My friend Rachel just loves searching for kit homes. And she’s got a real eye for it, too. In addition to Sears kit homes, Rachel has spotted kit homes from many of the other kit home companies, too, such as Gordon Van Tine, Lewis Manufacturing, Harris Brothers, Aladdin, and more.
However, there’s one model of house that seems to haunt Rachel. Seems like, wherever Rachel goes, she finds a Gordon Van Tine “Roberts” kit home. In my eleven-year career, I’ve probably seen two dozen “Roberts.” In the three years I’ve known Rachel, I’d say she’s see many more than that.
Pretty darn impressive.
Gordon Van Tine was a company that – like Sears – sold kit homes through mail order. According to Dale Patrick Wolicki, Gordon Van Tine sold about 50,000 kit homes during their time in the kit home business (about 1910 – early 1940s). The “Roberts” (Model 535) was one of their more popular houses. Apparently, in Oklahoma (where Rachel lives), it was wildly popular.
To learn more about Gordon Van Tine, visit Dale’s most excellent website.
To buy the book that Dale and Rose spent five years writing, click here.
If you live in Oklahoma and would like to ask Rachel a question about kit homes in the area, please leave a comment below!
The GVT Roberts (535) was one of Gordon Van Tine's most popular houses.
*
And some people just have a knack for finding them! Here's one Rachel found in Depew, Oklahoma. (Photo is copyright 2011 Rachel Shoemaker and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)
*
Rachel found this one in Muskogee, Oklahoma. (Photo is copyright 2011 Rachel Shoemaker and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)
*
This is a vintage photo (about 1920) of a GVT Roberts in Tulsa.
*
And this beauty is in Tahlequah, Oklahoma. I'm starting to wonder if there's any city in Oklahoma that Rachel has *not* found a Roberts in!! (Photo is copyright 2011 Rachel Shoemaker and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)
*
This sweet thing is in Charleston, WV.
*
And one in my hometown, Portsmouth, Virginia.
*
A massive and beautiful Roberts in Front Royal, VA.
*
One of my favorites in Hampton, Virginia.
*
A girl and her dog sit in front of this Roberts in Ocean View (Norfolk).
*
The "Roberts" was featured on the cover of the 1916 catalog. Image is copyright 2008 Dale Wolicki and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.
*
To learn more about Gordon Van Tine, click here.
* * *
I started researching the Roberts family awhile back. I have found Edward Roberts house, #560, that is featured in the 1916 catalog on page nine.
The house address is now 918 E Locust in Davenport, Ia. According to the assessor’s records, it’s a commercial property and a three-unit apartment building, and it has an addition on the back.
There is a photo on the assessor’s site and it doesn’t look good :'(
How depressing.
Greetings! I was so excited to find this website about kit homes in Oklahoma.
I think you will find quite a lot of them also in Bristow, OK on the West side near the Hospital and also in Muskogee, OK in any of the “Old Town” portion.
I realize this post is quite old now, but I’m the owner of the house shown above in “Charleston WV” – actually Saint Albans, WV. You might be happy to know it has been repainted and spruced a bit.
But I’m curious to know how much leeway the builder would have had in the layout of the house. Ours was built in 1926, and the catalogs for both 1923 and 1927 show this house with an L-shaped central staircase, while ours has a straight staircase (which tends to waste some of the foyer, unfortunately). I can’t seem to find that as an option in any of the catalogs I’ve searched.
There’s a great resource of catalogs at https://archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22Gordon-Van+Tine+Co.%22, which can be paged through in the web browser or downloaded in a variety of formats.
BTW, it appears that the model with both sun porch and sleeping porch is the 535 (in 1927 there was also a 535B), while the house with only a sun porch, like mine, is the 536.
ABTW, there is another Roberts in Charleston WV, you can see a photo at https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/exhibits/23?section=48.