2 Additions later and its still standing. For the first time, Sears has opened the doors to its vast archival collection and invited the public to peek inside. North American Construction Company, Bay City, Michigan. Stamps or marks will tell you which supplier supplied Sears with the millwork, Norwood Sash and Door of Ohio. Their best wall product was Goodwall Sheet Plaster, which was plaster encased in layers of heavy cardboard. On 2022-03-07 Sears and all of the kit home manufacturers replicated popular house designs built before, during and after the kits themselves were available. WHEN AND WHERE WERE SEARS CATALOG HOUSES BUILT? While the retailer is clinging to life amid a changing consumer landscape, many of the kit homes it designed and sold will stand long after the last Sears store closes. Ssrah. Maybe evidence that our Sears model spotting skills are improving, or maybe because of the distinctive peaked entryway and side porch, we immediately pegged 319 Sycamore as a Glen Falls. by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Our Comment Box is provided by Countable Web Productions countable.ca, Click to Show or Hide Citations & References. Long before Amazon Prime, shoppers across America turned to the Sears catalog to purchase all kinds of consumer goodsnot just products for the home, but also the homes themselves. Browse the list below to see if there are Modern Homes in your city or state, or to find someone who owns the same model as you. homes have been much modified or expanded since their original construction. NTL FOLIO TH4819.P7S42 1936, One House or a Hundred. 3. this house in near Novato California in Marin County. ), This is a fantastic post! In Detroit, The Ford Model T, the first car built using Henry Fords revolutionary assembly line, sputtered into life and changed the world. So look instead for those key ID points, hardware, stencil marks, etc. Robinson's Kit Homes are often cited along with Sears and Wards, we're still looking for details - I'll post what I can find under Robinson's in the article above - give me an hour or so and don't forget to refresh your browser or clear your browser cache to see the updated page. I appreciate the additional detail on lath that I had forgotten. The best place to start would be see This home was built from a Sears & Roebuck kit delivered by rail & moved from the train depot to its current location in 1914. @Karen Marsh, Price: $334,000. Im looking for information pertaining to Robinsons Kits. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61, Aladdin Homes. The gorgeous 2-acre lot has plenty of room to expand. So far we haven't found Sears identifying marks, but will be renovating the basement soon and will be able to look more closely. Once again, Sears has made history. @Adrian McCullough, Price: $649,900 Horse haven:This 1932 catalog home sits on nearly 7 acres of fenced horse property. As you've indicated, you already have some helpful information from your home. Many original featuresincluding built-in cabinets and hardwood floorshave been maintained and add heaps of character to the four-bedroom home. then left the rest to the construction company. Fiberboard could be used as a plaster base or painted, or simply left in its tan-brown color. Also note how the large shed dormer comes off the ridge of the roof. Today, the only way to find these homes in literally one by one. 20 items. The total cost for this house was $1500. Keep it classy, please. A consummate salesman, Ford even joked that the Model T was available in any color his customers wanted, as long as it was black. Sometimes, people will say. Sears recommended that wood molding be installed over the joints for superior results. Thanks for your interest! InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. Most real estate company names are boring at best. The Homart kits that Sears sold, were available from about 1946-1952 (depending on your source). And, boy, did that post get some answers 743 comments, last I saw (of course, probably 50 or more of those, are my comments, trying to clarify and correct some of the answers that were, So, I thought maybe it's time to do a definitive blog post about where, in fact, the, Sears Modern Homes kits were sold from 1908 through about 1942, There were other major kit-house companies, (only a "possible"very likely NOT Sears, but a "lookalike"--possibly an Aladdin), The Back Story Of Kit Houses vs Non-Kit Houses. On 2022-04-20 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Sears Catalog Homes (sold under the Sears Modern Homes name) were catalog and kit houses sold primarily through mail order by Sears, Roebuck, and Company, an American retailer. 