117 House Designs of the Twenties

By Gordon-Van Tine Co.

In the post-World War I era, as the economic boom of the 1920s gathered momentum, millions of Americans set out to make the dream of owning their own home come true. Labor and materials were plentiful and cheap, and new trends in home design made the prospect of homebuilding an exciting venture. This fascinating book, a reprint of a rare catalog of prefabricated houses from 1923, reveals in detail the types of design offered to those in the market for a new home in the early 1920s. Of the 117 designs included, most are substantial middle-class homes. But the popularity of cottages and bungalows is also apparent in the wide selection of practical and appealing designs depicted. And there are large, formal homes as well, many of which embody America's unflagging interest in colonial styling. Some have affluent touches such as a sleeping porch or a sun room. Many reflect a strong interest in exterior detailing, in the form of cypress siding, broad eaves, heavy timber brackets, stucco pillars, and flower boxes, among other features. Each house is shown in a large frontal illustration. Floor plans for the first and second floors are included, and interior and exterior detailing are extensively described. The specifics of plumbing, heating, and lighting are included in a special section at the back of the book. Architects, architectural and social historians -- anyone interested in American home design -- will enjoy the rich variety of designs presented. Republished in association with the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, this authentic catalog provides not only an indispensable repository of information about the homes themselves but a source of insight into American life at a time when owning a home became a widely realizable dream for a rapidly growing middle class.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486269590
• ISBN13: 9780486269597
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 1.06 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.4" x 11.2"

Customer Reviews

Great book, definitely get this one

I bought this book about 15 years ago and am still going back and perusing it, as my dog-eared copy shows. Lots of very clear, well drawn floor plans and elevations, plus a lot of info on sourcing, distribution, and manufacture that you won't find in some other plan books. Bonus: details of construction showing how elaborate and well-designed the behind-the-walls structure is, making a totally solid house - and every inch of it prefabricated. Even though in most cases the rooms are rather small by today's standards and the majority of plans are more plain than fancy, still I keep wishing in the back of my mind that my own grandparents had bought a Gordon-Van Tine house - and left it to me! I'd be a very happy camper now if that was so. If you're an old house buff, buy this one, you might find some fancier designs elsewhere but you won't get tired of it.

Praise from the Owner of a Gordon-Van Tine Home

I live in one of the delightful Gordon-Van Tine No. 613 homes, so finding this book was a thrill. I have seen another of these houses in Cortland, NY, in the stucco finish (one of two siding options), and one somewhat-"remuddled" one in Black River, NY, with vinyl siding (!) and alterations to the sunroom windows. Both of these houses are on main roads, so I imagine there are many others on quiet side streets, like ours. Ours is in the cedar finish--original 1924 siding in pristine condition. It is in Watkins Glen, NY. The house is framed in cedar! The floors in the front of the house and in the central hallway are oak, and those in the bedrooms are fir, which, I understand, was a common practice in homes of the era. The interior has been changed very little, except for kitchen and bath remodeling and the addition of a small master bath in the space formerly occupied by the master bedroom closet and the linen closet. A new master bedroom closet was bumped into a screened porch added to the back of the house (designed by our contractor to conform to the original home design and trim), and a new hall closet to replace the one lost to the master bath was added in the dead space at the end of the basement stairwell. The tile hearth had to be replaced due to cracked and loose tiles, and when fuel prices shot up, we re-lined the chimney and installed a Vermont Castings woodstove in the fireplace. After over 80 years, this is still a lovely, very-liveable house. I love to show the facsimile catalog to guests. I purchased one for the daughter of some friends, who admires our house, and says she wants one just like it. If you own a kit house of this era, I strongly recommend that you borrow all the available books through inter-library loan and keep looking until you find your house. Then buy "your" catalog. Having documentation of its provenance adds to the home's value in many markets, and it is fascinating to be abe to look at the price lists (this book includes complete price lists, down to the plumbing options and electrical fixtures), to see what the original owners paid for the house.

Another keeper for those who are obsessed...

As I am! "117 House Designs of The Twenties" is a reprint of the 1923 Gordon Van Tine catalog. There are a few errors in the introduction (such as the statement that Sears started selling kit homes in 1909; it was 1908) and some other frustrating mis-information, but that's a minor point. For those sick puppies (such as myself) who like to sit and read old catalogs for hours and hours, this book is a gem. There's lots of reading material in the front and back, giving good detail about the company and how they did business. Gordon Van Tine was a worthy contender in the kit home business, selling roughly 50,000+ kit homes in their four decades in the housing business. (Thanks to Dale Wolicki for the stats.) Plus (and this is a biggie) GVT was the front man for Montgomery Ward homes. Unlike Sears, Montgomery Ward did not have their own mills, architects and catalogs but turned to Gordon Van Tine to supply their kit homes. So, if you suspect you have a Montgomery Ward home, you'll want to peruse this GVT catalog. Rose author, "The Houses That Sears Built" co-author, "California's Kit Homes"

A superb resource in architectural history

"117 House Designs of the Twenties" is a reprint of the 1923 mail-order house catalogue of the Gordon-Van Tine Company. This crisp reproduction is thus an accurate window into this era in United States home architecture. The wealth of detailed artistic renderings also make this a book of great charm and beauty.Based in Davenport, Iowa, Gordon-Van Tine was a trailblazer in the field of prefabricated houses. This catalogue covers the company's products in amazing detail. We see cutaway views of homes that reveal the construction technique. We also see plumbing fixtures, lights, and cutaway views of furnaces. But the heart of this catalogue lies in the detailed floor plans, as well as in the detailed artists' renditions of both exteriors and interiors. This catalogue contains structures ranging in size from a humble one-room vacation cottage to roomy nine-room farmhouses. Both one- and two-story houses appear. The main styles represented are bungalow and colonial revival (the latter including "Dutch colonial" designs), in many different configurations.The exterior drawings capture many features: columned porches, sun porches, various roof types (gabled, hipped, gambrel), dormers, exposed rafter tails, and more. Equally detailed and charming are the depictions of furnished interiors. This is truly a marvelous book.

Very entertaining look at 1920s houses

I was looking for some reference material for houses built in the 1920s, particularly pictures of various rooms, so that I can restore some rooms in a 20s house to original condition. This book not only has exterior pictures of many different houses, but also lists things like color schemes and construction methods. It also shows pictures of garages, doors, and even manufacturing methods for the houses. The pictures may be in black and white, but they're valuable references. ... this book is an absolute steal.