author
Inc. Ray H. Bennett Lumber Co.
A North Tonawanda, New York lumber company best remembered for its early 20th-century ready-cut house catalogs, it offered practical home designs aimed at ordinary families. Its surviving plan books remain a fascinating window into the kit-home boom and everyday domestic architecture of the era.
1 Audiobook
Bennett's Small House Catalog, 1920
by Inc. Ray H. Bennett Lumber Co.
About the author
Ray H. Bennett Lumber Co., Inc. was a lumber business based in North Tonawanda, New York, and later became known for selling prefabricated or “ready-cut” homes by mail. Local history sources trace the business back to 1902, and note that its Bennett Redi-Bilt Homes were shipped as kit houses, with pre-cut materials designed to simplify construction.
The company published illustrated plan books and catalogs that showcased dozens of house designs, blending salesmanship with practical building information. One of the best-known surviving examples is Bennett's Small House Catalog, 1920, a catalog of compact home plans that has been preserved and republished, helping modern readers see how the company marketed affordable, attractive homes to a growing middle-class audience.
Because this is a company rather than an individual author, there does not appear to be a single personal biography to tell. Its interest today comes from the catalogs themselves and from its role in the broader history of American kit houses, especially in western New York and across the United States and Canada.