Kit houses in Michigan

Michigan was home to the Aladdin Company, the first and longest-lived manufacturer of kit houses in North America, who had sales "in every part of the world, from Saskatchewan to Tahiti".

Starting with Aladdin's simple knock-down models, these kit houses quickly evolved into full-size homes that were based on the architectural styles of the period.

The presence of three major manufacturers of kit houses was due in part to Bay City's history relation to the timber industry.

This capacity to process large amounts of timber allowed these companies to easily supply the volume of lumber necessary for kit houses.

Other communities that have notable collections of existing kit houses include Ann Arbor,[8][9][10] Berkley, Clawson,[11] Detroit, Pontiac, Waterford, Flint, and Ypsilanti.