My house appears to be very similiar to an Osborn BUT it was (to my knowledge) built in 1912 and is located in SW Iowa which, according to Houses by Mail, isn't one of the areas they are in. Attached is a photo of it in the 1920's. I'm new to this - any suggestions?

Hey Caryn-

It's looking pretty Osborn-y to me. Don't worry about the list of houses where the osborns are - that is just a listing of where there are known osborns based on letters written to Sears and other documentation. Cincinnati has at least 10 osborns and Louisville has a bunch but I don't think they're listed in Houses by Mail. Do you have any current photos? How did you get the 1912 date - searsarchives.com lists the osborn for the first time in 1916 so the date isn't too far off.

yes, i would say its an osborn.

the true test is to compare the floor plan.

i have seen a lot of variation in osborns especially in porch rails, roofs etc.

Thanks for the responses! As for the date, 1912 is what the realtor told us when we bought it. I assume she looked it up at the courthouse, but I don't really know.

I've attached a recent photo. Someone enclosed the porches somewhere along the lines but I don't know when.

The floor plan is the same within a couple inches with the following exceptions: we don't have a sleeping porch; that bedroom has a window to the left instead of the door on the right to the sleeping porch; that bedroom doesn't have a closet as there is a door off the hallway leading to stairs to the attic in that area instead, but I THINK I can see where the plaster has been patched so a door could have been there at one time - we've wondered if the staircase was original based on the setup too as there are shelves and a closet rod in a nook at the landing; the dining room does not have a beamed ceiling or built-in buffet and I don't think the plate rail is original; the living room does not have a fireplace or built-in bookcases; on the back side of our house, the living room section jets out a few feet so ours isn't a straight 44'; our living room isn't the whole length - we have a third bedroom that has doors to the living room and middle bedroom that may or may not be original to the floorplan because the set up for the closet seems a little odd in there... How do I find out more???

Here's another current picture of our house. We have so many trees, it's hard to get much in a picture at this time of year...

closing in porches was (and still is) very common. the absence of the sleeping porch is also common.

modification to the floor plan was also frequently done, both by sears or by the local builder. many times this was done just for preference or site constraints.

attached is a picture of a modified osborn. i believe this change is original to the house, not a later modification. the front porch is intact, and you can see the outline and detail of the side porch.

i would like to see inside to see how the plan was changed...

This is all very interesting! Is there anything else I can do to verify my home is an Osborn? This whole thing is something I just tripped upon and I'm completely clueless, but very excited!

The modified one is nice to compare to - the roof is more like mine but we seem to have larger/more detailed overhangs. I'd be curious to see the inside as well. I suppose their living room is just that much wider??? Perhaps they have a third bedroom like we do and they took away some porch to compensate for it... Their attic must be bigger too. Despite the roof lines, we actually have quite a bit of space up there. Our attic has been remodeled into a bedroom and finished storage room.

i understand you can sometimes find markings of stamps on wood members in attics or basements that would cinch the deal.

i have also heard of sears archives being able to verify some houses. i have read of one where a representitive actually came to the house and presented a certificate...