73 m 1 2. Homes Q&A: : Does Sears Holdings give permission to reproduce catalog pages or images from its catalogs, and or other . It was a Sears, Roebuck and Co. kit home, the Martha Washington, advertised in. She says from 1908 to 1942, Sears sold more than 70,000 kits nationwide, and more than 3,000 in the Cincinnati area. Thank you Rus, that's helpful detail. In short, it's a house whose blueprints and building supplies were ordered from a specialty Sears catalog, and all of these supplies were shipped, by rail (primarily), to the homeowner (who either chose to build the house himself, or use a contractor to arrange the construction). We believe it might be a Sears Elsemore model, as it has the exact same floor plan, including the "reception room" in the front entrance, which was apparently unique to that model. If My House Is Not A Kit, Then Where Did It Come From?? And give us the country and city of location of the home. But the observation of stencil marks on some framing visible in the interior of the home and research by the owners turned up the original plans for this Aladdin home. Post a photo of what you find. Examples have also been found in Alaska. However, we've boiled Sears history down to a short narrative and event timeline for you: Sears narrative history tells the story of the founding of Sears and the Sears chronology is an up-to-date primer of Sears milestones and events. 1915. You will want to look for additional key details such as those given above on this page. North Avenue, in Pleasant Valley, NY, a "gothic cottage" Crescent model built in 1932 for $1761. The Fullerton Sears Kit House - Photos and examples [Click to enlarge any image] . List of kit home catalogs available at National Trust Library: Log Cabins. Rosemary Thornton, whose work is referenced in this document, is a leading expert on Sears catalog homes. she offers a Sears house identification service. To fully appreciate the impact of the Sears kit homes, it's important to understand the reach of the company's famous catalog. Thornton also cites an "R" either in the cast-iron base of some sinks (kitchen?) Both sections span from 1886 to today. Price: $569,000 Bungalow beauty: This beauty of a bungalow is tucked in the historic Westside neighborhood and has a newly remodeled kitchen and other modern upgrades. NTL Stacks: TH4840.S43 1935, Modern Homes. The original 1926 Sears & Roebuck label identifying the house at 115 Belleclaire Avenue in Longmeadow as a Sears kit house. by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. We just bought a 1929 Vallonia and now Im obsessed! homes were sold and built before that year, but it is certainly the case that the sale of some models continued to 1940. Sears has opened the doors to its vast archival collection and invited the public to peek inside. Our national database of Sears houses in the U.S. has over 13,600 homes on it, and, after Ohio and Illinois, Pennsylvania is #3 in U.S. states with, at today's count, 1,963 Sears homes found. Zillow says it was built in 1939 and the original square footage was 1,362 (before additions were made). This Sears Sunbeam is a lovely example and in original condition. Some of those houses are still around, and the custom houses shown in the photos from the Sears archives we have located. Sears kit houses were built from 1908-1942 (see this blog post for substantiation of the 1942 date, and this follow up article), and the models offered by Sears followed the design trends of those decades. With so many of these homes sold, many still come up for sale. Between 1908 and 1940, Sears sold about 70,000 kit homes in 48 states through their mail-order Modern Homes program, with 370 designs that you might not readily recognize as a kit. GUIDE TO KIT HOUSES AND HOMES It was said to be in the original Chicago worlds fair. COMMENT:Here's is a photo of the Sears ready-cut house that my grandfather build. Apologies for the delay. A nationally recognized founder, branding expert, and industry thought leader, Emile cut his teeth in real estate in 2007 crafting marketing strategies for the Chrysler and MetLife Buildings. A couple of years ago I became more interested in catalog and kit houses as Chicagoland is full of them, many coming from local companies like Sears, Montgomery Ward, and the Harris Brothers. These customizable homes could be manufactured for anyone, anywhere. Not every house in a community of 1920s-era houses, is a Sears house, for example far, far from it, in fact, as only about 2% of houses built in the kit era, were built with kits from Sears. The Ohio bungalow as it looks today. @Sara, we'll look through our references to see what we can add to the Sears kit home notes above for those earlier models and will follow up here. 1915. However, we do work with a select group of software companies and service providers that we feel provide real value for our readers. In the early 20th century, Sears sold up to 75,000 mail-order homes (per NPR).In 1888, the Chicago-based company launched their first catalog.According to The Craftsman Blog, a variety of goods could be bought and delivered to the customer's front door.In 1908, however, the company decided to push the envelope; Sears was now going to sell and deliver houses via their Sears Modern Homes Catalog. Built in 1930, and the grandson of the original owner/builder told us it was a Sears house. The houses made it as far as Alaska and Canada, as the parts were delivered by railroad. - Thornton, op. Any suggestions on where to start looking? 