Background for the Educator: Suburban homes and developments are nothing new, actually, with their cookie-cutter appearance and uniform style. Before development projects and the suburbs of the post-WWII era, there were mail order homes! Before those, there were builder’s handbooks in the 1800s, which showed builders how to make homes in a particular style. In the early 20th century, courtesy of industrialization and developments in transportation and communication, companies developed catalogs where people could order a home of their choice. These mail order homes or kit houses, came with all materials and plans needed to build the home. Prefabricated materials were shipped out by rail and then trucked out to land plots around Burlington. Customers could customize plans to their liking, and companies like Sears, Roebuck, and Company, offered houses for all budgets. Most of these homes were in the Colonial Revival style, and bungalows were also common. Burlington has a quite a few kit houses from numerous companies from this period of approximately 1905-1940. Good examples can be found in the Five Sisters Neighborhood in the South End.
