More kit homes have been found in Tahlequah! To read the most recent update, click here.
Dear friend and indefatigable researcher Rachel Shoemaker has found an abundance of kit homes in Oklahoma, and recently, she found one of the prettiest Gordon Van Tine “Roberts” that I have ever seen – anytime and anywhere! (Gordon Van Tine was a competitor of Sears in the kit home business. GVT sold about 50,000 kit homes from 1910 – 1945.)
This kit home is located in Tahlequah, Oklahoma which was the original capital of the Cherokee Nation in 1838. According to Wikipedia, Tahlequah became a settlement in 1832. Street signs in the city are printed in both English and the Cherokee language.
I’m told that Tahlequah is a lovely city, located at the western edge of the Ozark Mountains, and it’s also the home of Merle Travis, Sonny Sixkiller (football player) and Chad Smith, Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation.
To learn more about kit homes, click here.
To learn more about the kit homes in Oklahoma, click here.
To learn more about Addie Hoyt Fargo, click here.
GVT Roberts as seen in the 1921 catalog.
GVT Roberts in Tahlequah, OK, and it's a beauty! Like the house above, this also has the two-story porch on the left side. (Photo is copyright 2011, Rachel Shoemaker and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)
The GVT Roberts has had several additions through the years, but still looks much like the catalog page shown above. (Photo is copyright 2011, Rachel Shoemaker and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)
I'm not sure why this house has a periscope. (Photo is copyright 2011, Rachel Shoemaker and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)
Street signs are printed in both English and in Cherokee language. (Photo is copyright 2011, Rachel Shoemaker and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)
To contact Rachel Shoemaker, please leave a comment below. She’s done extensive research on the kit homes in Oklahoma, and has traveled countless miles, researching and documenting these historically significant homes. We’re both puzzled as to how and why so many kit homes landed here, but it’s time that someone hired Rachel to do a proper survey of this impressive collection of Oklahoma’s architectural treasure trove of kit homes. Heretofore, all the work she’s done has been at her own expense.
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