More than 80% of the time, people who think they have a Sears kit home are wrong. Often, those folks do have a kit home, but it’s not a kit home from Sears. Here in Virginia (where I live), most “Sears homes” that I investigate turn out to be kit homes from Aladdin.
Aladdin was based in Bay City, Michigan (a long way from Virginia), but they had a lumber mill in Wilmington, North Carolina (not so far from Virginia).
Hopewell, Virginia has eight Sears homes in their Crescent Hills neighborhood, but they have dozens of Aladdin kit homes throughout the city. It’s a puzzle why so much focus is put on those eight Sears Homes, while the many Aladdin homes are ignored! If I were a little Aladdin Home in Hopewell, I might feel snubbed!
The eight Sears Homes in Crescent Hills are fine-looking residences. The cluster of Aladdin homes are definitely more modest, but they also have a story to tell. They tell about Dupont coming to Hopewell in the early 1900s and building a factory and creating jobs and investing in modest homes for their workers.
And it’s a part of Hopewell’s history that’s getting lost – quickly. Judging by the landscape in this neighborhood (where the Aladdin Homes are located), countless numbers of these modest homes have already been leveled. Perhaps as people become aware that this is a piece of Hopewell’s history, the rest of these houses might be spared.
Unfortunately, I know very little about Hopewell’s history and I’m hoping my readers will share what they know by leaving a comment.
In the coming days, I’ll post several blogs on Hopewell and their Aladdin kit homes, but I’ll start by featuring the Aladdin Edison.
Enjoy the photos and please leave a comment.
Aladdin promoted itself to companies as a supplier of industrial housing. It was believed that providing housing for workers created a more stable workforce. And that was probably true. (1919 Aladdin catalog)
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A close-up of the text from the 1919 catalog.
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The Aladdin Edison was a modest home, but darn cute. And easy to identify these many years later.
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The Aladdin Edison was really a pretty small house. Take a look at the floor plan. How many people today would be content in such a wee tiny house? Typically, the front porch is enclosed on these 90+ year-old houses to create a little more living space. Enclosing the porch created an additional 240 square feet. Pretty significant in a house that measured 30 x 20.
Close-up of the Aladdin Edison
First, my favorite Edison in Hopewell. Oh, that's a cute house!
And from the side...
Another well-dressed Edison...
This one is located on Ramsey Street (near the water) and is in wonderfully original condition! Look at all those original windows! Somebody give this house a pretty placard identifying it as a beautiful example!
This little house is not in original condition, but it's still cute, and it's feeling happy because it has flowers growing in its front yard.
On the Aladdin Edison, the bedroom (front left) and the dining room (front right) are both 10x10. The owner of this house probably wanted to add a little space to those tiny rooms. All in all, the remodeling done to this house isn't too bad. And they saved those awesome old windows in the dormer!
Hmmm. Looks like someone put a great big upholstery tack on that dormer.
This house needs a red-tipped cane.
The little Edison waves good-bye, and hopes that someone will take action to include it, in Hopewell's preservation efforts. A little house can dream...
To learn more about Hopewell’s kit homes, click here.
To learn more about Sears Homes, click here.
To buy Rose’s book, click here.
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I live in Hopewell, Va and my home is considered as a “Sears” home. It’s located on Prince George Ave in the Cresent Hills area, yet I don’t see any mentions of it. Which may lead me to believe it’s an Aladdin Kit Home. My house was built in 1928. Please let me know if you have anymore information on my home. Thank you!