In 1927, the Chicago Tribune sponsored a competition for "trained men of talent, incorporating into the small home ideas of real worth, types of rare charm, and the best possible plans for comfort and convenience." This collection spotlights the challenge’s top results, presenting the nineteen prize-winning designs for five- and six-room houses, plus eighty additional sets of the best architectural plans. A new introduction by Daniel D. Reiff, Ph.D., adds interesting detail about the competition and the competitors. These fascinating snapshots of American domestic architecture of the 1920s include glimpses of New England and Southern colonials, Normandy cottages, stately Italianate dwellings, and other styles. Each of the designs features a floor plan and exterior views of the house. Architects, architecture buffs, and historians will prize these authentic renderings of the leading designs in American architecture of nearly a century ago.

Modestly priced, richly illustrated reprint of rare guidebook published in 1920s by Architects' Small House Service Bureau. Designs, floor plans, construction materials, prices for wide variety of small homes. Over 800 line drawings and photographs of models ranging from charming five-room English cottages to attractive, two-story, shingled Colonials.

Perspective drawings, floor plans, and descriptions of principal features of outstanding '20s designs, many by leading architects of the period. 1,135 black-and-white line illustrations, 262 black-and-white photographs and tone drawings.

Based on a rare 1925 catalog, this showcase of one of the most beloved eras of American architecture features floor plans, construction details, and photos of twenty-six homes. Styles range from English cottages and Spanish bungalows to Dutch colonials, New England farmhouses, and Italianate designs. More than 250 illustrations, and 21 color plates, complement the text, which contains detailed descriptions of exteriors and interiors. Supplementary articles explain how to convert porches into living space, install plumbing, and build garages. Other home-improvement suggestions offer tips on landscaping gardens and designing interior woodwork. Daniel D. Reiff, an authority on antique house-plan books, offers an informative introduction that places these authentic views of early-twentieth-century American architecture into a wider context.

From a peak era in American domestic architecture comes this survey of homes from across the country. Its wealth of styles features both new American designs and traditional European-inspired buildings of wood, stucco, concrete, brick, and stone. The 130 captioned black-and-white illustrations and 55 floor plans offer external and internal views for a full perspective on the houses' architectural ingenuity and originality. One of the most striking features of these homes is their extreme variety in terms of efficient design. The plans combine a limited number of units into a workable whole, without sacrifice of convenience or economy. Blending practicality and charm, these imaginative designs will inspire professional architects, amateur builders, and anyone interested in the ways American architects adapted Old World designs and added elements of native style to produce a new and vibrant home building idiom.

In the post-World War I era, as the economic boom of the 1920s gathered momentum, millions of Americans set out to make the dream of owning their own home come true. Labor and materials were plentiful and cheap, and new trends in home design made the prospect of homebuilding an exciting venture. This fascinating book, a reprint of a rare catalog of prefabricated houses from 1923, reveals in detail the types of design offered to those in the market for a new home in the early 1920s. Of the 117 designs included, most are substantial middle-class homes. But the popularity of cottages and bungalows is also apparent in the wide selection of practical and appealing designs depicted. And there are large, formal homes as well, many of which embody America's unflagging interest in colonial styling. Some have affluent touches such as a sleeping porch or a sun room. Many reflect a strong interest in exterior detailing, in the form of cypress siding, broad eaves, heavy timber brackets, stucco pillars, and flower boxes, among other features. Each house is shown in a large frontal illustration. Floor plans for the first and second floors are included, and interior and exterior detailing are extensively described. The specifics of plumbing, heating, and lighting are included in a special section at the back of the book. Architects, architectural and social historians — anyone interested in American home design — will enjoy the rich variety of designs presented. Republished in association with the Athenaeum of Philadelphia, this authentic catalog provides not only an indispensable repository of information about the homes themselves but a source of insight into American life at a time when owning a home became a widely realizable dream for a rapidly growing middle class.

It has required years of painstaking effort...to bring before prospective home builders the hundreds of practical, money saving ideas offered by this system... A little study of each plan shown will convince any thoughtful person that these are, in reality, the most carefully planned homes in America. — Better Homes at Lower Cost Faithfully reprinted from the Standard Homes Company's popular Better Homes at Lower Cost, this collection of early twentieth-century house plans was created with a simple system of standardization that allowed 1920s-era home builders to reduce construction costs while maintaining the integrity of an attractive and soundly built abode. Scores of excellent photographs, drawings, and floor plans depict seventy-seven meticulously detailed homes of wood, brick, stucco, and stone. From the substantial beauty of the eight-room "Homestead" and the classic colonial "Cambridge" to the spacious Spanish-style "Ponce de Leon," this is a rare and delightful time capsule for builders, home preservationists, architects, and readers interested in nostalgia and vintage home illustrations.