I think this was ordered from Montgomery Ward in the late 1920s or early 30s. Does anybody recognize it?

I have a 1930 Montgomery Ward house catalog and there is nothing similar to this in it. Is there a particular reason you believe this to be a Montgomery Ward house?

It looks like a Foursquare (aka Prairie Box) so it looks somewhat earlier to me. Are you certain of the date?

The porch railing is distinctive. I've seen it on 1910s Radford houses that tend to mimic certain Frank Lloyd Wright elements.

More info would help if you have it. Also, you might want to resize your image. It's kinda huge.

Rikki

I saw the picture was huge, but I don't know enough to re-size it - I was pretty surprised myself. I'll see if I can figure it out.

My father said Montgomery Ward. It could have been the late 1920s, but not much earlier. He's in the picture, looks about 20-25 years old, and was born in 1907, so the 1930 is about right.

Mary Jo

Hello Mary Jo,
Welcome to the Arts and Crafts Society and we hope you come back often.
For a good free resizing program go to www.ulead.com and then it will help you to resize any picture you might have.

In regard to the house it would be a stick house with the studs running from the plate on the foundation all the way to the attic. The dormer on the front of the house and providing light to the attic is a take off of one of Frank Lloyd Wright's style, however it was not designed by him. Where is the house located an dis it sill in existance today?

Repectfully,

Ralph Jones

It's in Northeastern Montana, Roosevelt County, 11 miles east of the town of Froid. Dad said they ordered it from a catalog. I thought he said Montgomery Ward, but of course I could be mistaken. It came on a railroad car with all necessary parts down to the nails, and local carpenters assembled it. It was on a poured cement basement.

It is still (sort of) standing, but it's in bad repair. Nobody has lived in it for 25 years, the roof is almost gone, and it has been vandalized. The population in that area has been dwindling steadily since the 1960s.

It's too bad. There was no plumbing in it till the 1950s; it was very cold since it had little or no insulation, but I always liked it.

I just get nostalgic about it, occasionally. The people in the picture were obviously quite proud of it. There is a date scratched in the front sidewalk cement, but since I live 500 miles away now, I can't go look at it.

It looks like your house is a Gordon Van Tine Staunton. GVT manufactured many of the houses offered by Montgomery Ward. This model was shown in the 1929 catalog, fits right in with your timeframe and the other info your dad gave you.

Best,
Rikki

Its either the Gordon VanTine Stanton or the Montgomery-Ward Panora (1922-1928). The two models look identical because both were manufactured by GVT. MontWard never owned a lumber mill, they subcontracted orders to GVT. To determine which is which look for the "shipping label" stamped on a board. We usually find it the basement used to build doors or shelves, under basement stairs and sometimes in the attic. The label will say "Montgomery-Ward Davenport Iowa" or "Gordon-VanTine Davenport Iowa". The shipping label will also mention the homeowner who built the house.

You can also look to see if the house was purchased with a GVT or MW mortgage. GVT will be listed in the title work as GVT. For MW look for Thomas P Riordian, a Mont Ward trustee thats signed off on the mortgages.

For information on GVT and MW see my website www.gordanvantine.com. I am currently working on a book to identify MontWard houses.

Dale Wolicki

The Staunton / Panora floor plans are exact, down to the "stoop" in the back and the linen closet on the second floor. The entry was sort of inefficient because the stoop entrance came into the kitchen within a few feet of the other entrance, so the stoop entrance was never used. The bath on the second floor was not plumbed, (it was used for storage) but my relatives did say it was supposed to be a bathroom in the plans. I personally can't imagine a bedroom on the first floor with the bathroom on the second floor.

Did it say how much it cost? They probably just bought it when they sold the harvest in the fall - they weren't much for mortgages.

From the catalogs in my collection:

1925: $1960
1926: $1960
1927: $1993
1928: $2055

This was for the basic catalog model. Any changes or upgrades cost extra.