All drawings are arranged in alphabetical order by model name. Some models had variations, ranging from one to several, and are identified as such (for example: The Carlton A & B, the Goodall Reversed, The Contemporary and Ranch Gregory). All variations of a model are housed together. Some models were distinguished by a surname, such as “The Brown Trenton” and the “Winkler Washington”. These are placed first in order for each model name and in alphabetical order by surname. So, to find The Timmerman Middleboro, the patron would first find the Middleboros under “M”, then go to the beginning of the list where that model is distinguished by surnames, and then find “Timmerman” in alphabetical order.

There are three exceptions to the rule that drawings are identified by a model name. A smaller group of drawings are identified by a model number, and these can be found in the Ms (for “Model #”) and then in numerical order from 2 to 460. Another small group are identified as “Residence for” and then the customer's full name and can be found in the Rs (for Residence for) in alphabetical order by the customer surname, so that the residence for Mr. Sam Anema is in the Rs in order before the residence for Dr. John Burleson, etc. Some of these are called 'house for' instead of 'residence for' but are treated the same, as if house and residence were interchangeable words.

Finally, some drawings which are placed last in the collection are of buildings other than single family residences, such as apartments, or are drawings of plot plans or are completely or partially unidentified. See the contents list for more details about this last group.