Selected Homes

<div><div>Paperback catalog with
glossy, magazine-like covers held together with two staples in the left
edge. The front cover has a full page color
illustration of a home with a red roof, white siding, green lawn, red tulips in the foreground, and a tree beside the driveway. The title "Selected Homes" is in large red letters in the top half, and the publisher information in the bottom half. Someone wrote the word "nothing" at the top of the front cover in cursive pencil. The back cover has a full page list of plan books
published by L.F. Garlinghouse Company. The pages inside show the homes
in black and white photos, and the blueprints in dark blue. The catalog
is in excellent condition. 40 pages. Size: 7.75" x 10.5" <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>From www.kshs.org/kansapedia/garlinghouse-company/20196: <br /></div><div><br /></div><div>""Lewis F. Garlinghouse was a realtor and entrepreneur who wanted a way
to promote his construction business. He co-founded the Garlinghouse
company with his brother in Topeka. The real estate sales company
expanded to handle house construction and home design publishing. His
company is credited with being the first to sell home plans to the
world, which eventually grew to be among the largest house plan book
companies in the country. <br />
<p>Lewis Garlinghouse and his brother, George Lovette Garlinghouse, were
born to Lucien Bonaparte and Matilda Ruth (Hanawalt) Garlinghouse on a
farm near Berryton. The Garlinghouses had moved from Ohio to Kansas
around 1870 and Lucien became known for his farm and stock operation.</p>
<p>
The Garlinghouse sons started a real estate speculation business at 608
SW Kansas Avenue in Topeka on July 30, 1906. They offered farm and city
real estate property sales and financial business services. In 1910 the
L. F. Garlinghouse Company, Inc., was established. George Garlinghouse
left Topeka and moved his family to Leavenworth, where he established a
separate real estate development firm.</p>
<p>
In Topeka and around the nation there was a growing need for small city
and suburban dwellings. The Craftsman-style bungalow was a popular
choice, which could be constructed as one or one-and-a-half stories,
used a simple affordable design, natural materials, and welcoming front
porches. The Garlinghouse company found that the popular bungalow, with
its low-pitched roof and deep overhanging eaves, worked well in the
Topeka subdivisions where lots were small.</p>
<p>
To build customer interest in the construction business, Garlinghouse
displayed photographs and floor plans and placed them in the window of a
Topeka bank. Other businesses placed the photographs and floor plans in
their lobbies as well and the public began requesting blueprints.</p>
<p>
Garlinghouse built an eight-room bungalow that “will be different” at
224 The Drive, according to the Topeka State Journal in 1913. Then the
company published its first plan book in 1916, featuring 25 bungalow
designs—including a photograph, floor plan, description of the house,
and approximate cost. Customers could purchase blueprints for $5 to $10.
Garlinghouse is credited with being the first home plans company in the
world.</p>
<p>
An experienced builder, Lewis Garlinghouse and his firm handled
construction, financing, and milling, all with an eye toward the
greatest value. The company’s blueprints included an exact list of
material quantities. Iva Gay Lieurance, the principal designer, was
among few women designers for mail-order houses. Her layouts addressed
“the needs of the housewife.” Features included a large living room,
breakfast nook in the kitchen, and brick fireplace with built-in
bookcases spanning the full width of the room. The company popularized
what became known as the “airplane bungalow” with a glassed-in upper
level sleeping porch, sun parlor, or playroom that extended from the
front to rear of the house, similar to a cockpit.</p>
<p>
“There is great demand throughout the entire country for house plans,”
Garlinghouse was quoted in the Topeka Daily Capital, October 5, 1921.
“Building in the East also shows a substantial increase. Marked
improvement in local building conditions is visible.” At that time
Garlinghouse had 24 residents under construction in Topeka, 22 of them
were bungalows.</p>
<p>
The following year the company published the 144-page “World’s Most
Popular Plan Book,” which included a number of architectural styles
borrowed from other companies and was used by lumber dealers and
builders across the nation. As demand grew Garlinghouse sold the
publications directly to individuals. The expanding designs included
Southern homes, cottages, vacation homes, duplexes, garage apartment
homes, Cape Cod-style homes, and the single-story ranch home, which
became the most popular in new home construction. “Style and beauty, as
well as convenience and quality, should be considered in your new home.
We have the plans at a very nominal cost.”</p>
<p>
Known as “America’s Pioneer Home Planning Service,” Garlinghouse added
the popular ranch houses, cabins, and even concrete shelters to its
plans, “No matter where you live, a fallout shelter is necessary
insurance.” By 1945 Garlinghouse had sold more than 600,000 house plans
across the nation; becoming one of the largest house plan book companies
in the country.</p>
<p>
Lieruance died in 1956; founder Lewis Garlinghouse died in 1965. In
1986 the Topeka-based company was selling plans to 10,000 buyers each
year. The company eventually moved its business to South Carolina where
it continues to operate today. Garlinghouse homes can be found across
the nation and around the world."</p></div>
</div>