The house at 1322 Mordecai Drive is a Sears kit house, the Whitehall model. It is one of a number of identified kit homes in Raleigh built during a period of explosive residential growth and development. The proliferation of these "catalog houses" was due in part to their popular designs, quality, affordability, and ease of construction. While in many cases the houses were ordered and built by their owners, the house at 1322 Mordecai Drive may be an example of a developer's use of these easily constructed houses for a speculative market. The number of Whitehall models built and extant is unknown, though the model was offered intermittently for fourteen years. The house is an excellent example of the Sears Whitehall. Though a rear wing has been added, it has not changed the original plan elements appreciably. The addition compliments the original without mimicking it. Located in Mordecai Place, one of Raleigh’s early suburbs, it represents the city’s explosive growth in the early 20th century and the heyday of the kit home industry.
While the chief argument for designation is the house's significance as a Sears kit house, the involvement of Virginia Nowell is of note. Ms. Nowell was an active developer in Raleigh in the period between World War I and the Great Depression. Between 1922 and 1923, Mrs. Nowell purchased sixty lots in the Mordecai Place neighborhood, two of which were developed with Sears houses, including this one.