I think the poor quality of the U.S. housing stock reflects the long-term shabbiness of our mandatory nomadic character. We move for the jobs, we set up shacks by the gold mines, but we never develop roots and, for the most part, we never get to build real wealth.

Why do you think US houses are of poor quality? Just because they don't last forever with no maintenance? I don't think there's any point in over-building.

It's also a strange statement because US housing is highly regional; there are no bungalow courts in New York as there are no brownstones in LA.

I don't think that's a totally unfair statement depending on the region though. At least in Seattle a fair amount of homes are Craftsman homes which haven't aged well since they were ordered directly from a Sears catalog without considering the very wet local climate of the Northwest. (And yes, that Sears and that Craftsman.)

> And yes, that Sears and that Craftsman.

I'm aware of Sears catalog homes but not of any link between the Sears owned Craftsman tool brand and the craftsman style of home, which is connected to the Arts and Crafts design movement. Can you provide a reference?

I think I got my marbles mixed up. Unfortunately it’s well past the time to make a correction.

Happens to us all ;)

I do wonder if the tool name (apparently a brand purchased from a small Chicago toolmaker by Sears in 1927) was inspired in part by the architectural movement, which was the product of a specific designer (Gustav Stickley) in the early 1900s.

I couldn't find any references to such a connection though.