national database of sears homes10 marca 2023
Our research would not be possible, without online resources for Sears Modern Homes catalogs, and the catalogs for other kit-house companies, such as Gordon-Van Tine, Wardway, Aladdin, Sterling, Lewis, and Bennett. Designs may have been modified but generally should match in layout and dimensions. They kept up with it, of course, but it sure has good bones. An open floor plan with sensible . [37] Similiar references are made to boyhood homes of Richard Nixon and Warren Buffett. Many included the latest technology available to house buyers in the early part of the twentieth century, such as central heating, indoor plumbing, telephone, and electricity . Action in the Community Through Service Homeless Shelter. 159, but it's likely especially because we have found interior views of a couple, and we think we see Sears staircase balusters and newel. 3 in U.S. with, at todays count, 1,963 Sears homes found.. 5008". Run by experienced researcher Cindy Catanzaro (with a little help from yours truly). We are a team of about 10 researchers who work together to hunt around the U.S. for Sears kit houses built during the era of the Sears Modern Homes program (1908-1942). Historic Homes Images of Sears Homes Click on the associated link for a collection of images and photographs of almost all 447 house designs sold through the Sears Modern Homes program. Chabot focuses her research on scouring mortgages and deed records, old newspaper articles and other sources to identify kit homes sold by Sears. Those kinds of topics are cleared up, in this blog post: When I chatted with Kevin Riordan, I also sent him a list of several nice Sears houses that he could consider photographing for his article in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Lara Solonickne, who writes the blog. Andrew is our number-cruncher, and his blog, I joined the team shortly after Lara, Cindy and Andrew began, in earnest, to log the homes that they were finding. If those were the top sellers, no model could catch the Argyle at that rate. Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. My uncle mentioned that he had found some shipping labels from Sears in the house and when we asked my grandmother about it, she said: Oh, yes, we ordered it from the Sears catalog, Chabot said. Washington D.C. and its nearby suburbs have an unusually rich cache of kit houses stashed away in some of the leafy, well-tended neighborhoods where 1920s houses still shine. Here is a year-by-year list of houses as they were advertised in the Sears Modern Homes catalogs. We certainly imagine that the houses have been retro-fitted with one, at this point. Builders that already have both the funds and the skilled professionals in architecture, construction, and land use make it easier for the average person who only wants to worry about their career, move, and family. Photo from Realtor site. Early on, we were joined by Sarah Mullane, who lives in North Tonawanda, New York. We've found examples from the Wardway, Gordon-Van Tine, Harris Homes, and Ray H. Bennett companies. Moreover, it was just more feasible to plunk down a house somewhere because there just werent as many homes on account of a smaller population. The American Lumberman article referred to this area where the houses were being built, as the Fairview neighborhood. Following is a list of Sears Homes enthusiasts who have agreed to share their names with others who might be interested in contacting them by clicking on their name. So, I put together a list, but I decided to provide some clarifying background information in that blog post, too-- it's especially intended to help those who might hear the term Craftsman, and think it means Sears House, or who see a 1920s bungalow and wonder if that means that the street is lined with Sears houses, or who find marked lumber in their house, but can't seem to find a match to a Sears model. Balloon framing systems rely only on nails to make connections between joints, whereas previous methods used heavier members and pegs. Ephemera can help identify a house as a Sears Home. Because lets get real: those adorable and affordable ranchers were only for CERTAIN veterans and their families. You'll notice that most are in states east of the Mississippi River, with highest overall state totals in Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and New York. Tasty Soft Garlic and Herb Bread Sticks Recipe How to Make it in 23 Simple Steps, Villa Faberge! I grew up in a Sears house located in Keyport NJ. This site is a tribute to the original Sears Houses in Cincinnati These pre-1916 houses are generally considered "catalog houses", not "kit houses". . Simple theme. So, Can We See Some Philly Suburbs Sears Houses? presentation, nows your chance! According to Betcone, the two models that were the top sellers for Sears in 1930 totaled just over 100 houses a year. Public records: From 1911 to 1933, Sears offered home mortgages and Sears company officials or the Sears, Roebuck corporation may be named on the mortgage or deed associated with the property where the home was constructed. Through those two resources, we can see not only kit-house catalogs, but also lumber-yard plan books, which offered house plans to those who were building their homes, in the 19-teens through 1930s, in the traditional method, of hiring a contractor, and buying the building resources locally. Despite this large number, Sears houses are still, actually, rare, and only make up about 2% of the houses built in their era. That year, the Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan, offered the first kit homes through mail order. [6] Plumbing, electrical fixtures, and heating systems were options that could be ordered at additional cost; they were many families' first steps to modern HVAC systems, kitchens, and bathrooms. [35] Another homeowner, Erskine Hogue Stanberry, states that his Saratoga model was the "first house in Chelsea to have electric lights" and that they "are using the original plumbing and wiring".