1918. $165,900 USD: First time on the market in 57 years. detail which is still in place on a Sears house was unique to those homes and can help in their identification today, even though Aladdin Homes. @Gail Minthorn, The best starting place is to read through the article above on this page. Other kit homes, not Sears, include Montgomery Ward Kit homes and Aladdin Kit homes. Number 44. They also sold an economy grade wallboard made of cardboard and asphalt, which sold for 42 cents per sheet. Buyers of a Sears Kit home saved about one third of the typical construction costs of their era. Number 26. I am licensed in just Missouri and Kansas, however, I have a great network of agents with a few good ones in eastern Tennessee. It has a sears name plate in basement. These type of details in addition to what we've noted in our earlier response may help with identification. Have you gotten your home sold yet? Outdoors, a large deck in the backyard offers an ideal spot for warm-weather entertaining. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. More than 30 readers responded, with stories about how much they loved their Sears homes. For example, Sears sold only, Rose and I have communicated recently about these houses, and she very graciously agreed to update her blog post to reflect that we now know that these are not actually Sears houses, as she is a strong believer in the importance of the accuracy of historic records (. Rosemary Thornton I discovered that the Sears Modern Homes program sold 447 ready-to-build, customizable house varieties via catalog to buyers between the years of 1908 and 1940. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland We pinpointed nine models from across the country that still stand tall as a testament to American ingenuity. While I have expanded, edited, and illustrated this list based on our own field experience, and we have added photographs and other details, this material has its origin in Thornton's books a company which sold it as a kit house in the early 1940's. by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Specially prepared plaster was also sold in bags of the hard plaster and top coat hard plaster to be applied over this Sears plasterboard. Most of the interior has been untouched other than the kitchen, which was remodeled by the previous owner (son of the builder) - the woodwork and detail is truly beautiful! As shown here in September, 2005 this charming house was listed for sale by its owners for $299,000. By downloading, youll automatically subscribe to our weekly newsletter. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. Try the search box just below, or if you prefer, post a question or comment in the Comments box below and we will respond promptly. @Cathy, Some early experiments by Sears included selling a kit to build 7 Tips for Building Your Sphere of Influence in Real Estate (+ Script), 31 Clever Real Estate Marketing Ideas for 2023, 33 Underrated Real Estate Lead Generation Ideas for 2023, Real Geeks Review: An In-depth Look at Features & Pricing, Want More Leads? On 2021-09-09 NTL FOLIO TH4819.P7S435 1920, A Plan Book of Harris Homes. There . Sears Archives Home Page Sears estimated that the average carpenter would charge $450 to . This article Hi Wizards, by danjoefriedman (mod). In the 1930s, during the Depression, the housing market took a sharp downturn, and by 1940, Sears stopped selling kit homes, as many people had lost their jobs and defaulted on their loans. I work with a group that maintains the national database of Sears Modern Homes. In Chicago, Richard Sears had an equally disruptive idea. https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Aladdin-Kit-Homes-Catalog-1941.pdf. 1910. Sears opened Modern Homes sales centers in several cities, including two inMissouri - one in St. Louis and one in Kansas City. Any idea where I might find plans from before 1908? Nor do I include the collection of homes in Wood River, Illinois (both towns had neighborhoods of Sears Modern Homes kits built by the Standard Oil Company, around 1918). Lake Worth, Florida. now, this woman was the head of facilities for the company and knew her stuff, but looking at the . Would love to find them. We are proud to carry Dutch Housing manufactured & modular homes. This was the norm in the era of kit houses kit houses were not the norm. Eric: I've looked through the Sears kit house archives (that I do not think are actually complete) and don't see that exact cape cod design with the center chimney and with that lower roof level and smaller window on the right. Sears Mfg. The renovation expanded the homes footprint to four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and more than 2,000 square feet. See full bio. After which it was relocated to Aurora, IL. The Sears Modern Homes catalog from 1930. cited at "References" below. Americans anywhere could flip through the four-pound, 1,400-page . Sears Whitehall. Indoors, large windows welcome in natural light. Sears Homes. , that's just not really part of the equation. Above is the original catalog description of this home at 15 N. Remsen, Wappingers Falls, NY Three neighbors - three Sears catalog homes were built in a row by Wappingers grocer Adolph Von Vorstel on N. Remsen Ave. in Wappingers Falls. Yes Mary; I'm in search of the floor plan that goes with this old house that we believe is an old Sears Kit house. Each of the links in this section shows a photo with additional details of the interior of a Sears Kit Home. 8 September 2005. It helps to narrow that search through Sears home catalogs if you can find the year that your home was constructed. If you read about a product or service on this website, its because we genuinely think its great. 