The Radford American Houses: 100 Houses Illustrated

This little book contains 100 vintage house plans designed by the William A. Radford Architectural Company.

The houses are billed in the introduction as low and medium-priced houses and is the continuation of the work “which was begun in The Radford Ideal Homes and which met with such phenomenal success all over the world.”

There are pithy bits of advice and cost estimates on each page in the book.

To show the house and its floor plan, which are displayed on facing pages in the book, we’ve taken the liberty of arranging the images vertically. We’ve removed the text to reduce the image size to minimize download time but maintain a reasonable quality.

The order of plans in the book was random. We’ve organized the pages into two sections to reduce the navigation and ordered them numerically into Part 1 and Part 2.

Design No. 109

Radford’s Design 109 for 1903 combines elements of the free classic Queen Anne with elements of the preceding Stick style. An octagonal corner tower has a “witches hat” roof.

Design No. 111

Design 111 from Radford American Homes: 100 Houses Illustrated is another small Queen Anne free classic style with a wraparound porch. Many of the 1903 Radford homes are transitional from the Queen Anne to the emerging Colonial Revival style.

Design No. 118

From its classical columns and colonial revival style windows on the third floor, it’s evident that this is a Queen Anne style in transition. Bay windows bread the facade and patterned shingling are true to the Queen Anne style. Proper classical columns and the palladian windows attest to its eclecticism.

Design No. 131

The unusual square tower with its flared roof is relatively unusual in Queen Anne style architecture. Free classical elements in the pedimented porch are combined with recessed arches over second story windows.

Design No. 135

Patterned wall surfaces and towers were found in Queen Anne architecture. Elements from earlier styles are frequently incorporated into Radford’s plans in the 1903 catalog. The Italianate hood more around the rounded windows of the third story are one example.

Design No. 136

Design 136 in the 1903 Radford catalog is primarily Colonial Revival in character. The pyramidal roof is similar to the Foursquare. The gabled dormers appear more Queen Anne while the columns and porch balusters are Colonial Revival.

Design No. 137

Radford’s Design 137 is a study in contrasts. The steeply pitched roof has a Gothic character, but the cresting along the roof ridge is more in keeping with Queen Anne. The gambreled, clipped hip on the front facing gable is odd. It’s almost like two different houses were combined.

Design No. 138

Design 138 is a tidy small Queen Anne style cottage. It has cross gables and half timbering, and bay windows to break up the facade. Simple classical columns and balusters on the porch simplify its appearance.

Design No. 140

Radford presents another hybrid design in No. 140 from the 1903 catalog. This cottage is very simple with a wrapped porch on what is a mix of Queen Anne with Colonial Revival elements. The Queen Anne contributes the common cross-gable profile; the Colonial Revival is evident in the plain square columns, and hip roofed porch.

Design No. 141

Radford’s catalog features a number of eclectic style homes that embody many of the features popular in 1903. Design 141 has the Queen Anne polygonal tower, colonial revival style columns supporting a wraparound porch with a pediment over the stairs.

Design No. 142

Square, solid, and symmetrical, Design 142 of Radford’s 1903 catalog is Colonial Revival in style. It has a pyramidal roof, gabled dormers, and a full porch. Two chimneys allow fireplaces in the living room, dining room, parlor, and one of the second floor bedrooms.

Design No. 143

Another simple Queen Anne style home is shown in Design 143. The stick style porch columns and patterned shingling on the upper floor are characteristic as is the cross-gabled roof.

Design No. 508

Another interesting house plan from the Radford 1903 catalog is Design 508. The steeply pitched forward gable with its projecting third floor is reminiscent of the Gothic style. Crenelated projections emphasize the effect.

Design No. 510

Radford American Homes: 100 Houses Illustrated provides ample illustrations of the Queen Anne homes coveted by Americans at the turn of the 20th century.