Webster Groves has a multitude of interesting old kit homes, and one of my favorite finds is this 1910s Dutch Colonial, offered by Lewis Homes.
Lewis was one of six national companies selling kit homes through mail-order catalogs in the early 20th Century. Sears was probably the best known of the kit home companies and Aladdin was probably the largest, but Lewis Manufacturing (based in Bay City, Michigan) was a serious contender.
It’s been many years since I drove the streets of Webster Groves, looking for kit homes, and I’m not surprised that I missed a few back in the day, such as this Lewis Homes Dutch Colonial (“The Winthrop”).
Last week, I was back in the St. Louis area, visiting family members and decided to revisit Webster Groves. I didn’t have time to do a thorough survey, but in the four hours I spent there, I found an abundance of kit homes.
To read my prior blogs about Webster Groves, click here and here.
Interested in learning more about marked lumber on kit homes? Click here.
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What's not to love? It possesses "unusual charm and dignity"! (1924 catalog)
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That inset front porch is a defining feature of the Lewis Winthrop.
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I sure do love a nice Dutch Colonial, and this one has a front porch!
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Oh my, what a fine-looking home!
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And it looks good from every angle!
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In this image, you can see those distinctive attic windows.
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Who wouldn't love coming home to this every evening? As philosopher Samuel Johnson wrote, "To be happy at home is the ultimate result of all ambition, the end to which every enterprise and labour tends."
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But here's where it gets frustrating.
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Here's a Lewis Winthrop I found in Toana, Virginia. Like the house shown above, it has no fireplace on the side, but rather three windows. Is this a pattern book version of the Lewis Winthrop? For now, I'm going to make an educated guess that these two homes are the Lewis Winthrop, because I haven't seen a pattern book match. But who knows! Time will tell!
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To read more about the Lewis Winthrop in Toana, Virginia, click here.
To read my prior blogs about Webster Groves, click here and here.
Interested in learning more about marked lumber on kit homes? Click here.
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What a find! And not far from a train station 😉
You certainly have an eye for detail and that is what one needs when doing street surveys. Not everyone has that eye, I have learned!
Does it have a pattern book match you ask?
Possibly, but not that I have seen yet and you know about me and pattern books. Ha.
We can only speculate sometimes when doing street surveys.
It’s a suggestion and not certified, that is up to the homeowner to investigate or someone locally. We can’t get in to every house we find and we certainly can’t research deeds and mortgages from our front seat or our laptops!
Great blog!