Last week, Elisabeth Witt of Wisconsin contacted me and said she thought there were a few kit homes in Shorewood, Wisconsin. I went to Realtor.com and entered Shorewood to do a quickie search, and one of the first hits was an Aladdin Venus! Click here to see the listing.
The Aladdin Venus was a popular house, but what makes this house in Shorewood so interesting is that it’s the only Venus I’ve seen that retains its original wooden awning.
And before we get to the pictures, I wonder if the Realtor knows it’s an Aladdin kit home? If so, there’s not a peep about it in the listing!
Thanks so much to Elisabeth for sending the photos!
To learn more about Aladdin, click here.
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Located in Shorewood, Wisconsin, this is the only Aladdin Venus I've seen with that wooden awning intact! And the rest of the house is in lovely condition, minus the windows on the side. Best of all, this house is for sale and if you click on the link above, you'll find an abundance of interior photos. Thanks to Elisabeth Witt for getting this photo!
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Detail of that wooden awning.
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The Aladdin Venus was a beautiful house, with a lot of fun details, like those paneled columns, the L-shaped front porch, and the star-pattern of windows on the home's left side (shown here). It also has oversized eaves and the roof slopes over those upstairs windows. When you look at the interior photos, that slope is dramatic on the 2nd floor. (1919 catalog)
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The Venus was offered in two floor plans. Venus #1 was smaller (18 by 24).
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Venus #2 was 20' by 26' and a couple other minor differences.
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"It continually attracts attention from people walking by..."
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The Aladdin Venus, as seen in the 1919 catalog.
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What a pretty little Aladdin Venus! But the removal of four windows is a curiousity!
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Here's a tired Aladdin Venus in Newport News, Virginia.
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Another weary Venus, and this one's in Norfolk (38th Street).
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Here's an Aladdin Venus just outside of Roanoke Rapids, NC.
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If those other Venuses (Venii?) are tired-looking, this one's exhausted. It's on 35th Street, in Park Place (Norfolk, VA). At one time, Park Place was solid working class neighborhood with many classic bungalows. Now it's a blighted, high-crime area that's trying to come back. In the meantime, the many bungalows in this neighborhood can be had for a song.
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Let's end on a happy note. 🙂 Many thanks to Elisabeth for the wonderful photo. And someone should tell that Realtor that this is the real deal - an Aladdin (not Sears) kit home!
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To learn more about Aladdin, click here.
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Hello! I live in Corning, NY and am on a crusade to determine if my home is a kit home. I have spent many hours booking up old plans and through catalogs online and the Venus comes closest to the layout of my home, but the layout of bedrooms is different. When I purchased my home, I was told that it was built in 1948 but two other homes in my neighborhood that appear to be built from the same plans are listed as having been built in 1928, which makes me wonder if I was given misinformation. Do you (or anyone) know of any other builders with a floor plan similar to the Venus? Thank you.