*
Updated with NEW photos! See below!!
*
Thanks to indefatigable researcher Rachel Shoemaker, I now have a digital copy of the 1931 brochure, “The Proof of the Pudding,” published by Gordon Van Tine. It’s a collection of happy testimonials from happy homeowners who purchased kit homes from Gordon Van Tine.
This little brochure is a real treasure.
Like Sears, Gordon Van Tine sold kit homes through mail order, and according to co-author Dale Wolicki, they sold about 50,000 kit homes (which is most impressive). Sears, by contrast, sold about 70,000 kit homes.
While reading “The Proof of The Pudding,” one house in particular caught my eye.
“All of my friends who have seen this house,” wrote homeowner Otto Friebertshauser of Wheeling WV, “are in love with it.”
I’ve been through several cities in West Virginia and some of them have an abundance of kit homes (like Beckley and Lewisburg) and some have a handful (like Elkins) and some have very few kit homes (like Buckhannon).
However, I’ve never been to Wheeling, West Virginia.
But I suspect that there are quite a few kit homes there.
By the late 1920s, Sears had opened about 40 “Sears Modern Homes Sales Offices” throughout the country (39 of them were east of the Mississippi River). Sears didn’t open a sales center unless sales in that area were strong, and once a sales office was open, sales typically increased quite a bit.
Sometime around 1929, Sears opened a Sears Modern Homes Sales Office in Wheeling, WV at 41 Sixteenth Street. That tells me that there were enough sales in Wheeling to justify opening up this sales office (which is impressive in it own right, as this was the only sales office in West Virginia). And if the office in Wheeling was like the offices in other cities, sales of Sears Homes increased after this office opened. That tells me I should find quite a few post-1929 Sears kit homes.
And that is all good news!
My husband is from Elkins and we visit there often, and I love West Virginia. It’s mighty cold in the winter, but it must be one of the prettiest states in this country.
Do you know where this house is in Wheeling? If so, please leave a comment below.
And do you know of other kit homes in Wheeling? Please let me know!
Many thanks to Rachel for sharing her brochure, “Proof in the Pudding.” To read Rachel’s blog, click here.
* * *
Mr. Friebertshauser wrote passionately about his new home there in Wheeling!
*
A picture of Mr. Friebertshauser's home in Wheeling.
*
Catalog page showing Otto's home: The Roberts
*
A "Roberts" in Front Royal, Virginia
*
Sears had only 40 "Sears Modern Homes Sales Centers" in the country and there was one in Wheeling, WV. This tells me that there are probably *many* Sears Homes in Wheeling.
*
Sears only placed these "Sales Centers" in cities or regions where sales were very strong.
*
Here's the actual photo of Otto's home in Wheeling. His description of the house gives a few clues. In the 1931 brochure, it was described as a "quarter mile from any other house."
*
UPDATED!! Wheeling must have an abundance of kit homes. Look what we found in about 30 minutes of looking!!
Here's a fine-looking house on Kruger Street (for sale) and it's actually an Aladdin Shadowlawn. Aladdin was another large kit home company that sold homes through their mail-order catalog. (Photo is from a real estate site and hopefully the new-found recognition that this house is a kit home will help sell the property and the unknown photographer won't be upset with us for borrowing this photo. Despite some searching, I couldn't find a photo credit.) Thanks to Rachel Shoemaker for finding this house!
*
Oh my stars, it's a perfect match to the Shadowlawn as shown in the 1919 catalog!
*
Here's another house for sale in Wheeling. It's a Sears Fullerton.
*
Another real fine match!
*
This is an Aladdin Standard, also currently for sale and listed at a real estate site. Now that folks know it's a kit home, will they sell it more quickly? We can hope!
*
Be still my quivering heart, what a nice match to the photo above! (1914 Aladdin catalog).
*
Another house for sale in Wheeling (and since Google Maps doesn't provide street views in Wheeling, this is all we got). This is not a "kit home" but it's a "plan book" house. Plan books were a little different than kit homes. When you purchased a design from a planbook, you'd receive blueprints and a list of building materials needed to complete the house. These Plan Books were very popular in the 1920s.
*
Here's the house as seen in the 1929 "Home Builders" catalog.
*
There's a Sears Crescent high on a hill in Wheeling. It's across the street from the Dairy Queen and I found it while "driving" via Google Maps. It sure would be nice to have a photo! If you're able to take a photo for me, please leave a comment below.
*
So Wheeling has kit homes from Sears, Aladdin and Gordon Van Tine. How many kit homes does Wheeling have?
I don’t know, but I do know that I’d love to visit Wheeling and find out!
To contact Rose, please leave a comment below.
*
To learn more about how to identify kit homes, click here.
To visit Rachel’s blog, click here.
* * *
Mark and I have been working on finding these testimonial homes and have located many of them.
Mark or I will get back to you with the address of the 535.
He and his brother along with their dad owned and operated a hardware store on Market Street, Friebertshausers and Sons.
His house was on Short Creek Rd. Otto had a son that passed away in 2005. Maybe there are still family members in Wheeling. Hopefully someone in Wheeling will read this and comment.
Well, looks like the store is gone! http://www.flickr.com/photos/34878756@N04/3895162704/
My parents are the current owners of the Otto Friebertshauser home, and we were very excited to see it listed on your blog.
They can send you a current picture of the home if you’d like.
Can someone from Wheeling get photos of the house at 120 N 16th St Wheeling, WV? It might be a GVT #107. The house on the right of it might be a Radford so pictures of it too would be nice. I see other possible Radford houses so it might be worth checking with a Radford book.
Just found your website by way of the Toyota forum….”kit homes”, hmmm, okay, but I what am I missing here….they all look pretty banal to me…is there something design wise that I’m not getting?
@BARNEY
Hello Barney,
As my husband says, “Different people like different things.”
Or as the poets have said, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”
I look at the pictures of these houses and see something truly beautiful, remarkable, historically significant and culturally important.
There’s an old song, “I Could Love a Million Girls,” and that’s how I feel about these houses. I could love a million houses!
Just found your post! Great stuff. I live in Wheeling and will take photos and send to you, if you want more pics.
Thanks for posting this!