housing | Gunsmoke and Knitting

Posts Tagged ‘housing’

Where am I living? Aladdin Homes

January 28, 2015

Another interesting company that participated in the kit house phenomenon was Aladdin Homes of Bay City, Michigan. Aladdin was one of the most successful “readi-cut” home builders. In its seventy-year history, the company sold over 75,000 homes and remained successful, solvent and family-owned from 1906 until its closing in 1981.

In a fold-out flyer sent with the 1925 catalog, the company listed by name and city more than 1000 builders of Aladdin homes as well as government and corporate customers including the State of Michigan, the president of Liberia, Dow Chemical Co., Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. and Standard Oil.

Advertised as “Readi-cut” and “Built in a Day,” Aladdin and other kit home manufacturers revolutionized home buying and building for the middle class. From tiny workingman’s cottages to the thrifty investor, Aladdin homes provided a solid value and easy construction.

More history of the company and the houses here.

Where am I living?

November 15, 2014

This is the Everingham Rotating House near Taree, NSW, Australia. This interesting concept works well on the spacious lot where it is situated. I am trying to picture it in my neighborhood of 1/6 acre lots.

This graphic from the National Post explains more about the mechanics of the structure.

And this YouTube video takes you inside the house:

The house is now available for holiday rentals; click here to learn more.

Where am I living?

September 3, 2014

This beautifully remodeled 4-bed, 3.5-bath home in Warrenville, Illinois, was originally constructed in 1922. It is listed for $375,000. The 1,965 square foot interior has radiant heat floors throughout. Granite counters, tile floors, and brand new fixtures have equipped the kitchen for the 21st century. Ref.: realtor.com

I love this idea. You used to be able to order a house kit from Sears. They also gave you the opportunity to make additions and changes, and to order the hardware and fittings that you preferred. Sigh.

From 1908–1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold about 70,000 – 75,000 homes through their mail-order Modern Homes program. Over that time Sears designed 447 different housing styles, from the elaborate multistory Ivanhoe, with its elegant French doors and art glass windows, to the simpler Goldenrod, which served as a quaint, three-room and no-bath cottage for summer vacationers. (An outhouse could be purchased separately for Goldenrod and similar cottage dwellers.) Customers could choose a house to suit their individual tastes and budgets.

Sears was not an innovative home designer. Sears was instead a very able follower of popular home designs but with the added advantage of modifying houses and hardware according to buyer tastes. Individuals could even design their own homes and submit the blueprints to Sears, which would then ship off the appropriate precut and fitted materials, putting the home owner in full creative control. Modern Home customers had the freedom to build their own dream houses, and Sears helped realize these dreams through quality custom design and favorable financing.

More here at the Sears Archive.

Look up Sears Houses on google images for more wonderful floorplans, prices and ordering instructions (!)

Well maintained Sears homes are still in existence and seem to be highly desirable.

Where am I living now?

August 4, 2014

Two Futuro Houses joined to make a single structure in Carlisle, Ohio

The Futuro House is another alternative living space. This one was designed in the 1960s as a prefab dwelling that could be used as a weekend get-away and was suited to uneven terrain. Many of these structures still exist around the world and some are still in use as dwellings. The rise in oil prices in the 1970s pushed up the price of plastics that were used extensively throughout the Futuro homes and the company folded.

Imagine stepping inside a flying saucer. Now imagine living in one! In 1968, in light of the postwar boost in technology and space exploration, Finnish designer Matti Suuronen designed the Futuro House. Originally meant to be a modular ski-cabin that could be assembled and disassembled in rough terrain, the round home became an iconic piece of futuristic design. This particular space-age Home has had quite the tune-up, and it recently landed in the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

The Futuro prefab stands 10 feet high, is 26 feet in diameter, and comes complete with an airplane hatch entrance. Suuronen chose a round design not only for its strength, but also for its ability to feel spacious while keeping material use to a minimum. The walls are made of fiberglass-reinforced polyester plastic, a new lightweight material that made the home both easily transportable and well-insulated. The interior houses up to 8 adults and includes a living room, kitchen, bathroom, fireplace, and bed chairs.

Mobile living seemed like the new possibility for the future. People could take their moveable home wherever they went, and live like modern nomads. However the oil crisis in 1972, production of the Futuro home was shut down as plastic prices nearly tripled. About 100 models were built and only half are estimated to survive today. Though tracking down the private owners of these space houses may prove a bit difficult, one Futuro home is readily available for rent in Wisconsin!

Read more: Futuro Home « Inhabitat – Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

Living area with cool fire pit

Dining area of a Wisconsin Futuro House which can be rented

Where am I living?

July 7, 2014

The June 1952 issue of Popular Mechanics asks the question, “In what kind of house will the captain of a space ship live during his stopovers on earth?” Robert Heinlein, whose Starship Troopers and Stranger in a Strange Land were still in the future, gives a tour of “a house that’s called extreme today but may become conventional before the 20th century has run its course.”

Heinlein described his house as being efficient and easy to clean. Here are a few photos that show some labor saving features:

The commuting table can be set in the kitchen and then rolled into the dining room for meals.

The house had two bedrooms, but all of the sofas pulled out and with pads, could be made into beds.

A hatchway in the kitchen gives access to the trash containers – without ever leaving the room. Actually I have friends who built a similar feature into their kitchen remodel. I’m not sure what is going on in the right hand photo.

This is a floor plan for the house.

Robert Heinlein, one of the American Masters of Science Fiction, was born today in 1907. Happy Birthday.

The full story of the house that appeared in Popular Mechanics can be found by clicking this link.

Where am I living this time?

May 5, 2014

When I think of Buckminster Fuller, I think of geodeisic domes, Bucky balls, and things like that. In 1920, however, he entertained the idea of entering the housing market with what he called the Dymaxion House. The benefits of this thoughtfully designed structure have appeal – easy to heat, dust is drawn down through the baseboards almost eliminating that noxious chore, rotating closets that bring the clothes to you (this was repeated in an episode of Tool Time). A full description is here at the Fuller Institute.

Although the design was conceived in 1920, it was not until 1945 that one of the dymaxion homes was actually built. In spite of all of its benefits, the idea did not take off. The one dymaxion home that was built, was dismantled in 1991 and was eventually reassembled as part of the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan.

Oooo, shiny!

What do I think is better than a FEMA trailer?

December 21, 2013

Just about anything would be better than a FEMA trailer, but look at this from Preservation Nation. It is an article about Lustron pre-fabricated homes . . .

“They were literally building the American dream.

In the late 1940s, soldiers returning from World War II dreamed of the idyllic life: a happy family, a lovely suburban home. But the post-war period instead brought a housing crisis. In response, Lustron promised a dream house — signed, sealed, delivered.”

I think these homes are a wonderful example of mid-20th century style, design and ingenuity. It’s like IKEA for the 50s.

“It has a sort of late ‘40s, ‘50s new modern America appeal,” says Megan Wood of the Ohio Historical Society. “And you don’t have to paint it, you can clean the walls with windex, and you can hang things with magnets.”

I think it is interesting that out of 3000 homes built, about 1500 still survive, including the one pictured above, that is in Indiana.

I think these houses are charming and it is unfortunate that dodgy financing forced the company into bankruptcy in 1950.

June, Ward and the Beev