1914. The group has identified 2,700 Sears homes in Ohio and 2,300 in Illinois. Though we don't search for them as diligently as we do Sears Modern Homes kit houses, we have found some kits from other kit-house companies of the same era, in the St. Louis area. I've searched many catalogs with no luck. Sold under the Sears Modern Homes brand, the kits soon became a huge hit; selling thousands of homes all across the country in the companys 33-year history. and this 1941 ALADDIN KIT HOME CATALOG (see for example the Brentwood, Brewser, Bristol, and Norfolk model Aladdin homes) Sears is estimated to have sold about 70,000 of their home building kits from 1908-1940 and it's currently estimated that about 70% of the original Sears homes built from kits are still standing today. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. For this weeks listing of the week, we decided to find seven charming Sears Catalog homes you can actually buy today. The Close has a policy of fierce editorial independence. Offices Locations.jpg download. While it's absolutely true that Sears Modern Homes house kits were shipped by train, in several box-car loads, by rail, I think that the whole concept of the railroad being part of the story, has been greatly misunderstood. In addition to trying the Sears Kit Home catalogs and identification resources we give here, you're welcome to post photos (one per comment - as many comments and thus photos as you need) of your home and to give what background you can about it (location, history etc) to see if other interested readers can offer suggestions. would a S&R house have had bead board on all walls and ceilings?? More than 100 years of history now available online.Sears has a rich, long history to tell dating back to 1886 when Richard Sears sold the first batch of watches. It helps to narrow that search through Sears home catalogs if you can find the year that your home was constructed. My home was built in 1915 , an addition was built on in the 1980s , but I believe the original home was from a kit. 61 proven lead gen ideas from coaches & top-producing agents to help you close more deals. That year, the Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan, offered the first kit homes through mail order. At least, we think this is a Wabash. They are classic. The Journal article (1/7/1990 F1-2), also identified other Sears Price: $629,000 Charming cottage:Sitting smack dab in the historic district of Pinehurst, this home was assembled from a Sears kit in 1929 on one of the largest lots in the area. A 1925 Colonial-style home in Washington, D.C., that sold last year for $1.06 million had humble beginnings. We also edit Sears Kit House identification checklists and comment and books on Sears Homes by Rosemary Thornton. A 1921 catalog of Sears kit homes offers the Magnolia for $6,488. Becky Bracken covers celebrity and other notable real estate for Realtor.com. Here are five recent sales and listings of Sears homes around Chicagoland. While Sears no longer has records of where each of the nearly 75,000. Sears Modern Homes 1930 pg14, Elmhurst.jpg download. The homes were sold through the Sears Roebuck catalog from 1908 to 1940. Additional keys for identifying kit homes are given on the page above. On 2022-01-17 Sears kit homes were popular in the earlier part of the 20th century. The elegant archways and what looks like the coziest home office south of the Mason Dixon gave us an excuse to linger and wonder if running the site from Lexington, Kentucky would make sense, Asking: $1,150,000 Sears Modern Homes Model: Oakdale Year Built: 1923 Listing Agent: John McElveen Listing Brokerage: RE/MAX of Boulder. However the owners and listing realtor had been unable to identify the Sears catalog model. As an amateur historian and NOCO Realtor, this list will be most helpful. I'd like to be able to answer your question but as there were over 100 kit home models made over quite a few decades, with just your description I cannot. Description. In 1952, my grandfather put up a Cape Cod style kit house in Wilton, CTModel # NM2137-4. Period. Sears Roebuck company began selling buildings or components of buildings in 1895. The house was financed through Sears which along with interior details helped authenticate that its from Sears. The cover house is the Sears Lewiston.Rachel Shoemaker Collection . One of the best known Sears house locations is in Carlinville, Illinois, where Standard Oil of Indiana built a million-dollar development of 192 Honor Bilt houses for employees of Schoper coal mine (156 intended for miners and other workers, an additional 28 nearby