1909 Radford’s Cement Houses: One Story Plans

Of the different vintage house plan books we’ve published here on Antique Home, the 1909 Radford Cement Homes book is slightly different. As expected, the houses include the typical bungalows and four squares rendered in concrete blocks or cement plaster instead of wood.

This book goes beyond that, though. As you page through the various plans, what may catch your attention is the remarkable array of unusual homes with bungalow and Prairie styling. There are many oddball characteristics that we expect you’ll find interesting.

Craftsman characteristics include inglenooks and beamed ceilings. And every plan shows a bathroom, though, in 1909, indoor plumbing was not always assured. Almost all the kitchens show pantries. The bedrooms are typically very small, but closets are integrated into each room.

What is most distinctive, though, is the range of house styles. Radford was clearly participating in the dynamic architectural milieu that existed in Chicago at the time and what emerges is sometimes eccentric, oddball, or unusual, but always interesting.

This book has been broken into one-story and two-story homes.