From the catalog, the owners picked the styles they liked in the quality they could afford. By locating trade names and comparing them to the ones in the period catalogs, it is possible to zero-in on the house s origin. Carefully search the attic and built-in cabinets, even the cellar, if the house has one. Blueprints usually specify the company s name, the model number and sometimes the draftsman s name or initials. Come to the Churchill County Museum to do research in local newspapers during the year of the house s construction.
Some citations are quite specific.
Publishes Houses by Mail, by Katherine Cole Stevenson and H. Ward Jandl. Finding a nearby mail-order house can even be helpful. If the steps just outlined lead you to believe you have a mail-order house on your hands, finding out the company, name or model number and date means embarking on the last step of the mystery. Choosing editions from the time of your house s construction, make a careful search of the illustrations in any pattern book or catalog you can lay your hands on. Study the catalog plates carefully, keeping a few photographs of your home handy.