California's Kit Homes, Part II
Photos by Rosemary Thornton
Rose has spent six years living and breathing Sears kit homes. She's published two books and given hundreds of lectures, including a presentation at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In the process, she's become known as "The Sears Lady." Now she takes her preservation crusade to another relatively unknown, but prolific regional kit home manufacturer: Pacific Ready-Cut Homes. Read about the history of this California company in Part I of this story. In Part II (below), you can see photos of kit homes standing today, and the catalog pages describing them. Rose's goal in this series of stories is "to make folks aware of this very significant chapter of California's architectural history...to preserve and protect these historically-significant homes."
| The Catalog -- The Homes Below are catalog pages from the Pacific Homes catalog, along with photos of some kit homes still standing today. Read about the history of this company and see more photos in Part I. (Click photos for larger view.) | |
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| The Style 272 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 272 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 351 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 351 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 385 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 385 kit home in near original condition (above, right). | |
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| The Style 392 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 392 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 396 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 396 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 398 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 398 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 401 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 401 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 419 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 419 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 42 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 42 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 601 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 601 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 79 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 79 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 84 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 84 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 85 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 85 kit home (above, right). | |
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| The Style 95 plan in Pacific Homes catalog (above, left); an actual Style 95 kit home (above, right). | |
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>> To Part I of this Story: "Almost Sears Homes"
Rose Thornton is the author of "The Houses That Sears Built", "Finding the Houses that Sears Built" and she and Dale Wolicki have co-authored, "California's Kit Homes." She travels throughout the country, lecturing on kit homes and has given more than 200 lectures in the last three years. Ms. Thornton is a contributing editor to The Old House Web.
By Rosemary Thornton, contributing editor
