One such model – offered by Montgomery Ward – was the Wardway “Girard.” It looked a lot like the Sears Madelia.

In fact, prior to writing this blog, I just assumed they were the same house. Now that I’ve been studying these photos for a few minutes, I see there is one obvious difference: The through-the-cornice dormer.

On the Girard, it’s a simple shed dormer with no cornice returns. On the Sears model, it’s a clipped-gable with very dramatic cornice returns.

Inside, both houses are identical (24 by 22), and even the room sizes are exactly the same in both models.

I think someone was looking over someone else’s shoulder when these houses were designed!

Montgomery Ward "Girard" as seen in the 1927 catalog.

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Dale found this Girard in Duquesne, Pennsylvania. It's a good match to the old catalog image (shown above).

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And then there's the Sears Madelia, which looks a lot like the Girard!

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If you put them side by side, you see there are many similarities. The Wardway Girard is on the left and the Sears Madelia is on the right. They are quite similar, but the dormers are where you'll find the differences.

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To learn more about Wardway Homes, click here.

Looking for the perfect Mother’s Day gift? Click here.

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After sitting in front of that house for some time, I was unable to make an identification. I snapped a photo and sent it to my buddy Dale, and he responded soon thereafter and said, “That’s an Aladdin house, The Colonial!”

I relayed the information to my new friend, who was pretty excited to learn this little tidbit about his own house. About three days later, he decided I wasn’t his cup of tea, and that was the end of that.

However, I was gladdened to discover this beautiful kit home right here in Southeastern Virginia. And I’ve come across a couple more since then.

The Aladdin Colonial was one of Aladdin’s biggest and best houses. It was spacious, elegant and a classic Colonial.

The Aladdin Colonial, as seen in the 1920 catalog.

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The Colonial warranted a two-page spread in the 1920 catalog.

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The Colonial - unlike many early 1900s homes - had two bathrooms upstairs. Lots of closets, too.

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Look at the size of that Living Room!

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Living Room as seen in the 1920 catalog.

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Suggested furniture arrangement. Nice piano in the living room!

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The Colonial - as seen in 1920.

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Here's a beautiful "Colonial" in Roanoke Rapids, NC.

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This beauty is in Suffolk, Virginia.

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This photo was sent to me a couple years ago by a woman who lived in southern Illinois, and she told me that this house was just outside of Cairo, Illinois. I'm sorry to say I can't find her email and/or her name. Heck, I can't even find what city it was in. All I know is that it's on the corner of Scott Street and Capital Blvd - somewhere.

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To learn more about Aladdin Kit Homes, click here.

To buy Rose and Dale’s book, click here.

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In 1906, Lewis Manufacturing was primarily a millwork company, and they got their foot into the kit home business when the Sovereign brothers (who owned the Aladdin Homes company) asked Lewis to supply the lumber for their kit homes.

In 1913, housing orders overwhelmed Lewis Manufacturing and the company refused to make further improvements to their mill unless they were given ownership interest in Aladdin Homes. The Sovereign brothers refused.

Lewis Manufacturing lost the Aladdin Homes contract. Some smart cookie at Lewis Homes surveyed their situation and said, “Hey, we have everything we need to produce our own line of pre-cut kit homes. Let’s make our own company! To heck with those Sovereign brothers!”

And so, in 1913, Lewis Homes was born.

Within a few years Lewis Homes became Aladdin Homes largest competitor, shipping approximately 1500 homes annually. In 1925, a fire destroyed the Lewis Homes lumberyard, and Lewis gave their company a new name, “Liberty Homes.”

Lewis survived the Great Depression by selling millwork to prominent residences, banks and office buildings. In 1938 Liberty Homes boosted sales when it introduced a new FHA-approved mortgage program.

During World War Two, Lewis manufactured military barracks, emergency housing and shipping crates. In 1944, an advertising campaign allowed customers to use Liberty Bonds as deposits on Liberty Homes, to be shipped after the war.

During the 1950s the company shipped thousand of homes throughout the United States but sales dropped as mobile and prefabricated homes replaced pre-cut homes for affordable housing. In 1975, Lewis Manufacturing closed, having sold 75,000 houses.

Of all the Lewis Homes, the Cheltenahm is one of my favorites. That’s because I have a soft spot for the Dutch Colonial, and this is a dandy of a Dutch Colonial!

