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. Sears Manufactured Homes In some inspections you will find a few rafters or beams which show, Framing marks on other kit house brands and their framing lumber are discussed below at, Labels may be present on the back of millwork (baseboard, window, door trim, staircase) as Sears used a common supplier, "Sears, Roebuck and Company," or "925 Homan Ave. Chicago" may be present on shipping labels. Wilton is thinking of designating houses from this era as worthy of preservation, so this is why I am trying to gather more information. Located in the desirable Converse Heights neighborhood, the home greets visitors with a large front porch. Yes Mary; Are you able to tell me the model name is of the kit? 920 North Madison Avenue, Anderson, Indiana Asking: $379,900 For this week's listing of the week, we decided to find seven charming Sears Catalog homes you can actually buy today. With so many of these homes sold, many still come up for sale. The company promised a man of average abilities that he could finish the house within 90 days if he followed the 75-page instruction . We have a Sears Craftsman home that was built in 1910-1912 and would love to identify the style off home. Scroll down to the section with that title, to learn more about plans-only companies. Some people like to mention the huge collection of Sears Modern Homes in Carlinville, Illinois, when they speak of Sears Houses in the St. Louis area, but, given that Carlinville is a 90-minute drive from St. Louis County, in a different state, I don't include them in my list. A consummate salesman, Ford even joked that the Model T was available in any color his customers wanted, as long as it was black. 3385); ($1,359 to $1,671) Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland @Roseanne R., it certainly could have, but also certainly not in all Sears Kit homes. I realize that there were 7 or so kit house companies at the time. Price: $421,000 Waterfront wonder: Sitting just a few steps from the waters edge on Triangle Pond, this 898-square-foot cottage was delivered in 1954 and assembled on-site. It was a Sears, Roebuck and Co. kit home, the Martha Washington, advertised in. Sears prefab homes still standing in region, across the country These "kits" came with almost everything that would be necessary to . @inspectapedia.com.moderator, Here, then, is a list of all of the Sears Modern Homes kit houses that we have found, in the broad area of the city of St. Louis, and St. Louis County (and those two examples in St. Charles County). I have researched over th years trying to find the original plan or any information on the floor plan. Great finda Sears "Magnolia" in Canton, Ohio, and its catalog listing. The house was shipped by Gordon Van Tine Co. of Davenport IA, and delivered by railroad box car to the New Hamburg freight yard. Wagon loads of house materials were brought wagon-by-wagon in the proper order for construction while the boxcar sat on a siding. You might try some of those to see if they have an older historical connection to Keystone kit homes, though we emphasize that these are a bit of a long-shot. Since 1971 Sears Mfg. As you've indicated, you already have some helpful information from your home. An April 1955 photo of the Zoeller home shows the siding now painted white instead of the original wood color. And which kit? Any ideas out there?? @Carlyn, Sears has opened the doors to its vast archival collection and invited the public to peek inside. Price: $200,000 Happy home: This 880-square-foot, ranch-style home has two bedrooms. . We have affiliate partnerships with these companies and make money when we feature their products on the site. with a few candidates with an expert like Thornton might see immediately as probable or improbable Sears Catalog Houses. Price: $179,900 Historic house:Built in 1911, this Sears home sits on a large, corner lot in a historic district, surrounded by antebellum homes. A local example of this is LaPorte, Indiana, where Sears sold 50 houses in one subdivision. 1935. catalog homes in Dutchess County, NY. The Home Depot - hardware. Price: $374,900 Burlington beauty:According to the listing, this catalog home is the Vallonig model. Do You Live in a Mail-Order Sears Kit Home? These House Hunters Will Any ASHI, NAHI, or other serious home inspector who has been working in the Hudson Valley of New York or for that matter in many other U.S. cities and towns for a decade or more has probably inspected several Sears Catalog homes, even if s/he did not recognize it at the time. InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. The original 1926 Sears & Roebuck label identifying the house at 115 Belleclaire Avenue in Longmeadow as a Sears kit house. So it's probably true that most of these The house was financed through Sears which along