamps or markings on framing lumber and sheathing such as crayon or pencil letters and numbers or painted stencilled letters or numbers.

Also sometimes closeups of window and door hardware can be useful in identifying a kit home.

Thge play and layout are helpful but not sufficient, both because many kit homes copied already-popular designs and because they also may have copied one another.

Nice house by the way.

Trying to identify the maker of our home. Built in 1904. We are thinking it is a Bennett Catalog kit home. If anyone can help us we would really appreciate it.

Thanks for the note about a possible Wardware home, JM.

If you attach some photos (one per comment) perhaps we or other readers can offer further information.

IN addition to a front photo of the entire home (other side photos welcome too), pictures of

- any lumber stampings or markings

- hardware details such as cabinet and window latches, doorknobs, door latches

- a photo of a sketch of the floor plan

would be most helpful

Look in the attic and basement at

- under-side of floor sheathing

- interior side of roof and wall sheathing (probably tongue and groove boards)

- sides of rafters and floor joists and studs

for stampings, markings, even crayon-marked numbers or letters

HI -- I believe -- through oral history -- that I have a Wardway home from 1911. The problem is I cannot find the house plans for it anywhere. I have looked at all the Wardway house plans and Sears plans and any other plans that I can find on the internet. Nothing.

My home looks like one of the two story four squares, but it isn't because the first floor isn't square. The main floor has two bedrooms, a parlor, a main dining room, a kitchen and a large pantry.

The stair way is in the middle of the house and is straight up with no turns. Upstairs there are four bed booms and a bathroom and a hallway that ends at a window that you can put a twin bed under.

There are two dormers out of the roof line. I'll try to post a photo. But, biy I'm stumped.

Janine

Aladdin, Sears, Wards, and other companies produced kit homes as you'll read in this article series. Because the kit home manufacturers copied popular house designs, you will find that there are several possible sources and it's not usually the case that I can see a single design and ascribe it to a single manufacturer.

However if you can photograph details such as lumber stamps and markings or often hardware, those can narrow down the probable kit home producer. Take a look through the articles in this series to see examples of those details.

Do you know the design or builder of these homes? There are hundreds of the exact style in the Pontiac Mi area. Thank you
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen's useful Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

Thanks for the question and nice photo, Cindy; I've flipped it right-side up.

Indeed it could be a kit home; in this article series we discuss clues that can help decide that question, such as finding number or parts name stampings on wood framing; if you find such, let us see some sharp photos of the markings and we can, perhaps, comment further.
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen's useful Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

We've been told that we own a kit home. Ive done a fair amount of research but have not found any definitive evidence to confirm that it is. It was built in 1922 (but we've received a few different years) and looks a lot like The Sunlight in the Houses By Mail book, but has a second story. I've added a picture of the House.
IMAGE LOST by older version of Clark Van Oyen's useful Comments code - now fixed. Please re-post the image if you can. Sorry. Mod.

Question: Identify this Kit Home on Chatauqua Lake NY?

My wife and I bought a cottage on Chautauqua Lake here in NY state.

After performing some work on the home it started to become apparent that this cottage may be a kit home.

The walls and roof rafters all measure in at 4' OC. I removed some boards to run electrical and observed some pinkish wax numbering on the back side of the boards.

I do know that this structure was moved across the lake from the Chautauqua Institute circa 1985

. I have contacted them, along with the Chautauqua Historical Society with no success.

There is also a marking on the back of the lumber from a mill in Washington state (I do not have that name with me at the moment).

I have included some photos of the structure for your review. Any assistance you could provide is greatly appreciated.

As you can see there has been an addition to the structure. The original interior is made completely from cedar.

- Anonymous by private email 2019/05/28

Moderator reply:

Certainly the numbering is suggestive - I'd like to see photos of those marks, and of course also it'd help to know the actual age of the home you can provide.

Depending on just what was done to move the home, numbers could date from that event too.

Reader follow-up:

I will try to obtain a photo of the numbers. I'll also get you a photo of the wood markings. Here in lies the issue.... nobody knows how old the structure is.

It was moved onto the property in 1985 from the Chautauqua Institute.

...

[Above] I was able to take some photos of the branding on the back of the tongue and groove exterior cedar boards.

I was able to locate some numbers and stamping on the back side of a 2x4. See below:

...

Moderator Reply:

We'll keep your photos here to invite comment from readers who may be familiar with these stamps or the home.

...

Continue reading at ALADDIN KIT HOUSES or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX.

Or see these

Recommended Articles

• AGE of a BUILDING, HOW to DETERMINE for references on identifying and determining the age of buildings
• ALADDIN KIT HOUSES
• BRICK LINED WALL CAVITIES - determining the age of older homes by bricks in wall cavities.
• BUILD YOUR DREAM HOME 1950 guide to building a modest home, from site selection through finish painting
• CELOTEX CemestO BOARD HOMES
• FRAMING METHODS, AGE, TYPES
• HOME CONSTRUCTION CATALOGS 1950
• KIT HOMES, Aladdin, Sears, Wards, Others
• PLANK HOUSES
• PANELIZED CONSTRUCTION
• LEAK DIAGNOSIS & CURE in LOG HOMES if you are reading our log home article series
• SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION

Suggested citation for this web page

KIT HOMES, Aladdin, Sears, Wards, Others at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice.

Or see this

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING ARCHITECTURE

Or use the SEARCH BOX found below to Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Or see

INDEX to RELATED ARTICLES: ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING DAMAGE, DISASTER, REPAIRS

Or use the SEARCH BOX found below to Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

...

Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia

Questions & answers or comments about kit homes: sources, history, identification, repair, inspection

Try the search box just below, or if you prefer, post a question or comment in the Comments box below and we will respond promptly.

Search the InspectApedia website

Note: appearance of your Comment below may be delayed: if your comment contains an image, web link, or text that looks to the software as if it might be a web link, your posting will appear after it has been approved by a moderator. Apologies for the delay.

Technical Reviewers & References

Click to Show or Hide Citations & References

Publisher InspectApedia.com - Daniel Friedman

Better Homes And Gardens February 1998

Source: https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Kit_Houses.php

Posted by: waitbrobbegreare1964.blogspot.com

Share this post