[35]. Finally, if you really want to understand the basics of what a Sears Modern Homes kit house is, and what it is not, you might find this blog post of mine to be helpful and informative. Referred to as a gable-front-and-wing, it was a national folk style that owed much of its heritage to the earlier Greek Revival style. The house was in original condition and was never modified while we lived there - it was sold in 2003 or early 2004. One of the things that Marie has done for us, is to perfectly describe our search for Sears houses, as a "badass hobby" that is akin to a "huge historical treasure hunt". is selling shipping container homes for about $50,000 a pop and Amazon is also selling prefab tiny houses at a variety of sizes and price points. Many of the homes original features remain intact. Our home also resembles the Bedford Model # P3249, 1926 (this was not in your listings). National Database: Sears Homes in the U.S. SHORT VIDEO: What It's Like to Live in a Sears Catalog Home, SHORT VIDEO: NBC Nightly News visits Andrew & Wendy Mutch. Sears Modern Homes are something we totally need to bring back from the past for this. 126 and a Sears No. While the bathroom and kitchen of this 1920 Sears mail-order house in Munhall called The Crescent have been updated, most of the homes original features remain unchanged, said owner Molly Harbst, who learned it was among the first homes built in her Homestead Park neighborhood. But what if you want something bigger than a tiny house, but not as gargantuan as the average American single family home? 171 examples in La Porte. This product offered the advantages of low price, ease of installation, and added fire protection. This is a complete list of Sears houses in Aurora (and two in Montgomery that were originally in Aurora). Whitehouse. Argyles also have a tendency to hide. We've seen this in Carlinville, Illinois, and we've seen this with large orders of homes bought from Aladdin and from Gordon-Van Tine. I don't know the model, but it was a 2 story - 6 room house - 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, dining room, and very small galley type kitchen. Catalogs Online: Sears, Radford, Gordon-Van Tine, Sears Starlight (Sears Homes of Chicagoland), Sears Door Hardware: La Tosca, Shefton, Rhythmic, ONLINE CATALOGS on Archive.org: Sears, GVT, Radford +more. 159, except for a closed pediment up in the front and side gable. You can contact Rose through her Facebook group, "Sears Kit Homes" or email: Magnolia2047@gmail.com. The Sears Argyle was named after Argyle Street in Chicago. Tailor the data to your community to help preserve your local assets or explore national data to better understand the need for affordable housing and the dynamics of the publicly supported housing market. Documented Sears houses have been found across the United States and in a few locations in Canada. [5] Early balloon structures were very basic, to enable home buyers to assemble them independently and also because designers had yet to see the implications the method held.[5]. If my house is not a kit, where did it come from? The search for Sears Roebuck houses nationwide was launched in the mid-1970's when the, This was a case of unfortunate timing. 181 (264P181) in the 1914 Sears Modern Homes catalog, This image is from the 1913 Sears Modern Homes catalog re-print, available, 374 Hawthorne Street, La Porte, Indiana Sears Modern Home No. Shipped by railroad boxcar, and then usually trucked to a home site, the average Sears Modern Home kit had about 25 tons of materials, with more than 30,000 parts. It mightve been easier to get a job or start a business off the bat compared to the hoops and bureaucracy we have for both these days, but there was no U-Haul or Pods to make. Park, MD. Related: Floating Chairs and Texas McMansions | McMansions vs Really Big Houses | Strange Mansion in Carmel, Indiana | What is a Mansion. In the early years, the models were identified with numbers. One final note about our list: as I've mentioned, our list includes, for the most part, homes that we have located, ourselves, but also those that we have learned about from other people. That's why we love seeking them out! Theres a whole checklist of signs to look for, such as stamped lumber in the basement or attic, shipping labels on the baseboards and other millwork, or even looking up your deed and records pertaining to the actual home purchase. Here are a few: Andrew just today noticed this brick house with the Sears curlicue decorative iron strapping (only offered by Sears, and the only style of iron strapping ever offered by Sears). 171 often has a full front porch that ends up extending all the way to the left side of the house. Looking at the sorry state of Americas rail infrastructure today, this also makes me weep although today theyd just be delivered via truck. The Sears Argyle was a small house, about 1,000 square feet, and many of them have been demolished. If you have any authenticating source for us, we'd love to hear about it (you can email me directly at SearsHouseSeeker@gmail.com). Dover, Chateau, and Lexington models are particularly plentiful there! 