with interior details helped authenticate that its from Sears. That was the way our American towns were built. Presented at the Hudson Valley American Society of Home Inspectors HVASHI Annual Historic Homes Inspection-Seminar, Kingston, NY - The kit was dropped at a depot, not at a lot. Thank you so much! We know of authenticated Sears houses that were built miles and miles from the location of the depot, and we know that the family hauled the kit supplies to their lot, nonetheless. Offices Locations.jpg download. I would love to get more information about the Sears Roebuck Home I have recently purchased in Fresno, CA. 69 reviews of The Home Depot "4 stars for home depot. One of the most fascinating parts of the story, is that the framing lumber was (in most cases) pre-cut and labeled, allowing the homebuilder to follow an instruction booklet to help in the organized construction process. Finding the Houses that Sears Built; A Guide to the 60 Most Popular Rosemary Thornton's two books Greater Portland Landmarks - Blog By 1940 home designs, specifications (and building codes) These easy-to-assemble, mail-order homes were shipped across the United States and Canada, according to the Sears archives. 1924 Bowers Beach, Delaware. Vintage Mail Order Houses That Came from Sears Catalogs, 1910s-1940s The columns are pure Sears Modern, as is the awning, but like 920 North Madison, it seems to have grown in size over the past few decades. Want even more free resources? Sears Houses In St. Louis, Missouri: What Is A Kit House? 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. The homes were sold through the Sears Roebuck catalog from 1908 to 1940. the author of books on identifying Sears houses, cited at REFERENCES below, and Number 29. The best place to start would be see Benefiting from Hunter's work as well as our own search we list a number of kit or catalog home manufacturers here. Thank you Rus, that's helpful detail. Look for additional clues besides lumber stamping, such as hardware, windows, etc. Each house has a link that you can click on, that takes you to a resource to see the house (blog post, real estate listing, or Google map). The National Trust Library offers catalogs of Aladdin kit houses. Galeries Lafayette - department store; France. ], Sears began offering Goodwall sheet plaster as a replacement for the more labor-intensive wood lath plaster systems used in older homes. "It's the most perfect Sears Magnolia . the trains didn't stop at the homeowner's lot, and let them unload, there, just because their lot happened to have rail lines near it, or behind it. Realtors love to include Sears in their listing of old houses but many of those are incorrectly identified including the others that are on your list. Download Our Free E-book. What year and style home? Sears Catalog 'Kit Homes' From the Early 20th Century - themindcircle Excerpting from this new website: Sears kit homes weathered decades, now quite valuable - SFGATE I love the video from Chicago. Sears Modern Homes 1930 pg14, Elmhurst.jpg download. The gorgeous 2-acre lot has plenty of room to expand. Period. In fact, the Chelsea (a 2,000-square-foot foursquare) came with 840 square yards of wooden lath. Using the Sears numbering system, the contents of the railroad boxcars (typically 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). NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61, Aladdin Homes. as we describe above on this page. I appreciate the additional detail on lath that I had forgotten. R.R. I'll be interested if you find any indication of just how widely plaster-lath construction was used in kit homes; our rock-lath article cited above gives some history, though not specific to kit homes; we need authoritative sources on the extent to which rock-lath or sheet-plaster systems were in wide use in North America before the 1940s. 20 items. You will want to look for additional key details such as those given above on this page. Philadelphia Inquirer: Sears Homes In the Philly Suburbs and Sears Other details can include finding specific stamps, lumber marks, or hardware in your particular house that confirm it as a particular company's kit home and also paging through the kit home catalogs we list to match that roof design and entry porch, for example. We settled on Vallonia, because of the awning, but the porch and columns are all wrong. For most of its years in operation, the Sears Modern Homes department served its customers from three locations: In Cairo, Illinois, Sears had a 40-acre lumber and millwork plant. 