UVM Theses and Dissertations
Format:
Print
Author:
Royalty, Douglas K.
Dept./Program:
Historic Preservation Program
Year:
2010
Degree:
M.S.
Abstract:
This study documents the efforts made by the architect, engineer, and inventor Howard T. Fisher (1903-79) and the company he founded, General Houses, Inc., to reinvent the American homebuilding industry in the 1930s. Fisher's~patented systems for constructing prefabricated houses and his business model-a coordinated service in which a single company designed, marketed, erected, and maintained homes-put GH at the vanguard of the Depression-era movement to modernize and rationalize the housing industry and provide Americans with high-quality housing at low cost. Although massmarket approval eluded General Houses, the company's role in twentieth century architectural history is significant, and its legacy-an appreciable if relatively small number of innovative modem homes; a considerable number of architects, engineers, and entrepreneurs who followed the lead of Fisher and General Houses; and the ongoing, if wavering, focus on high-quality yet affordable housing in America-is impressive. Fisher's General Houses never became the General Motors of housing, but it was arguably the first, best hope for the modem industrialized house in the U.S.
General Houses and its work appear in a number of books and articles on the history of prefabricated housing, yet no in-depth account of the company's activities has been published. In part, this may be because the principals are no longer alive and the company's records have, apparently, been lost or destroyed. In part, too, the lack of attention is no doubt a result of General Houses' limited success in the marketplace. With the passing of time, Fisher and his company have been relegated to footnotes in business and architectural history. One unfortunate consequence is that some surviving General Houses buildings have suffered as a result.
This study attempts to piece together the history of General Houses during the period of Fisher's leadership through a review of literature in the popular press, professional journals, and books; an examination of letters, memos, photographs, drawings, sales material, and ephemera from archival sources; the observation of some existing General Houses buildings, including the close observation of one early General Houses building. It also briefly takes the story of Fisher, General Houses, and prefabricated housing out of the 1930s and into the postwar era, as both the subsequent activities of Fisher and the influence of General Houses' work on postwar and contemporary prefabrication efforts are noteworthy.
No claim can be made here to have discovered the fate of all or even many of the remaining General Houses buildings from among the hundreds that were erected in the 1930s. Time constraints and the incomplete nature of the available records leave that task to a future study.
General Houses and its work appear in a number of books and articles on the history of prefabricated housing, yet no in-depth account of the company's activities has been published. In part, this may be because the principals are no longer alive and the company's records have, apparently, been lost or destroyed. In part, too, the lack of attention is no doubt a result of General Houses' limited success in the marketplace. With the passing of time, Fisher and his company have been relegated to footnotes in business and architectural history. One unfortunate consequence is that some surviving General Houses buildings have suffered as a result.
This study attempts to piece together the history of General Houses during the period of Fisher's leadership through a review of literature in the popular press, professional journals, and books; an examination of letters, memos, photographs, drawings, sales material, and ephemera from archival sources; the observation of some existing General Houses buildings, including the close observation of one early General Houses building. It also briefly takes the story of Fisher, General Houses, and prefabricated housing out of the 1930s and into the postwar era, as both the subsequent activities of Fisher and the influence of General Houses' work on postwar and contemporary prefabrication efforts are noteworthy.
No claim can be made here to have discovered the fate of all or even many of the remaining General Houses buildings from among the hundreds that were erected in the 1930s. Time constraints and the incomplete nature of the available records leave that task to a future study.