Vintage 1950 Your Dream Home by Hubbard Cobb | How to Build It for Less Than $3500 | Mid-Century House Plans

A fascinating piece of postwar American home-building history, Your Dream Home: How to Build It for Less Than $3500 by Hubbard Cobb was published in 1950 by Wm. H. Wise & Co., Inc.

Written for the aspiring homeowner of the early 1950s, this vintage volume walks through everything from choosing a building site and financing to construction, plumbing, materials, floor plans, and finishing a modest family home. The original $3,500 construction budget feels wonderfully nostalgic today, while the architectural drawings and illustrations make this a particularly fun piece for collectors of mid-century Americana, architecture, and vintage home design.

Once an ugly duckling is gone, you don't get another one just like it. This one has definitely lived a life—and that's part of its charm.

Details

• Title: Your Dream Home: How to Build It for Less Than $3500
• Author: Hubbard Cobb
• Illustrators/Architectural Consultants: Sigman-Ward
• Publisher: Wm. H. Wise & Co., Inc., New York
• Copyright: 1950
• Language: English
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: Approximately 497 pages, with additional material/appendix reported in some listings.
• Country of Manufacture: United States
• Subject: Home building, construction, architecture, house plans, plumbing, materials, DIY
• Illustrations: Numerous architectural drawings, diagrams, floor plans, construction illustrations and vintage graphics
• Historical interest: An early postwar guide to building a modest American home
• Notable content: Site selection, financing, foundations, framing, plumbing, septic systems, materials, heating, wiring and other construction subjects.

Condition

Preloved Vintage Condition — Good

This is an authentic 1950 vintage book with substantial exterior age and handling wear. The cloth-covered boards show extensive rubbing, discoloration, surface wear and areas of loss/abrasion. The top and bottom of the spine are worn and frayed, with additional wear along the edges and corners.

The interior pages remain readable and retain the wonderful original illustrations, diagrams and architectural material. Pages show natural age toning and some discoloration consistent with a 75+ year-old book.

Please review all photographs carefully. This is being sold as a vintage/preloved book in its found condition, not as a pristine collectible copy.

Styling

Perfect for a mid-century bookshelf, architecture studio, vintage office, library display, or coffee-table collection. The aged neutral cloth cover and blue architectural artwork pair beautifully with mid-century modern interiors, vintage drafting tools, old house plans, architectural prints and Americana décor.

A particularly fun choice for someone fascinated by 1950s houses, postwar building culture, vintage DIY manuals, or historic home design.

Shipping

Book only. Securely wrapped and protected in a sturdy book mailer or small box with cushioning around the corners and spine.

Shipping costs are calculated at checkout and are paid by the buyer.

Once this Ugly Duckling finds its new home, it's gone.