Amazon and other online retailers are offering build-it-yourself home kits, appealing to buyers seeking affordable alternatives for their housing.
DIY homes are not a new phenomenon, though purchasing them through a website, rather than a catalogue is. Home kit buyers still need to purchase land, acquire the requisite building permits, build a foundation, and install their plumbing and electrical systems apart from the home. Rosemary Thornton, author of many books covering kit homes and Sears homes built in the nation, tells Realtor.com, “Building your own home from a kit is a very quaint and romantic notion, but we're not building homes on the prairie anymore."
A century before home buyers could open an app and thumb through scores of Colonials, Cape Cods, and Tudors, they could open a printed catalog and thumb through pages of homes for sale, in all different styles. And then they could order them through the mail! The catch: These homes had to be put together, beam by beam, from more than 10,000 pieces of precut lumber, fitted windows, doors, and a building plan, like life-size Lincoln Logs.