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. Price: $649,900 Horse haven:This 1932 catalog home sits on nearly 7 acres of fenced horse property. That includes both finding specific stamps, lumber marks, or hardware in your particular house that confirm it as a Sears kit home and also paging through the Sears kit home catalogs we list to match that hipped gable roof design and entry porch. What seems likely here is that the original structure might have been modified after 1908 with heavily modified plans from a Sears Modern. Homes offers a wide variety of energy efficient homes ranging in size from 950 to over 2300 square feet with prices starting as low as fifty dollars per square foot depending on style & size. by Adrian McCullough. Sears heavily promoted these large sales in their advertising materials. Model name? 721 Illinois Street, Geneva, IL, 60134 Sold for $390,000. In 1915 Sears kit homes included fiberboard panels used for ceilings and walls. NTL FOLIO TH4819.P7S42 1936, One House or a Hundred. I once owned a home in Houston Tx, which according to records was built in 1906 (Although the date could be a few years off either way) I am having difficulty confirming if this was a Sear kit home or a copy cat mfgr. 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. Built in 1930, and the grandson of the original owner/builder told us it was a Sears house. That's because, unfortunately, just finding a house in a catalog that looks like your home does not mean yours is a Sears kit. 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! Sears prefabricated almost all of these homes in giant mills situated across the country. Thanks for your interest! From 1908 until 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold over 70,000 kit houses through their Modern Homes and Honor Bilt catalogs. They were shipped by rail, with pre-cut lumber stamped for assembly. Could this be a Sears Elsemore home? Tell us about you so we know what to send. Details on the first floor indicate original to 1925 as the deed says. Today, the only way to find these homes in literally one by one. 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. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61, Aladdin Houses. Your comment will appear after it has been previewed and approved by the blog author. BOOKS ON SEARS AND OTHER KIT OR CATALOG HOUSES. Also see this Sears Milford Kit home from the same 1933-1940 period: (Model No. The most complete answer to your question and advice on identifying kit hoes is found at KIT HOMES, Aladdin, Sears, Wards, Others. Thornton is also Any help is appreciated! Please call or text 815-603-7338. , that's just not really part of the equation. This house, #15 N. Remsen, in Wappingers Falls, NY, arrived by train. Another uber charming craftsmen with a tasteful renovation and original details, 1315 9th Street had us lingering on our open Zillow tabs for a few more minutes than a team under deadline should. Have you gotten your home sold yet? 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. 1 story, 2 br, chimney In middle. The Journal article (1/7/1990 F1-2), also identified other Sears Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. I did find some blue grease pencil numbers but they are hard to make out. Seattle's historic mail-order homes | king5.com As you've indicated, you already have some helpful information from your home. detail which is still in place on a Sears house was unique to those homes and can help in their identification today, even though Outdoors, a large deck in the backyard offers an ideal spot for warm-weather entertaining. Choosing the best hard money lenders for your investment projects can be tricky. Customers were given everything needed for basic assemblyincluding the nailsdelivered by rail, and most folks with adequate carpentry expertise could put up their new house in just a few days. Sears kit homes contained 30,000 pieces, including 750 pounds of nails, 27 gallons of paint, and a 75-page instruction book. then left the rest to the construction company. Try looking through the Sears kit home ID tips and photos and catalogs given on this page above. One satisfied Sears homeowner, Edith Sides of Dallas, lived in a home that was built in 1911 and sold to her stepfather in 1917. New York ranks fourth on the list with 1,679. They are always welcome. Your email address will not be published. @George, Keep it classy, please. 1. An Abundance of Sears Homes in Raleigh, NC It's also helpful that you clarified what a not-a-Sears-house could be. Minor andmajor changes - from adding a few more windows to changing from a hip roof to agabled roof - were suggested and encouraged. 613.3K . 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. 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. homes have been much modified or expanded since their original construction. They reportedly sold around 70,000 houses, and an estimated 70 percent of them are still standing. COMMENT:Here's is a photo of the Sears ready-cut house that my grandfather build. