When it comes to new ideas, we in the 21st century think we are the only ones with new ideas. Well, here’s an “old” new idea I just found out about.
Did you know that you could order a kit to build a house from a catalogue more than 100 years ago? The kit arrived by train, complete with plans, hardware, cut lumber, shingles, and everything else you would need, including, in some cases, paint, hardware, nails, and more. You could hire a crew to do it for you or if you were handy you could probably have it done in about six weeks.
The houses came in all styles, and prices.
At least one “kit house” was featured in the First Baptist’s Annual Christmas House Tour. It still stands tall and proud with an amazing view of the marsh, its exterior clad with concrete bricks. The brochure reads, “The Parker House, 17 Terrace Street.
The Sears Roebuck catalogue of 1908 advertises the "Wizard Concrete Building Block House" and a $3,000 house for the low price of $1,995... a deal which one Amherstonian just couldn't pass up.
The land was purchased in a 1912 land grant by George Strang who worked as a cabinet maker of Rhodes, Curry and Company. A testament to his extraordinary talent, this regal home would remain in George's family until 1990. The house has unique character all its own and is truly the perfect setting for Pauline's amazing collection of antiques and Mother Parker's delicate embroidery. Experience the sights, smells and sounds of another time of innocence and elegance, during the reign of Queen Victoria. Come celebrate a Victorian Christmas.”
When I researched kit houses and their designs, I began to think that there are probably a few more in town. Do you know of any? If so, please let me know.
The Canadian Aladdin Co. Ltd, a branch of a Michigan firm, was the largest Canadian provider. Their headquarters in the Canadian Pacific Building in Toronto operated right across Canada (1905 to 1952). Aladdin ads boasted that, “anyone who could swing a hammer could build an Aladdin Home”. The lumber in their kits was precut and easily assembled; the labour costs thus more reasonable.
Best of all, the company offered a refund of $1 for each and every knot found in their kits. They also had offices in Saint John, Winnipeg, and Vancouver, with mills in Ontario, New Brunswick, and British Columbia.
Of course, it wouldn’t be Canada if the T. Eaton Co. Ltd. weren’t part of the mix somehow. They provided kits from 1910 to 1932, but they were available only in western Canada where the demand was huge due to the thousands of Prairie settlers arriving yearly. Eaton’s sold 40 different designs and in 1920 each was given names that started with “Ea”: like Eatoncourt, Easton, Eager or Eastlake. This “Eastacre home”, built in 1916, has stood empty for 40 years, a testament to the quality of the materials provided.
Other smaller providers existed, like BC Mills Timber/Trading shipped prefabricated houses and commercial buildings, like banks (1904-1911); the United Grain Growers (1914-1926) and University of Saskatchewan. The Manitoba Agricultural College supplied plans but no lumber.
The other big player, Sears Roebuck, a huge American catalogue supplier, did not have Canadian offices but there were no restrictions on ordering from Canada.
More information at http://www.historymuseum.ca/cmc/exhibitions/cpm/catalog/cat2104e.shtml Leslie Childs is a member of the Amherst News Community Editorial Panel. |