Kit Houses
Model #52, 1908.
Source: Sears Modern Homes.
- What are kit houses?
- How to tell if your house is a kit house
- Studies of Kit Houses
- Bibliography of Catalogs in NTL's Collection
- Bibliography of Ancillary Catalogs for Kit Houses in NTL's Collection
- Archival Resources
- Links to Kit House resources on the Web
According to Houses by Mail, over 100,000 kit houses were built in the United States between 1908 and 1940. Many people have lived in kit houses for years without realizing the historical and architectural significance of their humble abodes. The aim of this page is to provide some basic information on kit houses as well as to provide links to resources (both print and electronic) that might be helpful to those who would like to learn more about these houses.
Aladdin Homes of Bay City, Michigan premiered the idea of kit houses in 1906. It wasn't until 1908 that the largest provider of kit houses, Sears, Roebuck and Co., building upon its earlier forays into building materials and house plans, entered the market for complete kit houses. In the years that followed, Wardway Homes (Montgomery Ward), Harris Homes of Chicago, the Ready Built House Company, and Robinson's also got in on the kit home market.
The Osborne, Model 2050, 1918.
Source: Sears Modern Homes.
Sears Roebuck is still the most well-known of kit home manufacturers, perhaps because of their market share. Ordering directly from a catalog entitled Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans, prospective buyers enjoyed the convenience and affordability of a pre-fabricated dwelling. The purchaser would receive all of the necessary supplies in shipments by rail car (a typical house could fit into two boxcars) for assembly either by the new homeowner or a local contractor. These houses came in a wide variety of styles, designs and prices, although kit houses were generally cheaper than traditional building options.
Following the stock market crash of 1929, the construction of these houses gradually declined and in 1940 Sears printed its last Book of Modern Homes. For many years these house were slowly forgotten, but in the 1980s, people looking for affordable housing began to discover kit houses. In the past two decades, scholars and local historians have documented kit houses throughout the United States. Still, many people live in kit houses without knowing their unique origin and place in America's architectural and cultural heritage. (Sources: Houses By Mail (Stevenson & Jandl); Arts and Crafts Society Webpage (see links list for URL).
return to top
How to tell if your home is a Sears Kit Home
- Look for the Sears logo:
- Every piece of framing lumber for a Sears house was numbered at the factory for assembly at the construction site. Look at the framing members in your house for the Sears logo. The basement and the attic are good places to check. Also, the Sears logo might be seen on doorknobs, hinges, and miscellaneous hardware.
- Consult your neighbors:
- It may be a part of the oral tradition in your community that your home is a Sears house, and perhaps someone can recall the building materials being brought to the building site. Also, Sears houses were often built in groups. Neighbors might know if there are other Sears houses in the area.
- Investigate shipping records:
- Sears houses were shipped exclusively by rail. Do you live near a railroad line or close to where one existed in the late 1800s or early 1900s? If so, it may be possible to locate the shipping records of the materials unloaded at that station. The Sears load containing your house may be listed.
- Conduct a deed search:
- Sears may have owned a mortgage on the house; if so, the mortgage may be listed on the deed.
return to top
Schweitzer, Robert and Davis, Michael. (1990). America's Favorite Homes : Mail-Order Catalogues As a Guide to Popular Early 20th-Century Houses. Detroit : Wayne State University Press. (ISBN: 0814320066).
Stevenson, Katherine Cole and Jandl, H. Ward. (1986). Houses by Mail. Washington, D.C.: Preservation Press. (ISBN: 0471143944).
Joselow, Evie T. The Ideal Catalogue House: Mail-Order Architecture and Consumer Culture, 1914-1930. PhD. Dissertation, 1998, City University of New York.
The following early-twentieth-century kit house catalogs are available in reprint form:
- Bennett's Small House Catalogue, 1920. Reprint Edition, February 1994. Dover Publications. ISBN: 0486278093.