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. The total cost for this house was $1500. If My House Is Not A Kit, Where Did It Come From? Im looking for information pertaining to Robinsons Kits. Apartment in Munich, Upper Bavaria. On 2022-09-16 61 proven lead gen ideas from coaches & top-producing agents. Well, what did you think of our picks of the best Sears Catalog Homes on the market? NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61, Aladdin Homes. See full bio. If you havent sold it yet, Id be happy to refer someone to you in your area. I know New Hamburg well, having spent a lifetime nearby in Poughkeepsie. Price: $489,000 Livability in Lexington: Built in 1928 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places, this four-bedroom home has been meticulously maintained over the years. You can read more about them here, here, here, and here. Oddly, there is no sales blurb included in the Sears Modern Homes catalog for this one. 10+ American Foursquare Sears Kit House Plans [Part 1] It comes with a 10-year-old garage, garden house in the backyard, an unfinished basement, and a floored attic. Well, as fun as a puzzle can be under deadline I guess. The rest are not Sears houses although that house identified as a Glen Falls is close but not a match. Only one image can be added per comment but you can post as many comments, and therefore images, as you like. Ohio and Illinois are still leading, though, with 2700+ and 2300+, respectively. We know that there are two purported Sears kit homes on Route 302 in Bridgton, a Sears house in Saco, and there are likely more kit homes that have not yet been surveyed and identified in subdivisions from the 20s, 30s, and 40s in our communities. How To Find Sears Modern Homes | Old House Web 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. All of the house designs of the era of kit homes, were of similar styles Sears, and the other kit companies, were not offering anything unique. A Sears Castleton model with 4 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen and tiny den just past the vestibule entry. It also has a daydream-worthy covered porch with three exposures; a perfect spot for a late summer dinner. Kirkwood homes that were originally thought to be Sears houses, but are not. Item #1 is a great reference catalog of home designs, I'm omitting the famous Wilton gingerbread house and Wilton gingerbread house kits sold by Sears as that's a food product not an actual house. 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. If you look at an old Sears catalog, youll find that while kit houses did not include plaster (due to shipping weight), your 12,000-piece kit house did come with good quality lath. The renovation expanded the homes footprint to four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and more than 2,000 square feet. On 2022-04-20 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Thornton also cites an "R" either in the cast-iron base of some sinks (kitchen?) The answer to this question can be found on this Sears House Seeker blog post. Homes has been a family owned & operated home center. In Alabama, dozens of historic homes are rumored to be kit houses but only a small percentage have been certified as . 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). Both sections span from 1886 to today. Let our vast experience and top picks guide your decision. Rosemary Thornton, whose work is referenced in this document, is a leading expert on Sears catalog homes. 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. Any idea where I might find plans from before 1908? Elgin's Sears Homes - by Rachel Freundt - Substack She says from 1908 to 1942, Sears sold more than 70,000 kits nationwide, and more than 3,000 in the Cincinnati area. would a S&R house have had bead board on all walls and ceilings?? Later volumes offered up to 370 designs. The best procedure would be to go through the Sears Kit House identification steps and details given above on this page. Sears recommended that wood molding be installed over the joints for superior results. Sears homes can be found across the continental United States. Do look carefully for a stencil marks and do look at some of the hardware details that we give in the articles that I recommended to you. Here are those we know of from Lewis Homes, Gordon-Van Tine, Wardway (Montgomery Ward), and Aladdin: . Sears "Lynnhaven" in York County, Virginia 2 /22 This exceptionally well-preserved Lynnhaven in York County, Virginia, retains that model's interior layout, which includes a kitchen, breakfast. So before you open up yet another Superior Realty, check out these examples, branding tips and our very own name generator. How to Identify a Sears Kit Home: 9 Steps (with Pictures) - wikiHow Notes: this product was sold by Sears beginning in 1916. Get actionable real estate strategy in your inbox. 