1920
- Colonial
- Grayson
- Marsden
- Merrill
- Oakley
- Plaza
- Plymouth
- Pomona
- Rochester
- Shadow Lawn
- Spokane
- Sunshine
- Willamette
- Worthington
- Yale
1931
- Avalon
- Capitol
- Carlton
- Harrison
- Honeymoon
- Kenmoor
- Madison
- Marshfield
- Nantucket
- Newport
- Norwood
- Poplar
- Portland
- Stratford
- Virginia
- Walnut
Bibliography
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Aladdin Kit Homes
Manufactured by the Aladdin Company
One of the longest lived and most successful kit home companies was the
Aladdin Company, based in Bay City, Michigan.
Started by brothers William and Otto Sovereign in 1906, the company remained solvent and family-owned until it shut its doors for the last time in 1981.
Over its more than seventy years in business, Aladdin sold more than 75,000 homes. Customers included individuals and corporate clients in both domestic and international markets. Whole neighborhoods and even a town — Hopewell, Virginia — were developed for company employees. In a fold-out flyer sent with the 1925 catalog, the company listed by name and city more than 1000 builders of Aladdin homes as well as government and corporate customers including the State of Michigan, the president of Liberia, Dow Chemical Co., Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. and Standard Oil.
Advertised as "Readi-cut" and "Built in a Day," Aladdin and other kit home manufacturers revolutionized home buying and building for the middle class. From tiny workingman's cottages to the thrifty investor, Aladdin homes provided a solid value and easy construction.
Unlike many of the other kit home companies, including Montgomery Ward, the history of Aladdin is readily available through its catalogs and corporate records at Clarke Historical Library in Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.
© 2010 — Antique Home Style