Freehold - a Gordan Van Tine Town?

[dfx]

A few years ago when my wife and I moved back to Freehold, we instantly fell in love with our house. It certainly isn't the biggest, but it has charm and tons of character. The real estate listing had the original construction date listed as 1950, but I quickly found out that "1950" was a default year assigned to many residences when the the Boro's computer systems were installed in the late 1980's. However after several months of sleuthing, I soon discovered that my house was actually built in 1929.

Fast forward 4 years. I friend of mine who owns an antiques dealer sent me a link (http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/1925-Gordon-VanTine/Hudson.htm) to a "Gordan Van Tine" catalog from 1929 featuring the outside and nearly identical floor plan of my exact house! Apparently Gordan Van Tine owned a mill in the Midwest and supplied Sears with some/all their materials for the famed "Sears Catalog Homes". After a falling out in the mid-twenties, Sears opened it's own home mill and Gordan Van Tine became a direct competitor.

Point of the story: After walking the Borough, I've noticed roughly 10-15 houses that share a similar look & feel to my own - and I have a sneaking suspicion that they may also be Gordan Van Tine mail-order homes. Does anyone know more about this? Is there a "Gordan Van Tine fan club"? Can my house be registered as a Gordan Van Tine home and does it mean anything?



dan x.

[lisas84]

Very interesting, Dan! Thanks for sharing! I have a friend in Colts Neck who has a Sears catalog home.

I believe this will be of strong interest to the Historic Preservation Commission and I reached out to my contact there about your post.

Here's a groovy link:

www.arts-crafts.com/archive/kithome/gordonvantinehomes.shtml

[BrianSullivan]

Jun 9, 2010 13:07:02 GMT -5 dfx said:

A few years ago when my wife and I moved back to Freehold, we instantly fell in love with our house. It certainly isn't the biggest, but it has charm and tons of character. The real estate listing had the original construction date listed as 1950, but I quickly found out that "1950" was a default year assigned to many residences when the the Boro's computer systems were installed in the late 1980's. However after several months of sleuthing, I soon discovered that my house was actually built in 1929.

Fast forward 4 years. I friend of mine who owns an antiques dealer sent me a link (http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/1925-Gordon-VanTine/Hudson.htm) to a "Gordan Van Tine" catalog from 1929 featuring the outside and nearly identical floor plan of my exact house! Apparently Gordan Van Tine owned a mill in the Midwest and supplied Sears with some/all their materials for the famed "Sears Catalog Homes". After a falling out in the mid-twenties, Sears opened it's own home mill and Gordan Van Tine became a direct competitor.

Point of the story: After walking the Borough, I've noticed roughly 10-15 houses that share a similar look & feel to my own - and I have a sneaking suspicion that they may also be Gordan Van Tine mail-order homes. Does anyone know more about this? Is there a "Gordan Van Tine fan club"? Can my house be registered as a Gordan Van Tine home and does it mean anything?



dan x.

Dan, nice post. I vaguely recall tha we may have discussed those homes on this site in the past. I tried a search but did not find anything. That conversation may be well buried in a thread.

It will be interesting to see it this post generates a response from others. Let us know what you find out along the way.