One More Kit House to Add to Aurora's List

Aurora has loads of kit houses, many of them authenticated through mortgage records. To date, I haven't featured any homes from Aurora on this website, because I don't see the point in writing about kit houses that are already well known and documented. 

Today I'm going to show a kit house in Aurora that I haven't seen mentioned before. I noticed it in a real estate listing.

842 Spruce, Aurora. Photo courtesy of Steve Solonickne.

Gordon-Van Tine Oriole from the 1931 catalog. Scan courtesy of Daily Bungalow.

The Gordon-Van Tine Oriole looks much like the Montgomery Ward Kenwood, which Gordon-Van Tine also produced. There are exterior differences that lead me to believe this house in Aurora is an Oriole, such as the detail on the front vestibule and window arrangement.

 

Floor plan of the Oriole.

Photo courtesy of Realtor site.

The dining room with the three small windows that are unique to the Oriole. Photo courtesy of Realtor site.

Telephone cabinet as shown on the floor plan of the Oriole. Photo courtesy of Realtor site.

The identical telephone cabinet shown in the Gordon-Van Tine catalog. 

Photo courtesy of Realtor site.

Stairway landing window that faces the back of the house. Photo courtesy of Realtor site.

The original owners were Ivon and Winnie Boudreau. He was a heat treater helper for the Trindl Corporation, which relocated to Aurora from Chicago in 1928.

The couple were married in 1929 and living in the Oriole in the April 1930 census. They moved out of the house by 1936.

Ivon's brother, Arthur, owned an authenticated Sears Vallonia down the street at 813 Spruce that was built in 1928.