Posts about homes that continue to elude me.
Category: Missing In Action
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Wilbur Aldrich Residence
Staten Island, NY
The Wilbur Aldrich residence was built in the “Prohibition Park” area of Staten Island, but research to date has not uncovered this home. And while it is possible that the home no longer exists, I struggle to find any evidence of a residence that was associated with Wilbur Aldrich, that resembles this design or footprint. Therefore, I speculate that perhaps this home was intended for someone else, like say a child of Aldrich that was maybe getting married around the mid 1890’s? Anyway, I consider this home MIA, until I can track it down somehow. If anyone local to the Prohibition Park area of Staten Island recognizes this home, please comment on this page or email me with the address and any photos you can get for me. Any help along these lines would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and happy hunting!
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Willis F. Cobb Residence
Lyle, Minnesota
Barber published the Dr. Willis F. Cobb residence in the August number of the 1898 edition of his American Homes magazine. And because Lyle Minnesota is so small and online resources are so scarce, I cannot determine what happened to this home, or where exactly, it was located. I suspect that it was lost fairly early in its history because there is precious little, online, about this home or the Cobb family. Anyway, as far as I am concerned, this home is MIA, until I can track it down somehow. While I would love to uncover some additional old or historic photos of it, I would especially like to uncover where exactly, it was located when it existed. Any help along these lines would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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John Gillies Residence
Braeside, Ontario, Canada
Barber began publishing the John Gillies residence with the “Modern Dwellings” series of pattern books. And because the Gillies family was very prominent in that part of Canada and because Braeside is such a small town, I figured that finding this home, or some history about it, would be fairly easy. And yet, this home remains off the grid. I suspect that it was lost fairly early in its history because most historical resources that I have contacted about it, can’t remember anything about this particular home. Anyway, I am including this home here, in the MIA section, because I would still like to track this one down somehow. While I would love to uncover any old or historic photos of it, I would especially like to uncover where exactly, it was located when it existed. Any help along these lines would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Edward B. Munson Residence
New Haven, CT
Research to date has revealed that Edward Munson built a residence at 389 Whitney Avenue, right about the same time (1894) that Barber published that his design was constructed for Munson. Munson is listed as living at 389 Whitney, starting in 1895. The one problem is that the house that was built at that address, and the house that is still there now, doesn’t look anything like the Barber published illustrations in the “New Model Dwellings” series of pattern books. So, either Munson built another design, and Barber published his version of the Munson house anyway, or there is a bit of a mystery here. There were several other Munson family members in New Haven at that time, so perhaps the Barber design was intended for one of them, even though Edward appeared to be Barber’s client. Perhaps Edward simply chose not to build Barber’s design. But why then, did Barber publish in 1894, that this home “was recently completed”? My experience through the years has been that when Barber published that a house was built, you could bank on the fact that it was constructed. Anyway, I am including this home here, in the MIA section, because I would still like to track this one down somehow. Any help along these lines would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
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Leslie P. DeGroot Residence
Atlanta, GA
Leslie P. DeGroot definitely lived in Atlanta for a period of time, but research thus far has yet to uncover an address associated with DeGroot, that has or had a residence there, that matches this design. Several Sanborn Fire Insurance maps for Atlanta have also been researched. It seems likely that DeGroot never built the house, or perhaps he built it in a location other than Atlanta, GA. Hopefully, time will tell.
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