and somewhat more deluxe meant for supervisors). Wagon loads of house materials were brought wagon-by-wagon in the proper order for construction while the boxcar sat on a siding. AUTHOR:Eric Beechem (no email) a complete school or office building. A Sears house is: not a steel panel house (those are usually Lustron houses), not every Craftsman, bungalow, or Dutch Colonial style house you come across (though Sears did offer many Craftsman, bungalow, English cottage, Dutch Colonial, and Colonial style houses as did every other house company), not a house built after 1942 (or before 1908), not the only brand of kit house that existed (other companies include Gordon-Van Tine, Aladdin Homes, Bennett Homes, Wardway homes, and others). Considering Sears, Roebuck & Co. was founded in Chicago back in 1893, it's no surprise Illinois boasts many of the company's ready-to-assemble kit homes (second only to Ohio). 1 story, 2 br, chimney In middle. Of course, the home has been heavily modified from what we think its roots were as an Elmhurst model Sears catalog home, but that just adds to the charm, not to mention the square footage. On 2021-12-22 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. For more information on who we are, and what we do, visit our website: This question was recently posed in a FaceBook group that focuses on St. Louis history. What About The Train's Role In All Of This? Like most well built craftsman homes, everything just works. Even better, unlike the other homes weve seen so far, 1670 Whitcomb seems largely untouched from its original design. We did not examine the mechanicals closely in this house, as they were not provided by Sears and Roebuck and were obtained locally. match, interior hardware, and stencil marks make the identification of this home as a Sears catalog house quite clear. Year Built: 1902 Listing Agent: Wally Kerr Listing Brokerage: Kerr Team Real Estate, Admittedly, this next listing gave us a fun puzzle to solve while we were trying to figure out its provenance. Please bookmark this page to make it easy for you to check back for our response. Sears Modern Homes were catalog and kit houses sold primarily through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Co., an American retailer.. From 1908 to 1942, Sears sold more than 70,000 of these houses in North America, by the company's count. Here are some tips for how to make this career choice work for you. We've had less success finding details about other kit home companies selling in the United States and Canada, though Rebecca Hunter has compiled a list of a variety of kit house companies. 1920. Sears heavily promoted these large sales in their advertising materials. I would love an opinion. In the 19-teens, 1920s, and 1930s, American suburban neighborhoods were growing. She explains that often a specific ADORABLE Sears-kit home! Want even more free resources? Sears prefabricated almost all of these homes in giant mills situated across the country. NTL Stacks TH4819.P7H27 1918, Ready Built buildings. After 1940: However some homes could have been purchased around 1939 or 1940 but not completed until several years later, depending Asking: $484,500 Sears Modern Homes Model: The Glen Falls Year Built: 1928 Listing Agent: Markus Cross Listing Brokerage: Keller Williams Bluegrass. 1. Sold under the Sears Modern Homes brand, the kits soon became a huge hit; selling thousands of homes all across the country in the company's 33-year history. Are there old catalogs we can view to know whether this is a Sears Kit home? Kit and Plan Homes by Bungalow Man. Easily identified by its hanging bay window on the side (which extends up to the roof line) and its distinctive Castleton dormer with 3 windows. 13354A, 13354B); ($886 to $1,097) shown below. the identification of Sears Catalog or Kit homes and including references to other expert books and resources on On 2022-02-01 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. 12 Shocking Real Estate Facts: FREE Social Media Posts [Download]. My neighbors grandfather helped build my home. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N6, Thanks to Ralph & Elizabeth Arlyck for information regarding Aladdin Kit homes - June 2010, Aladdin House Catalog, in reprint form, is available from Amazon.com, Aladdin Houses are cataloged by the Arts & Crafts Society at http://64.66.180.31/archive/aladdin.shtml, More information including a description of the Aladdin model. Number 29. But nestled in a golf course in Anderson, Indiana, we found this gorgeous and stately Sears catalog home that wouldnt look out of place in Greenwich, Connecticut or Westchester. I know New Hamburg well, having spent a lifetime nearby in Poughkeepsie. @Roseanne R., it certainly could have, but also certainly not in all Sears Kit homes. Instead of hiring an architect and an army of carpenters, prospective homeowners could now simply place an order and get plans and building materials delivered right to their property. ], Sears began offering Goodwall sheet plaster as a replacement for the more labor-intensive wood lath plaster systems used in older homes.
sears kit homes locations