When comparing a vintage catalog image to that cute little Neo-Tudor in your neighborhood, it’s very important to pay attention to details. Dale and I have been staring at old houses for many decades now, and one common problem we’ve discovered is this: It’s easy to overlook the subtle features that differentiate one house from the other.

We’re both inundated with emails from folks who are sure that they have a kit home, but when we examine their photos, we find houses that are not even close to the kit homes they’re purported to be. The Wardway Parkside was a fine Tudor Revival with two front gables, but not every Tudor Revival with two front gables is going to be a Wardway Parkside.

This Wardway Parkside (in Jackson, Michigan) is a nice example because it’s such a spot-on match to the original catalog image and it’s not been remodeled. Note how all the details are right: The window arrangement, the small decorative bricked arch over the front door, the height and proportion of those two gables and the flared flooples on that front gable.

When comparing suspected kit homes with original catalog pictures, details matter!

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Photo above is courtesy of Dale Patrick Wolicki.