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Thursday, January 12, 2023

Aladdin Pilgrim in Le Roy, New York

January has been a good month for finding Aladdin homes. After I finished documenting the Aladdin homes in the Cabbagetown neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia, I returned to searching for homes on the Aladdin sales index. So far, I've found over 20 Aladdin homes in states across the country. Those have included both popular models like the "Pomona" and lesser known models like the "Norwood". This Aladdin "Pilgrim" in Le Roy, New York is one of those homes that I found. Let's take a look!  

The "Pilgrim" first appeared in the 1924 "Aladdin Homes" catalog. It must have been a popular model because when I ran a count of all the entries in the sales index that have been transcribed, it was one of the top 10 house models.  

Aladdin "Pilgrim" - 1929 "Aladdin Homes" catalog

In 1930, the "Pilgrim" was renamed the "Pinewood" and renamed again in 1931 to the "Plymouth" with a new front entry design and an additional floor plan, which is reflected in the catalog image below. Over the following years, it saw some more changes like another new front entry design, continuing to appear in the catalog through 1948! Houses that sold well stayed in the catalog and its continued appearance over the years in the catalog is evidence of that.

Aladdin "Plymouth" - 1941 "Aladdin Homes" catalog

This "Pilgrim" was sold in 1925 to Harvey Durfee of Le Roy, New York (sales record #27678). When I'm trying to connect names to addresses, I usually start with the first Census after the home was purchased, the 1930 Census in this case. The 1930 Census put Mr. Durfee at 26 Union Street in Le Roy.


So I looked up that address and bingo! His Pilgrim. As you can see from the photos, this example of the Pilgrim matches up nicely with the images from the catalog. 


I don't know if Mr. Durfee built his own home or had it built for him but as it approaches its 100th birthday, it's looking pretty good! Thank you for joining me and watch for more examples of Aladdin Homes coming soon! 




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