The Cheltenham, as seen in the 1924 catalog.

Close-up on the house (1924 catalog).

This sweet thing is in Washington, DC. Isn't a beauty? Oh what a fine-looking house! (Photo is copyright 2011 Catarina Bannier and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

And next door to the Cheltenham is a Lewis Marlboro (right side). (Photo is copyright 2011 Catarina Bannier and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

The Cheltenham is a happy, happy house. (Photo is copyright 2011 Catarina Bannier and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Shown above is a Lewis Cheltenham in Bay City, Michigan. (Photo is copyright 2011 Dale Wolicki and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

The Cheltenham was featured in the front pages of the 1924 Lewis catalog. Just look at those happy children!

The floorplan shows what a spacious home this is! Look at the Living Room. You can run hurdles in here!

And, if you buy a Lewis Home, you know that the guys in suits visited The Axe Men to assure that you got the very best lumber (1924 catalog).

To learn more about Kit Homes, click here.

To visit Catarina’s website, click here.

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The Sovereign was one such house, and it is a fine-looking thing.

A couple years ago, I started a group for kit home enthusiasts at Facebook, and that’s how I met Lara Solonickne. And recently Lara found this Wardway Sovereign in Arlington Heights, IL!

Isn't this a dandy of a house? Image is from the 1929 Wardway catalog.

Their "finest home" was also quite spacious!

Close-up of the house.

And here it is, in the flesh! And yes, it's shown here in brick, but you could pick brick, clapboard, stone, shingle or pretty much any siding you wanted for your kit home! (Photo is copyright 2011 Lara Solonickne and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

To learn more about Wardway Homes, click here!

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Personally, I prefer to think of them as angels.

Nonetheless, it’s an interesting graphic.

The cover of the 1931 catalog shows a young couple admiring their Madison.

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An Aladdin Madison sits in the background.

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Yeah, they look happy, but do they know...?

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That just over their head is a whole bunch of ethereal beings...

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And one of them is playing two flutes at once, which is just downright spooky. Or it might be three, which is even more spooky.

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Did fairies help build this Madison in Bedford, VA?

To learn more about Aladdin, click here.

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Not one of the three bedrooms in the Stanhope had a closet. Not one. It seems they expected you to put a massive wardrobe within one of those tiny bedrooms.

And the bathroom was ten by five feet. That’s a tiny space. You’d have to step out into the hallway to change your mind.

In the kit home business, Aladdin was a competitor of Sears, but today, the name is not as well known as Sears.

Sears kit homes were sold from 1908-1940. These 12,000-piece kits were shipped by boxcar, and came with a 75-page instruction book and a promise that a “man of average abilities” could have the house built and ready for occupancy in 90 days.

Here in Southeastern Virginia, we also have many kit homes from Aladdin. They were based in Bay City, Michigan, but Aladdin had a large mill in Wilmington, NC. Aladdin started selling kit homes in 1906, and continued until 1981.

Sears sold about 70,000 kit homes during their 32 years in the kit home business. Aladdin sold more than 75,000.

Stanhope, as seen in the 1919 Aladdin catalog.

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Look at the size of those rooms! The "big" bedroom was 10 x 10.

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These were small homes, but they were well built. Aladdin promised to pay $1 for every knot found in their siding materials. Pretty strong words!

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The Aladdin Stanhope, as seen in the 1919 catalog.

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Here's a Stanhope in Scotland Neck, NC.

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And just last week, I discovered this Stanhope in Norfolk!

To learn more about kit homes, click here.

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On October 10, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire wiped out four square miles of that town. In less than 24 hours, the fire destroyed much of Chicago, including Ward’s brand new business. While Ward labored to save a friend’s business from the fast-moving fires, he lost his own business, lock, stock and life savings.

According to The Story of Montgomery Ward, he was ready to begin again by the summer of 1872. His first catalog had only one page and 163 items and most of them were priced under $4. Business was slow but showed steady growth and much promise. In January 1874, “Catalog #10″ was issued, with four pages and 394 items. The first bound catalog appeared in Summer 1874, with 32 pages and one year later, it had almost doubled in size, reaching 72 pages.

