The Aladdin Cumberland: 100 Years Old
In May 2014, we traveled to Wilmington, DE and Philadelphia, PA to do research at the Hagley Museum (Wilmington) and at the National Archives and Records Administration (Philadelphia).
Along the way, we stopped at Carney’s Point, New Jersey to check out some of the Aladdin kit homes.
There in Carney’s Point, we found an abundance of DuPont Houses (probably DuPont designs, but built with ready-cut materials ordered from Aladdin) and also Aladdin Kit Homes (Aladdin designs and Aladdin materials).
One of the models I saw in Carney’s Point that I had never seen before was the Aladdin “Cumberland.” This is such a pedestrian foursquare that I’m now wondering how many of these I’ve overlooked in other places. There’s not a lot to distinguish this house from the tens of thousands of foursquares that cover America.
The house was offered in the 1914 and 1916 catalog. It’s likely that these houses in Carney’s Point were built in 1916, but they’re very close to the 100-year mark!
Hopefully, now that I’ve seen one live and in person, I shan’t miss another one!
Read about some of the other houses I’ve found in Carney’s Point here, and here.
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The Cumberland, as seen in the 1914 catalog.
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View from the staircase side. BTW, the house was built about six minutes ago, and that lattice work uner the porch deck already looks pretty crummy.
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View from another side (1914 catalog). Lattice work looks worse on this side.
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The Cumberland's living room (1916 catalog). Love the couch!
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Traditional floorplan for a foursquare (1914).
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"Sensible" equals uh, well, "pedestrian" (from the 1916 catalog).
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An undated view of Carney's Point. That's a Cumberland on the far right (foreground).
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Staircase side (1914)
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This photo shows why it's so difficult to identify these houses a few decades later! Look at all the changes this house has endured through the years. Three fine windows - gone. At least that crummy lattice work has been repaired.
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Another Cumberland on Shell Road in Carney's Point. Photo is copyright 2014 Milton H. Crum and may not be used or reproduced without written permission. So there.
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View from the other side (1914).
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At least this side is a better match to the original catalog image. Photo is copyright 2014 Milton H. Crum and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.
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That dormer is unfortunate. Who thought *that* was a good idea? :( Photo is copyright 2014 Milton H. Crum and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.
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Long view of the many Aladdin kit homes on Shell Road in Carney's Point. In the foreground is an Aladdin Cumberland, followed by an Aladdin Georgia, Aladdin Amherst, Aladdin Gerogia and another Cumberland. Photo is copyright 2014 Milton H. Crum and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.
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To read more about DuPont and why they were in Carney’s Point, click here.
To read about Penniman, Virginia’s Own Ghost City, click here.
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