Modern American Homes

276 page hardback book of plans with black covers. The back cover is blank, and although the front cover looks blank the title "Modern American Homes" is in the upper left hand corner, and the company "Home Lumber Co." is at the bottom. The spine of this book is showing significant wearing along the top and bottom edges, with peeling down to the pasteboard underneath. The edges of the book are also showing wear and tear. Overall condition is good, however, as all pages are in excellent condition. The majority of the interior pages have a greenish-tinted illustration of the house at the top, with a description and the floor plans on the bottom. There are also household accessories such as doors and windows displayed in the back of the book. Size: 6.75" x 10.25" x 0.75"

**From about 1915 to 1930, C. L. Bowes of Hinsdale, Illinois was in business publishing catalogs of home plans. The plans were collected in catalogs and probably sold to lumber yards across the upper Midwest and as far east as New York. Lumber dealers then distributed the catalogs under their name to prospective home builders. Often, Bowes' plans are unattributed.

Bowes' earliest book was Modern American Homes. On his WWI Draft registration, he lists his employment as publisher and it would have taken him at least six months to assemble the drawings for production let alone design them.

As for Bowes himself, little is known. Preliminary research finds him in the U.S. Census in 1900 living at home and working with his father as an iron monger, then in Chicago for 1910 and 1920. In 1910, Charles Lane Bowes lists his occupation as advertising and a decade later as publishing. Born in Illinois in the early 1870s, Charles L. Bowes married another Illinoisan, Eunice Bell Patten in 1900. They had two children. Such are the spartan facts of C. L. Bowes.

More research needs to be done to confirm that this is indeed the correct fellow. At least one source describes Bowes as an architect. If it's true that Bowes was more entrepreneur than architect or builder, who were the architects that designed the houses in his catalogs?