In Love with Kit Houses

The fascinating history of Kit Houses in the United States

It is hard to imagine the time before the internet, but before we had the world at our fingertips, people would pour over catalogs. Most famously the Sears and Roebuck catalogs. Some of you may even remember looking through the coveted Christmas catalog and circling all the toys you wanted! Who knew you could kit houses through the mail too!

Dating back as far as the Victorian era, future homeowners could choose the house they wanted straight from a catalog. A kit was sent containing all of the pre-cut wood and components of the home.

The 4 Pines cabin is a 1960’s kit home from Sears and Roebuck! We discovered this a we progressed through the renovation. We were given the original house plans when we purchased it, but didn’t pay too much attention to the details of the plan until we started pulling some of the components down in order to upgrade. It was a fun trip through 1960’s and 1970’s décor nostalgia!

A-frame kit houses became popular after the war with the peak in the 60’s as families gained affluence and started to expand into owning vacation homes. You can find A-frames from Lake Tahoe, CA like the Perlman House near the ski resort Palisades Tahoe to the shores of the Great Lakes and beyond. The affordability of the kit house and unique design of the A-frame was the perfect match for the new generation of leisure travelers.

The mania for A-frames and kit houses has had a resurgence in the past decade. Cabins, A-frames and tiny houses are all the rage with numerous pre-fab companies emerging. The Backcountry Hut Company is one that has emerged with great modern designs.

Another company is Avrame with some lovely traditional A-frame designs. But of course, you can find homes that have been built already and are ready for you to add your own touches to! Just like we did.

The areas surrounding Lake Tahoe are FULL of beautiful A-frames and different style cabins. Our gorgeous area is the perfect backdrop for these idealistic homes. They provide a cozy interior and a stunning exterior that both stands out in the forest yet blends in to it’s environment perfectly.

A kit house should not be confused with a modular home. A modular home is factory built and brought to the building site on a truck in sections. A kit house is shipped as individual lumber and components that have been precut to size thus eliminating the need to measure and cut pieces of wood. Most homeowners will hire a local carpenter or contractor to handle the delivery and construction of the home.

The company that is largely credited with introducing kit houses was Aladdin Company. They operated out of Canada from 1905 to 1952. Of course Sears and Roebuck were a huge retailer of kit homes in the United States.

Today you can find more companies offering kit houses as well as modular homes which offer beautiful designs for affordable prices. Modern style kit homes are becoming increasingly popular with companies like Stillwater Dwellings and Summerwood.

If you are looking for A-frame style kit houses, check out our article on 10 kit homes you can buy online.

Come experience a classic kit home for yourself! The cabin is nestled in Tahoe National forest surrounded by 5 ski resorts, 5 minutes to Donner Lake and 25 Minutes to Lake Tahoe and even less to Truckee. If you are hoping to stay in a true mid-century kit house come stay at the 4 Pines Cabin!

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