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. Framing is square-cut douglas-fir(Doug Fir) or southern yellow pine (SYP) (usually) free of knots and splits. This was the norm in the era of kit houses kit houses were not the norm. bungalow ordered in 1926 for $1000. Small Prefab Homes: 'The Best-Kept Secret in America'? The Million-Dollar Vintage Kit Homes That Come From Sears 239 W. Russell Street, Barrington, $949,000. . and in the enamel of bath tubs in a corner near floor level. In 1952, my grandfather put up a Cape Cod style kit house in Wilton, CTModel # NM2137-4. They were hoping to meet the needs and desires of the same folks who were buying from the lumber companies. at $500. by Sears & Roebuck in 1908, and eventually Sears offered 370 different models of residential homes, ranging from small bungalows match, interior hardware, and stencil marks make the identification of this home as a Sears catalog house quite clear. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. The houses made it as far as Alaska and Canada, as the parts were delivered by railroad. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. All Locations for Home Improvement & Repair - Sears Home Services now, this woman was the head of facilities for the company and knew her stuff, but looking at the . Build a house from a Sears kit? Longmeadow is home to early 20th The reason these companies want to work with us is that they know our readers represent the most engaged, professional, and committed real estate agents online today. Over in Sears & Roebucks home state of Illinois, we found this gorgeous Crescent model Sears catalog home up for sale at a tantalizing price. In the early 1900s, the address for Sears' Chicago headquarters was 975 Homan Ave., Chicago, Illinois, and should be on the shipping label. A highly modified Sunbeam model Sears Modern (we think) this house also had a tasteful, adult hip renovation that looks like a Southern Home spread brought to life. At least, we think this is a Wabash. Montgomery Ward sold Van Tine homes under their own name. The updated five-bedroom home is zoned for residential and commercial use, which makes it a great opportunity for a bed-and-breakfast or live-work space. There we list the manufacturers of kit or catalog homes sold in the United States and provide links to additional references, kit home identification, kit or catalog home restoration and repairs, and kit home architectural and hardware details, markings, and stencils. On 2021-05-27 GUIDE TO KIT HOUSES AND HOMES However other companies may have both purchased remaining Sears kit house stock or copied Sears designs and continued to sell kit homes 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. Sears Modern Homes were purchased primarily by customers in East Coast and Midwest states, but have been located as far south as Florida, as far west as . However the combination of catalog @Amy, I purchased a home in Keokuk County, Iowa one year ago . On 2021-12-22 The Truth About DIY Sears Kit Homes - Grunge.com 217 Dutchess Turnpike, in Poughkeepsie, NY, a (1917) 7-room cape which used a basement cistern for its water supply and a fieldstone fireplace. I Unknowingly Bought A Sears Kit Home - Apartment Therapy 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? Also lovingly renovated with lots of lovely original details like picture frame mouldings and french doors, 5953 Jefferson in Burlington, Kentucky looks like the perfect place to while away a summer afternoon with a mint julep and a great book. Once again, Sears has made history. Number 37. On 2021-09-09 Note: appearance of your Comment below may be delayed: if your comment contains an image, photograph, web link, or text that looks to the software as if it might be a web link, your posting will appear after it has been approved by a moderator. 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). Only seven Magnolias are known to exist, including one at 1500 James St., Syracuse. Becky Bracken covers celebrity and other notable real estate for Realtor.com. This Sears Sunbeam is a lovely example and in original condition. While Sears no longer has records of where each of the nearly 75,000. The family has owned the Sears kit house ever since. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61, Aladdin Homes. Three neighbors - three Sears catalog homes were built in a row by Wappingers grocer Adolph Von Vorstel on N. Remsen Ave. in Wappingers Falls. What almost no one thinks of is Don Corleones house from the first Godfather movie. As shown here in September, 2005 this charming house was listed for sale by its owners for $299,000. Here are some tips for how to make this career choice work for you. 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. Love these homes. It helps to narrow that search through Sears home catalogs if you can find the year that your home was constructed.