Does anyone know of a neighborhood collection of kit homes in Maryland? I'm doing some research in the area and am hoping to find a cluster of the little pretties somewhere in Maryland (sorry, Baltimore doesn't count).

Thanks in advance!

Rose Thornton

Hi Rosemary

I'm in North Carroll County - Hampstead, MD just 15 miles south of Hanover, PA which you have visited. Hampstead has many homes as old and older than my GVT that Dale identified for me.

I see them, large and small but can't really tell you which mail order they are from. Perhaps I shall take some pictures and email them to you, even if you have selected another town. Some of the homes are so unique - there sure is a lot of variance amongst them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampstead,_Maryland

Edee --

I hope you'll post a few of them here on the forum so the rest of us can see too. ;-)

Rikki

I will try to get out this weekend - it gets dark at 7:00 around here now and I arrive home about 5:20. Some of them are very cool, but I've seen enough catalogues to know they are kit homes, but don't know if they are precut or the plans, and if they are Sears, GVT or?

I'll have to email them(if your email is in your profile) to one of you because I can't post them from here at work - the firewall blocks a lot of websites, for example Photo Bucket is a no-no. I work at a public school system and guess there may be "nasty's" in Photo Bucket's free photo service that we don't want the "kiddies" to have access to....

Edee --

No problem. Send them to us at info@arts-crafts.com. We'll make sure they get posted with your moniker.

Rikki

Good timing! I just joined to get information on my home when I saw this post. I live in Riverdale Park, MD near University of Maryland. Our town has many Sears homes, and several years ago I put up a web page with photos of them here: Riverdale Park Sears Homes

Now my question. I purchased my home in 1986 and was told it was a Sears home built in 1909. It has been renovated several times over the years and although I have several books on Sears homes, I can't find the model. Can anyone confirm whether it's a Sears and if so, which model it is? Opinion appreciated.

Hello Lissa,
What a quaint little home and I am sure it is indeed a kit home, whether it was prefabbed or stick built by it is a nice setting for the neighborhood.I particularly like the front of the house being L shaped with the one hip roof and return to the right side of the house.
If memory serves me right the window on the right section of the recessed area from the front is the dining room. My family of woodworkers built several of this style in and around London, Ohio as well as the Madison County area.

Thanks for the picture and by the way, welcome to these forums. Inform your friends so we can get even more who are interested in the A&C Movement.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Lissa -

Welcome to the forum. We have some house plans on line here at ACS and at www.antiquehome.org. I don't recall seeing anything quite like your home though.

Rosemary Thornton has written an intro to Sears Kit Houses for us. It gives you a starting place for determining if yours is a Sears. Also, there were many different manufacturers so it's possible that yours is not a Sears but still a kit. Rose checks in from time to time so she may be able to tell you just by looking at it. Because you are so close to each other geographically, why don't you send her an email directly? The link is on her site which you can access via her article (link above).

Rikki

Hello Rikki and Rosemary,
Having looked at your different kit homes I am sure there are several of them right here in London, Ohio. I and my family of woodworkers have worked on the building of some of the homes even before I was born but, when I became of age there were many that I had the pleasure of helping to restore some that for lack of maintenance needed repair.

Rosemary the vertical blocks at the bottom of a stair were placed there in the fashion you showed in you link were because they were not equipped to make a curved transition where the stair trim met the base trim on the walls.

Thanks for the link as it was very interesting.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

Thanks so much Ralph and Rikki! I wouldn't be surprised if it's not a Sears -- the seller told me many tall tales about this house. I got bizare explanations for two interior curved walls, for plumbing capped in an upstairs clothes closet, and for why all the interior doors were replaced.

Oddly, one tale was true. After I moved in and went into the attic for the first time, I discovered a huge galvanized horse trough resting across several beams. The seller told me that it was put there for an adjunct water supply. The attic entry is too small for me to remove it, so it will likely remain there forever.

I appreciate your replies and will drop Rosemary a note to follow up.