Pacific's Book Of Homes
Subtitle: A Notable Exhibition Of California Architecture
Publisher: Pacific Ready-Cut Homes, Inc.
Published: 1925
Language: eng
Number of pages: 162
Subjects: Pacific Ready-Cut Homes, Inc.; prefabrication; trade catalog; blueprints; floor plans; house plans; advertising; dwellings; homes; residences; 
Description: <div>Catalog with dark red pasteboard covers. Both covers are completely loose from the pages. There are four staples holding the pages together. The front cover has a tall, dark rectangle in the center that has a raised illustration of a home with the words "Pacific's Book of Homes" above it and "DeLuxe Edition, Pacific Ready-Cut Homes, Inc., Los Angeles, California" below it. Around the rectangle on the front cover, there are Celtic and floral designs raised into the cover. The back cover is blank. There is some wear on the bottom edge and the spine. 160 pages. Size: 8" x 10.5"<br /></div><div><br /></div><div>From antiquehomestyle.com: "Of 
      the many kit home manufacturers during the first half the 20th century, 
      Pacific Ready Cut was the third largest after Aladdin and Sears. Located 
      in Los Angeles, Pacific Ready Cut Homes, Inc. was originally incorporated 
      in 1909 as Pacific Portable Construction Company by William Butte and Francis 
      Barker. 
    </div><p>In 1908, Barker purchased a small factory and the equipment to manufacture 
      small, portable houses in Los Angeles. A native New Englander, he was experienced 
      in lumber manufacturing and milling and was probably well aware of companies 
      like E. F. Hodgson, which began building and selling portable houses in 
      the 1890s in Dover, Massachusetts, as well as Sears Roebuck & Co. with 
      its entrance into the home building market by selling plans and materials.</p>
    <p>Barker's enterprise attracted the attention of Butte, then employed as 
      a supervisor at a large roofing company. The opportunity was ripe for someone 
      to address the rapidly expanding population growth and the pressing need 
      for affordable housing. With its long distance from the Midwest, it was 
      understandable that Butte and Barker saw kit houses as a logical solution 
      to the Southern California housing dilemma.</p>
    <p>When the company first started, they were able to produce one house a week, 
      essentially prebuilt and ready to assemble. Their advertising claimed that 
      their portable houses could be ready in two days. By 1925, Pacific Ready 
      Cut Homes, had "24 acres of manufacturing facilities, 1000 skilled 
      employees, and a staff of expert architects" and claimed to have sold 
      almost 25,000 structures throughout the West. Their 1925 catalog boasts, 
      "The great Pacific plant is virtually an indisutrial city within itself 
      — a behive of activity, capable of producing all the materials for 
      a complete home <strong>every 20 minutes</strong> during the working day."</p>
    <p>The house styles are typical of their period. In the 1925 catalog, they 
      represent the range of small Craftsman-style bungalows, eclectic Colonial 
      and English-style cottages, and more than an average number of Spanish Eclectic 
      style homes. In addition, they illustrate courtyards — that is, clusters 
      of tiny houses — and small duplex cottages.</p>
    <p>By 1940, the company had closed out its house manufacturing business and 
      transitioned to producing surfboards, for which it became fairly well-known."</p>