Several companies sold kit homes in the US through a mail order catalog in the first years of the 20th Century, but today, the name people remember is, Sears. Two years before the Sears Modern Homes department was even a gleam in Richard Warren Sears' eye, the Sovereign brothers in Bay City, Michigan had started selling kit homes through their mail-order catalog. Their company was "Aladdin Homes" and this company is credited with being the first to sell homes through mail order in 1906. In 1908, Sears offered their first "Modern Homes" catalog and about two years after that, Montgomery Ward started selling their Wardway Homes. Gordon Van Tine was another company that would sell mail-order kit homes throughout the country. Other companies offering kit homes were Harris Brothers (based in Chicago), Lewis Manufacturing (based in Bay City, MI), and Sterling Homes (also in Bay City). Here's what to look for to determine if a home belongs in any of these groups.
Step 1
Look for stamped lumber on the exposed beams/joists/rafters in the basement, crawl space or attic. Sears lumber was marked on the tall side of the lumber and can be found on the framing member. If you can't access attics or basements, you might be able to see marked lumber by opening up the bathtub's plumbing access door. However, not all kit homes had marked lumber! Sears used a letter and a number. Aladdin used words. Gordon Van Tine and Montgomery Ward used numbers, separated by a hyphen.
Step 2
Inspect the back of millwork (moldings and trim) for shipping labels.
Step 3
Check the home's floor plan, footprint (exterior dimensions) and room size, using an original catalog. Dover Publications has created a reproduction catalog for Montgomery Ward homes, Gordon Van Tine and Aladdin. Gentlebeam Publications has a reproduction of the 1925 Pacific Ready Cut Homes catalog.
Step 4
Visit the courthouse and inspect old building permits and grantor records.
Step 5
Square block on molding joints at staircase landings, where moldings meet at odd angles.
Step 6
Verify your home's construction date. If your home was not built in 1906 or later, it can not be a kit home. In fact, very few kit homes were built prior to WWI and after WWII.
Examples