Ward practiced a rigid sense of economy that would cause an uproar in modern times. According to The First 100 Years Are The Toughest, if a garment weighed “over four and under eight pounds, it was cut in two and shipped separately in halves…with a needle and thread” (p. 7).

In 1895, the United States Postmaster reported that the “largest patron of [our country's] post office is Montgomery Ward & Co” (The History and Progress of Montgomery Ward and Company, p. 19). Four years later, the Spirit of Progress, a 17′ weathervane/statue, was set atop the Tower Building on Michigan Avenue, making it Chicago’s highest point at 396 feet (ibid, p. 19). The Spirit of Progress became the company logo, appearing on Montgomery Ward’s storefronts and catalogs.

By the turn of the 20th Century, Montgomery Ward & Co. had claimed its high place in Chicago’s skyline and it was now America’s number one retailer.

The above was excerpted from Montgomery Ward’s Mail-Order Homes. To buy the book, click here.

Aaron Montgomery Ward (circa late 1800s)

Inside the Chicago-based offices of Montgomery Ward, early 1920s

Another view of the Chicago-based offices of Wards.

Montgomery Ward storefront in northern Illinois. Note the "Spirit of Progress" emblem at the top center of the building.

To learn more about Wardway Homes, click here.

To buy the book, click here.

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In the dining room/living room area, I saw that she had built-in bookcase colonnades between the rooms, a common feature of early 20th Century homes. I started taking pictures with my Canon Rebel G (this was in the old 35-mm film days) when I saw a small child looking back at me on the other side of those glass doors.

A little shocking, to say the least!

I sent the image to my editor who wrote back and said, “Thanks for sharing that. I’ve asked my husband to start working on one immediately that’s big enough for several teenagers.”

Despite my encouragement, my editor decided not to publish this particular photo with the other images.

And I thought it was some of my best work.

To learn more about Wardway Homes, click here.

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A perfect example of this is the Sears Mitchell and the Wardway Newport. The Wardway version of this little Neo-Tudor was 26 x 40, and the Sears version was 26 x 41. That’s tough to assess from a windshield survey!

Sears Mitchell from the 1936 catalog

Wardway Newport, from their 1931 catalog

Ready for the test?  Which one is a Sears and which one is a Wardway?

Is it Sears or Wards?

Sears or Wardway?

Gorgeous house, isn't it?

Ready for the answer?

Scroll down a bit.

A little more.

Almost there.

The first extant photo is a Wardway Newport in Alton, Illinois. The second photo is also a Wardway in Barrington, Illinois. The third house is a Sears Mitchell in Elgin, Illinois. So the first two are Wardway and the third house is a Sears.

Hard to see that extra foot on the length of the house, isn’t it? 

To learn more about Wardway Homes, click here.

Aladdin Homes took its name from the mythical story of Aladdin and the genie that built a castle overnight for his master. It was founded in 1906 by Bay City, Michigan brothers Otto and William Sovereign, and it was the first company to offer pre-cut kit homes. Aladdin set the standards for the housing industry, with advertising and catalog of stylish models, colorful illustrations, and descriptive text.

Unlike other pre-cut housing companies, Aladdin did not have commissioned salesmen or a mortgage program. All houses were sold through catalogs and on a strict cash only policy. This allowed Aladdin Homes to operate with minimal staff and free of debt, and the resulting savings were passed along to the customer.

Initially Aladdin contracted its orders out to local and regional lumber companies but eventually they built mills in Michigan, North Carolina, Mississippi and Oregon, shipping about 2500 homes a year. During the Great Depression, sales dropped to a few hundred homes but rebounded when Montgomery Ward and Sears got out of the housing business.

During World War Two, Aladdin manufactured military barracks, emergency housing and shipping crates. Post-war restrictions on prices and building materials kept the Aladdin mills closed until 1948. Throughout the 1950s, the company shipped more than 2000 homes a year, with most of them being Ranch homes and Colonials  style homes. The increasing popularity of mobile and prefabricated homes brought a sharp drop in sales during the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1981, Aladdin Homes closed their doors, having shipped about 100,000 homes throughout the United States, Canada and England. The records for Aladdin Homes are located at the Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

Here are a few beautiful Aladdin Shadowlawns in Hampton Roads area (Virginia). The first two are in Portsmouth and the third is just outside of Portsmouth – on Portsmouth Blvd in Chesapeake!