- 117 House Designs of the Twenties by Gordon-Van Tine (Dover Books on Architecture). Dover Publications, 1992. ISBN: 0486269590.
- Sears, Roebuck Catalog of Houses, 1926 : An Unabridged Reprint. Dover Publications, 1991. ISBN: 0486267091.
- Aladdin 'Built in a Day' House Catalog, 1917 (Dover Books on Architecture). Dover Publications, 1995. ISBN: 048628591X.
- Homes in a Box: Modern Homes from Sears Roebuck (Schiffer Design Book). Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. 1997. ISBN: 0764304321.
return to top
Bibliography of Kit House Catalogs in NTL
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 1915a
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
Bibliography of Ancillary Catalogs for Kit Houses in NTL
Color-Perfect Wallpaper: 1937 Portfolio Of Actual Samples. Sears Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. 1937. NTL Stacks NK3399.S425 1937
Exclusive wall papers for 1927. Montgomery Ward, Chicago, Illinois. 1927. NTL Folio NK3399.M66 1927
The First Non-Fading Wall Paper: Originated and Introduced by Ward's. Montgomery Ward, Baltimore, Maryland. 1930. NTL Stacks NK3399.M66 1930
Sears, Roebuck Home Builder's Catalog: The Complete Illustrated 1910 Edition. New York : Dover Publications, 1990. (Reprint of 1910 edition with publisher's note). NTL Folio NA7205.O87 1990
Wall Paper. Sears Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. 1900. NTL Stacks NK3399.S425 1900z
Wall Paper Samples: Season 1927. Sears Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. 1926. NTL Folio NK3399.S425 1926
Wards Announce Decorator Approved Wallpapers. Montgomery Ward, Chicago, Illinois. 1939. NTL Stacks NK3399.M66 1939
Wards Non-Fading, Washable Wallpaper / Paint. . Montgomery Ward, Chicago, Illinois. 1935. NTL Stacks NK3399.M66 1935
Washable, Fadeproof Wall Paper. Sears Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. 1935. NTL Stacks NK3399.S425 1935
return to top
The archival records of The Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan are stored at the Clarke Historical Library on the Central Michigan University campus. The records include an almost complete run of company catalogs, over 15,000 architectural drawings, and other company records.
The records of Montgomery Ward, 1849-1989, are held by the American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, WY. Included in the collection is a nearly complete run of Wardway Homes catalogs dated 1911 to 1931. (Collection 8088, Series III, Catalogs) Among the company's other records held by the Center are a catalog of prefabricated farm buildings from 1935 and a Wardway Homes Handbook from 1929. Researchers can find contact information and a reference query form at: http://ahc.uwyo.edu/depts/reference/request.htm.
return to top
The links below contain valuable information on kit houses:
- The Aladdin exhibit at Clarke Historical Library:
- The library at Central Michigan University is home to the records of the Aladdin company, and their website features a digital exhibit from the collection and a complete run of digitized catalogs dating from 1908 to 1954.
- Sears Modern Homes:
- Here you can find an excellent synopsis of the history kit homes, and an image database of photographs and descriptions of kit homes. This site offers an interactive reference forum where staff of the webpage respond to commonly asked questions about Sears houses.
- Old House Web:
- This page links to feature stories from the Old House Web page, including an article on how to determine if your house is a kit house. Also included are several feature stories on the history, importance, and unique design characteristics of these houses.
- Arts and Crafts Society:
- This page provides a number of resources for in-depth research into kits homes and Arts and Crafts style architecture, including contact information for archival repositories that contain extensive collections of kit house catalogs and related materials. The site also includes detailed histories of both Sears Modern Homes and Aladdin Homes.
- The Lynnhaven.
- This page documents the restoration of a 1939 Sears Kit Home and provides the opportunity to see an example of this kind of work first hand. The page includes before and after photographs, detailed descriptions of renovations, and links to a variety of resources.
- The Craftsman.
- All volumes of this magazine have been scanned and are available online through University of Wisconson - Madison.
return to top
