by Architectural Observer | Apr 22, 2019 | Blog, Mail Order and Kit Houses
After a century of use, many old houses have been updated, remodeled or otherwise altered to the extent that they are scarcely recognizable. Others, like this Sears Maytown in Struthers, Ohio, are able to transcend time with only slight changes. Owner Dawn Hartzell...
by Architectural Observer | Mar 2, 2019 | Blog, Mail Order and Kit Houses
Offered between 1913 and 1918, the Sears Hawthorne was a somewhat ungainly-looking Craftsman style bungalow which was not a huge seller. It was essentially the one-and-a-half story version of the Sears Avondale which was far more popular with kit house buyers and...
by Architectural Observer | Feb 28, 2019 | Blog, Mail Order and Kit Houses, Uncategorized
One of hundreds of house designs published by the Radford Architectural Company of Chicago in the early twentieth century, Design No. 1131 is an eclectic composition in that it combines Colonial Revival, Queen Anne and Shingle style influences. This example in...
by Architectural Observer | Jan 28, 2019 | Blog, Mail Order and Kit Houses
I first admired this house in the late 1990’s when the photo above was taken; the house seemed well-maintained and the exterior paint was crisp and sharp… the colors were perfect for a two-story Craftsman. I wondered at the time if the colors weren’t...
by Architectural Observer | Dec 23, 2018 | Blog, Mail Order and Kit Houses, Observations
While Abilene, Kansas, has long been noted for its many fine Victorian-era houses and colorful early cow-town history, not much (if any) attention has been given to the plan book and manufactured kit origins of some of the town’s houses. The town is primarily...
by Architectural Observer | Dec 23, 2018 | Blog, Mail Order and Kit Houses
Robert W. Shoppell was one of many successful plan book publishers in the late nineteenth century. Surviving houses built from the mail-order plans he sold through his New York-based Co-operative Building Plan Association can be found throughout the country. In...
