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...
by Architectural Observer | Dec 9, 2018 | Blog, Observations
When I was in my teens I was given a small book by my parents who understood my passion for nineteenth century buildings. Published around 1900 or so by the Red Oak Commercial Club (which I’m guessing was something akin to the Chamber of Commerce) the book,...
by Architectural Observer | Dec 4, 2018 | Blog, Mail Order and Kit Houses
In addition to its popular J-6 kit house, the Harris Brothers Company of Chicago offered a slightly larger version which it called the J-16. This upgraded version was two feet wider and two feet longer. I recently ran across this example of the house on Zillow...
by Architectural Observer | Dec 2, 2018 | Blog, Observations
Double Feature! Today we’ll look at two structures which are recent recipients of altered fenestration… Recipient # 1 After a period of stagnation, work appears to have restarted on the second re-interpretation of a former church building in a nearby...
by Architectural Observer | Nov 25, 2018 | Blog, Observations
Who doesn’t love a good time capsule? This one, built in 1952 in Gladewater, Texas, has been on Zillow for about 10 days and is already generating lots of interest online; I ran across it when a reader shared it on the always mesmerizing Old House Dreams....
