Was I surprised to find 19 Aladdin kit homes in Kinston? My oh my, yes! And those 19 were found during a very quick windshield survey. There are more lurking about, I’m sure.
Last week, my husband and I visited New Bern, and while there, we drove out to Kinston to look at the local architecture. Lo and behold, we found an Aladdin kit home on almost every street in the older neighborhoods. In one memorable area (near Harding and Pollock Streets) we found seven Aladdin homes together.
The older suburbs we visited had many wide-open spaces, suggesting that many of these early 20th Century kit homes have already been demolished.
If you’re new to this website, you may be wondering, what is a kit home? In the early 1900s, aspiring homeowners could order a “kit home” from the Sears Roebuck catalog. Each 12,000-piece kit came with a 75-page instruction book and a promise that the neophyte homebuilder could have the house ready for occupancy in 90 days. 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).
Aladdin was bigger than Sears, in business longer, and sold more homes than Sears, but they’re not as well known as Sears. Aladdin had a mill in Wilmington, North Carolina, which explains why Aladdin Homes were so popular in the Southeast.
Based on my research, the overwhelming majority of people living in these kit homes didn’t know what they had, until I contacted them (or they discovered their home on my blog).
What was the industry that promoted Kinston’s growth in the early 1900s, and put them on the map? Industries often turned to Aladdin to supply housing for the workers. It’s likely that someone turned to Aladdin for the houses we’re now finding in Kinston, but who was it?
Lastly, before we get into the photos, I’m hoping some progressive-minded soul in Kinston will contact me about coming back to town to do a thorough survey. Perhaps identifying these bungalows as historically significant kit homes can be a key to revitalizing parts of Kinston.
Let’s hope.
Contact Rose by leaving a comment below.
In addition to the 19 Aladdin homes, I found a lone Gordon Van Tine home: The Peach House Restaurant! And it’s a real beauty! You can read more about that by clicking here!
You can read here about the kit homes I found in New Bern, NC.
UPDATE! We found a Montgomery Ward kit home in Kinston, too!
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Aladdin sold more homes than Sears, but was not as well known.
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What was the industry that promoted Kinston's growth in the early 1900s, and put them on the map? It seems very likely that *that* employer turned to Aladdin to supply worker homes in Kinston.
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Aladdin had catalogs devoted to "solving the problem of industrial housing."
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Aladdin was named for the magical genie who built "a house in a day" for his master. Apparently, Old Genie is perusing the latest catalog to find a snappy design.
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The Shadow Lawn is one of my favorites. It was spacious and beautiful (1919).
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When I drove in Kinston, the first house I spotted was this Aladdin Shadowlawn on Lenoir Avenue. Looks like it walked right off the pages of the 1919 catalog (shown above).
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During our brief time in Kinston, I initially missed this Shadowlawn (another beauty) on Atlantic Avenue. Shown above is a screenshot from Google Maps. It's another delightfully original house.
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The "Colonial" was probably Aladdin's biggest (and fanciest) kit home.
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And there's one in Kinston! Do the owners know that they're living in a kit home?
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The Pomona was a classic early 20th Century bungalow (1919).
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This was my favorite Pomona in Kinston (which has three of them). This house still as so many of its original features, including the half-timber effect on the porch gable, original windows with diamond muntins and those rectangular eave brackets. And that appears to be an old wooden storm door.
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This Pomona on Washington Street is also a lovely home, but its windows have been replaced.
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The years have not been kind to this Pomona on College Street.
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In all my travels, I'd never seen an Aladdin "Carolina." It seems fitting that there are not one but two Carolinas in Kinston, North Carolina. This image is from the 1923 catalog.
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This Carolina on Rhem Street is in picture-perfect condition.
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This is an Aladdin "Carolina" and it does have its original windows, so that's a plus. It's had some insensitive remodeling. Anything salt-treated on an old house is just not a good plan.
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I've not seen that many "Willards" in my travels, but there are two in Kinston (1919).
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It's also a cute little house with lots of interesting details and features.
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And this Willard on Harding Street is perfect - right down to the lattice!
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From every angle, it's a beauty!
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And it's astounding that 100 years later, that lattice is still in such good shape.
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On an opposing corner, I found this Willard which has had some remodeling, but still looks a lot like a Willard. It's a pity that the guy-wire got in the way of an otherwise perfect picture.
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The Virginia was a popular house for Aladdin (1919).
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This "Virginia" on Capitola Street is next door to the Carolina shown above!
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Okay, so we lost the little girl (in the image on the right) and gained a trash can, but other than that, it's a lovely match. And a pretty house, too!
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The Florence was a popular house for Aladdin and I've found an abundance of these in North Carolina's mill towns. There are two Florence models in Kinston.
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And they're across the street from each other. This is on Harding.
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And so is this one.
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The Aladdin Boulevard was not a hugely popular house (1919).
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But it is distinctive with that low shed dormer and the window arrangement. The Boulevard has 12/1 windows on the front porch (1919).
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This was the first "Boulevard" I've ever seen. On this model, someone took out those living windows when they put in that fireplace. There's also an addition on the rear of the house.
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In this picture, you can see those 12/1 windows on the Kinston "Boulevard."
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The "Sunshine" was a popular house with a really cute name (1924).
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"You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine..." This was the only Sunshine we found in Kinston.
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These four models were lined up like little soldiers in a row on Pollock Street in Kinston.
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The Willard is to the far left, with the Sunshine next, the Boulevard beyond it, and the Pomona at the end of the run. Kitty-corner to this Willard was The Perfect Willard, and the two Florences are behind this WIllard. These are the seven Aladdins mentioned above.
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I've been looking for an Aladdin Brunswick for a long time, butt prior to coming to Kinston, I'd never laid eyes on the real deal (1923 catalog).
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And Kinston has two of them. This house is on West Washington.
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A distinctive feature of the Brunswick is this window arrangement on the side of the house. The centered window is a staircase-landing window. The small windows are closet windows.
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This is another house that I missed on my first drive through town, and found when I was double-checking addresses via Google Maps. It's in pitiable shape. It's just off Perry and Atlantic, and just around the corner from that stunning Aladdin Shadowlawn. I hope this home has a hope of restoration.
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And the Gordon Van Tine #705 was the only non-Aladdin home I found in Kinston.
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Now this is a beautiful house - and it's also a restaurant!
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Had we only been more familiar with the delicious delights offered at The Gordon Van Tine #705 Restaurant, errr, the "Peach House" we would have stopped there for lunch!
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At the end of our trip to Kinston, Hubby was mighty glad to get back to our "home away from home," The Aerie Bed and Breakfast in New Bern. He was tired of looking at houses.
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You can visit The Peach House website here.
To read about what I found in nearby New Bern, click here.
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