The other day, I had occasion to dig out my 1917 Sterling Homes mail-order catalog and look for a picture of the Sterling Windemere. While I was rustling through the pages, I noticed that the words, “Hughes for President” had been scribbled on the catalog’s front cover (see below). Was this some kid, nominating his elder brother for president? Probably, I told myself.
When my husband came home a few hours later, I asked him, “have you ever heard of a 1916 presidential candidate named Hughes?
“Yes,” he replied, with hardly a pause. “Charles Evan Hughes.”
I love smart men.
Hughes, I later learned, resigned from his position as Associate Justice on the U. S. Supreme Court to run against Wilson in the 1916 presidential election. He put in a good showing, losing by a mere 594,000 votes.
Sterling Homes, as the image shows below, was an early 20th Century mail-order company that sold kit homes in a wide variety of sizes and price ranges. They were solid homes, built from high-quality southern yellow and white pine. The houses were sturdy and strong, and I’ve always been impressed with the attractiveness of Sterling Homes. They apparently had some competent and creative architects.
Sterling Homes 1917 catalog.
Sterling System, as shown in their 1917 catalog.
Sterling Windemere
To read about the Sears Homes of Lynchburg and Roanoke, click here.
To read more about Sterling Homes, click here or you can click here
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Does your Sterling System catalog have the “Imperial” (prairie? foursquare) advertised?
I understand it was at minimum a ’16 model year design.
I want to build one (conventionally; obviously) and I cannot find a high resolution scan of that page fit to present to a architect/blue printer.
There is a page located on a similar website but it is not very high res. Please feel free to email me directly with any commentary or information.