Here’s the kind of “research” that makes me 1/3rd sad, 1/4th disappointed and 29/50ths disheartened.
There’s a fellow in Wisconsin who recently discovered that he has a Wardway Home, and has written a blog about it.
Cool. Mega kudos to him for writing a blog about his Wardway Home.
But…
He tried (in vain) to identify it. Finding nothing close, he decided that it was a “customized Maywood.”
Ruh Roh.
He then adds, “The wall boards are stamped with ‘Montgomery Ward & Co., Davenport, Ia. to R. L. Sizer, Wisconsin.'”
I suspect that he meant to say that the studs (vertical wall members) are marked, because I’ve never ever heard of wallboards being stamped with shipping information. Ever.
Typically, shipping information is found on shipping labels (see image below), which are then affixed to millwork (moldings and trim).
Next comment: “It was obvious that Mr. Sizer was cost-conscious from the first time we entered this house. Touring the basement, it was pointed out that the floor boards had been used for framing the foundation.”
Say what?
I’ve seen floor joists (2×8) used as temporary forms when pouring cement for basement walls, which leaves a trademark white/gray stain on the lumber, but I’ve never ever seen anyone use 3/4″ tongue-and-groove white-oak floorboards for “framing a foundation.”
A minor point, but using framing members as temporary forms was commonplace, and not a cost-cutting measure.
He also writes: “Kit houses or as Ward called them, ‘ready-cut houses,’ were not uncommon. According to the book, ‘Houses By Mail,’ over 100,000 were built in the United States between 1908 and 1940, the majority from Sears.”
Mixing apples and oranges makes a delightful fruit salad, but in historic architecture, it’s confusing.
Sears sold about 70,000 kit homes. Dale Patrick Wolicki (an architectural historian and co-author of Montgomery Ward’s Mail-Order Homes), estimates that about 25,000 Wardway homes were sold.
Lastly, the homeowner claims that while the Wardway designs shown in the catalog are not a good match, he did find one home that “does bear a resemblance,” the Wardway Maywood.
Hmmm… Given this his home is a one-story house, and the Maywood is two-story, that’s a real mystery.
Based on other comments within the blog, I’m confident he’s got a Wardway home, but I wish he’d done a little more research. Written historical records need to be inexorably, meticulously and assiduously accurate.
In my opinion, of course. 😉
To contact Rose, leave a comment below.
To learn more about identifying marks on lumber, click here.
Interested in learning more about wallboard in early 20th Century Sears Homes? Lookie here.
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Shipping labels are often found on the backside of millwork. I've never seen one on wallboard.
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Here's a Wardway "Maywood" as seen in the 1931 catalog.
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Here's a "customized" Maywood in Battlecreek, MI.
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Dale Wolicki found the actual house ("customized Maywood") featured in the Wardway brochure (shown above). Photo is copyright 2012 Dale Patrick Wolicki and may not be used or reprinted with written permission.
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Wardway offered "architectural services" for folks who wanted a unique design. The center image shows a customized Maywood in the Chicago area. Note that it looks like a Maywood with a garage added to the side.
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The author says that this home (the Wardway Maywood) does "bear a resemblance" to his customized Wardway, "especially in the floor plan." Unless he's got a bedroom set up in the closet (which does have a nice shelf), I'm baffled on this one. Shown above is the first-floor plan for the Wardway Maywood.
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Here's the subject house, the "customized Wardway Maywood." The small inset is the 1931 Maywood.
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Frankly, I think it looks more like this kit home: The "Brentwood."
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Or maybe the "Carmen."
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Or maybe it's a Magnolia, customized.
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To learn more about identifying marks on lumber, click here.
Interested in learning more about wallboard in early 20th Century Sears Homes? Lookie here.
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The subject home looks like a right to left split level.
Do my eyes deceive me?
@Lyn
Lyn, that’s an excellent observation!!! I think you’re right. It may be!
That’s exactly what I thought when I just looked at the photo.
I had friends in high school in Hampton who lived in a whole big neighborhood of nothing but split-levels, so I’m kind of attuned to them, just by sight.
Recently my husband and I discovered that our house may be a Sterling kit home, specifically the Carmen, which you referenced above.
The floor plan matches the “Plan C” of the Carmen with the exception of the original owners reversed the bedrooms and extended the kitchen table area of the kitchen.
It still has the original interior doors, hardwood flooring, and 2 original windows. Is there any way to confirm that it is indeed a kit home? We did find some grease pencil markings on the floor joists in the basement.
@Stephanie Reineke Do you know what year it was built?