I purchased this house last year and have been bringing it back to life ever since. I have been told that it is a kit home and possibly a Wardway kit but I have yet to see plans or the catalog page of the kit. Any info would be great. Thank you,
Here are some photos of the house when I bought it.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26281857@N08/

Wow,I wish I could help you but I can't.It doesn't look like any kit house i have ever seen.You might want to go and check up in the attic to see if any of the rafter ends or such might be numbered.
It is not an Aladdin Home.The Clarke Historical Library in Michigan has the Aladdin House plan catalogs online.
Hard to tell who designed it.

I think you posted this on another site and I thought it looked familiar. I finally figured out that it reminds me of some of the bungalows in a neighborhood in Tampa, FL called Seminole Heights - it is truly a bungalow haven! They're not all kit homes or anything - just a really nice LARGE collection of bungalows.

I wish I had more info for you - it sure is an amazing house!

Donna

I did post on other site hoping to find somebody that knows about it. I'm pretty sure it is a kit house because there is an near exact copy of my house in the next town from mine and I've seen it in the 500 Bungalows book. People have told me that it might be a Montgomery Ward house and the house came on a train. But that's the most I know so far. I am currently getting the floors refinished so I will post some updated pictures with before and after shots. Thanks for all the compliments.

Check out 1929 Gordon Van Times homes under Antique Homes within this website:

http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/1925-Gordon-VanTine/

I see a resemblance in the architech, especially the Normandy and Redwood models. You may find it in one of their catalogues.

The details are similar. The plan of the Normandy is close. My house was built in 1915 so by 1929 GVT may have discontinued my model. It seems that by that time the rustic and very Arts and Crafts styles were starting to fade and modern and colonial revival started to take over.

My GVT is a 1912 from their plan book 1912-1916, but the catalog isn't on-line anywhere yet. It does have a lot of plan houses in it though. Perhaps yours is in it.

Dale Wolicki id'd mine and sent me a paper copy of the plans he copied for me. Maybe you can get ahold of Dale - his website has a link listed on this website. I find GVT's roofs kind of unique compared to other roofs. My 1912 is basically a 4-square but doesn't have dormers, it has gables. Rikki posted it for me on one of the forums here.

Good luck, you'll find it, just keep searching.

Did you check out the sears link here? I was just in 1913 - llok in here:

Sears House Plans

There may not be an s after archive, sorry.

{fixed link}

I think in the book,American Bungalow,by Douglas Keister and Paul Drusscher,there is a bungalow that looks much like yours.I will however have to go and see what page it is on and where it's at.

Even if it isn't a kit house, it may very well have come from some plan book. I have a book,radford's Garuantied house Plans, and in it is a bungalow by Arthur Heinsman of California,and there is no credit given to him.
I also have a Modern Homes Book,from 1912 or so,which has a house in it that is also
in Sears and Sterling Homes, will have to look at the name.
It seems designers of the period borrowed from each other quite a bit.

Hello Friend,
If you go to your Auditor's office and find out from them which plat book your property is in. Then go to Recorder's Office and they will help you find out when the house was built and who built it as well as the first folks who lived in it and then from there to the date that you bought the house.

I have researched a many a house for folks and you will be surprised of how much information you can find about your home.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

First, I love your house. I've wandered through a lot of plans lately and would recognize it if I'd seen it in one of the books on Antique Home or in my personal collection.

That said, it's possible that Wards supplied the materials even if it isn't a Wards plan. Both the Normandy and Redwood are single story plans; yours appears to be 1 1/2. Also, many of the manufacturers would work with buyers to modify plans and make customizations.

Still lots more books out there to discover. Eventually Dale Wolicki or Rose Thornton will check in, and may be able to shed more light.

In the meantime, it's a way cool house.

Rikki

Just an update. I still don't know where the house came from but the hardwood floors are refinished. I have posted some before and after of the floors. The original floors are chestnut. The breakfast room is oak.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26281857@N08/sets/72157605606544654/