It’d sure be fun to learn more about the history of Kinston, North Carolina. When my husband and I were there last week, we found a surfeit of Aladdin kit homes, and yet there in the middle of all these Aladdin Homes, we spotted a Gordon Van Tine #705 in peachy-keen condition!
Later, we learned that this beautiful old bungalow is also a restaurant, known as The Peach House, and better yet, it’s received many rave reviews. When we return to Kinston, I’d love to drop in for lunch!
A little bit about kit homes: In the early 1900s, you could order a “kit home” from the Sears Roebuck catalog. These 12,000-piece kits came with a 75-page instruction book that told the homeowner how all those pieces and parts went together. In addition to Sears, there were other companies selling kit homes through mail-order catalogs, such as Aladdin (based in Bay City, Michigan) and Gordon Van Tine (Davenport, Iowa).
It’s not surprising to find so many Aladdins in this part of the country, because Aladdin had a large mill in nearby Wilmington, North Carolina. Finding a GVT is a bit of a surprise!
Thanks so much to Joni McRae for sharing information on The Peach House and providing additional photos!
We found 19 Aladdin kit homes in Kinston. See the photos here!
You can visit The Peach House website here.
To read about what I found in nearby New Bern, click here.
And there’s Roanoke Rapids, which has a large collection of Aladdin Homes.
Kinston (New Bern actually) was to be our 2nd honeymoon. Four months later, he was gone.
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Gordon Van Tine #705 as seen in the 1918 catalog.
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Model #705 featured four bedrooms, but none of them were very large.
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Now that's a fine-looking house.
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That is one beautiful house! And the color makes me swoon. Photo is copyright 2015 Joni McRae and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.
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A "historically sensitive" addition created extra living space. Photo is copyright 2015 Joni McRae and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.
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And even though it's an über-crummy picture, it shows the OTHER side of this perfect peach. (Yes, it's my photo. I thought I had a moment to snap this picture in peace, and then a car turned in just behind me. )
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It was a peach of a house 40 years ago, even though it was plain old white. Photo is courtesy Joni McRae.
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Best of all, you can go inside The Peach House and have lunch ! For more information, visit their website at www.peachhousenc.com. The house is located at 412 W. Vernon Avenue, Kinston.
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Last but not least, here's another GVT #705 I found in my Aunt Addie's hometown, Lake Mills, Wisconsin.
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This factory in Kinston appears abandoned, and yet it's surrounded by a surfeit of Aladdin kit homes. Was this an old mill? I'd love to know.
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Thanks so much to Joni McRae for sharing information on The Peach House and providing additional photos!
To read about what I found in nearby New Bern, click here.
And there’s Roanoke Rapids, which has a large collection of Aladdin Homes.
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I’m still tickled by the use of the word “chamber” rather than bedroom.
It always makes me think of a chamber pot. Do you have any idea why that word was used?
And was it perhaps an indicator of the manufacturer of the home. Love the peachy color.
I’ll bet many HOAs would not allow such a thing.
Our house is a Sears house transported by train to Kinston in 1918.
The last picture was a power plant.
@Judy
Judy, where is your house? My next blog will be on the kit homes of Kinston, and there are many Aladdins, but I didn’t find much in the way of Sears.
Thanks for sharing, Rosemary. 🙂
Here is an article from 2014 referencing the power plant and its condition.
With so many awesome things going on in downtown Kinston, hopefully someone will bring it back to life. http://m.kinston.com/article/20140726/News/307269990
Want to know if a house I just restored is a custom Sears kit house.
Kitchen sink is stamped SR 1920 drainboard.
Original glass bookcase colonnade, doors, hardware, front door with side lights that open, original dining and living light fixtures, and all of these items are found in Sears kit home options.
Craftsman bungalow on Sanborn Insurance Map, circa 1925.
Joni, the “Factory” was not a factory at all, but a power plant. I grew up in Kinston, and that’s where everyone got their electricity from at one time.
I believe some it now has been restored into offices or apartments, but am not sure. I know much of the plant is not usable due to the expense of cleaning up the hazardous materials.
As for the question about the word “chamber” being used on the floorpans, here are two things to consider: In the 19th century, Edgar Allen Poe used the word “chamber” in his poems to refer to bedroom.
Also, the French word for bedroom is “chambre”. Since William the Conquerer of France conquered England is 1066, many French words came into the English language. At the beginning of the 20th century, “chamber” was apparently still being used.