A 1923 Harris Brothers Company catalog includes an attractive Craftsman style house with a rather lackluster name:   No. N-1026.  The house was offered with clapboard or shingled siding, and a reversed floor plan as an option.   The Aladdin Company sold a nearly identical kit house called “The Plaza” as early as 1917… does anyone know of other similar kits?  Who came up with the design first?

Beneath the catalog description below are what may be two examples in Oberlin, Kansas.  Each of these are stuccoed, and vary slightly in subtle ways from the illustration (as do many kit homes). Could these examples be knock-offs by an area builder?    I hope to answer many questions in the future.

 

Harris Home No. N-1026     The Size:  38 ft. 8 in. x 48 ft.     7 Rooms and Bath

HERE is a house that has proven astonishingly popular for the prospective builder who is desirous of having a seven-room house with a large porch and bath. We cannot help but believe that this attractive yet sensible Home will meet every requirement. Looking from all sides this Home is equally beautiful.

Upon entering the living room from the spacious porch, one is surprised at the well arranged and lighted interior. To the right upon entering the living room we have a large chamber 15 x 12. It will undoubtedly prove to be just what the professional man desires for his home office. The kitchen, with its breakfast room and French windows, is most inviting.

This Home can be had in either Cedar Shingle siding or bevel siding. Of course, when we furnish Cedar Shingles for the side walls we include sufficient creosote shingle stain for dipping them before applying.

Please bear in mind that our proposition also includes double floors, double walls, plenty of large windows for the cellar, complete with frames and hardware, and solid 6×6 girder posts to carry the floor beam supports. Any Plan in this book can be reversed without charge.

____________________________________________________________

HARRIS BROTHERS COMPANY, 35th and Iron Streets, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS

 

The N-1026 as it appears on page 23 of the Harris Brothers’ 1923 catalog. I do not know what other years the house was offered.  The facade rendering shows the front door flanked by single windows while the floor plan shows the door to the right of a double window.  It appears that there were subtle variations even within the company’s own publications!

 

This example has a stucco exterior and attic windows. The room suggested as an office has a single window unit rather than the triple window illustrated. The windows are capped with brick; the brick porch piers are nicely detailed.

 

Side view showing more of the spacious porch.

 

The following house was built with the published plan reversed:

 

The front steps were turned to the side in this example.

 

A portion of the porch has been enclosed on the side elevation.

 

Here is a virtually identical house by Aladdin from their 1917 catalog:

 

The Plaza looks sharp in its shingled exterior!

 

 

 

 

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