217 was not shown with an in-house bathroom. Most of us have a small collection of physical catalogs, or PDF catalogs, but we rely heavily on resources provided, especially, by our friend at AntiqueHome.org, and Daily Bungalow. Those are ridiculously difficult to pin down. We maintain the National Database of Sears Houses in the U.S., where we add new finds, almost daily. In addition to home building costs being up to 40% lower than traditional building, you also had the option to bring your own blueprints to Sears to get them modified for far less than itd comparatively cost to go to a builder or architect today. In this case, the problem was that we couldn't see the left side of these models, just by looking at the catalog and the floor plans. I'm sure it was Matthew who cleared up for me that the No. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. presentation, nows your chance! website, which was published from Oct 2013 to Nov 2014. 920 North Madison Avenue, Anderson, Indiana Asking: $379,900 Sears Roebuck Model: Elmhurst Year Built: 1932 Listing Agent: Julie Armington Listing Brokerage: F.C. Sales were down, and there was excess inventory languishing in warehouses. Many of these post 1940 homes were based on models from the 1940 and earlier Sears catalogs but not all were, leading to debate over whether these homes qualify as "Sears Modern Homes". Some models were offered in both wood siding and brick veneer versions with different names attributed to the same or almost identical home plan. By Posted on Mar 10, 2021. national database of sears homes. Excuse me while I openly weep thinking about how many vacation cottages today probably cost the same or even more than, Sears also offered mortgages to home buyers and was pretty liberal with their lending terms, which made them an attractive option for widows, the self-employed, and people in marginalized groups who otherwise had trouble qualifying for traditional bank loansa problem that still persists today. This table provides a Streetview link for each house (or, occasionally, a real estate listing link), and, for houses I've shown, but not provided a catalog image of, you'll find a link to a catalog image, as well. Sears houses could also be ordered with reversed floor plans. Thats cheaper than many tiny houses and with space to actually breathe and have more than one person live with you without wanting to kill each other. One of the biggest questions that researchers have been wanting to answer is: What is the Top-Selling Sears House of All Time? Some models of Sears homes were very similar in design to models offered by other kit home manufacturers or through plan books. When the. A high-speed chase involving an armed carjacking suspect ended in Los Angeles Friday afternoon when the suspect crashed into a police vehicle, and then into a pole. of "Where are the Sears Houses?" Kushel is credited with suggesting to Richard Sears that the company assemble kits of all the parts needed and sell entire houses through mail order. In other cases, the home followed the general design of a Sears house without being an exact duplicate. 06/16/2022 . Researchers Cindy Catanzaro and Andrew Mutch, and the late Donna Bakke, put together a document explaining Bea's work, and listing 345 of the houses that she found, which you can see. Philadelphia Inquirer: Sears Homes In the Philly S Where are the Sears Houses - February 2023 Edition, The Strange Case of the Wandering Bungalow, DC House Cat Chiming In - Historic Mail-Order Homes, Same Name, Different House Part 2 - From Aurora to the Elmwood, 1926 Sears Special Supplement from AntiqueHome.org. Thousands of developments in cities, suburbs, and exurbs have sprung up since with a seemingly endless amount of homes that were built between World War II and today. Park, MD. 115 cuts off abruptly, right in the middle of the front facade, even with the left side of the upper window, and it then has a straight slope porch roof jutting out. New models were introduced every year, and some only stuck around for a couple years. During the later era of pre-cut houses, we don't usually put homes on our list, if they have these kinds of design differences. We saw that on numerous Rossville/No. Sears Houses in Elgin, Illinois (Rebecca L. Hunter), BOOK:Houses By Mail -- published by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, BOOK: History and Field Guide to Wardway Homes, Rosemary Thornton's Sears Modern Homes website (use to search for models), Beatrice Lask Thesis: Summary list (Cincinnati Sears Homes). 162 Sears houses still standing, including those in the city of Alexandria. Kmart History | Search Archives | Sears Holdings Alumni | sears.com | kmart.com : Thursday, Mar. Among those are: Sears Modern Homes can also be found in historic districts listed in the National Register of Historic Places: According to Carolyn Fraser's Pulitzer-winning book, Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder, the house that Rose Wilder Lane built for her parents, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Almanzo Wilder, at Rocky Ridge Farm in Missouri was from a Sears kit. The original "Sears Modern Homes" community page on Facebook, for those interested in Sears homes. Please contact me if you would like a free We love her for giving us this to quote over and over again and for the many Sears houses that she has added to our list. Theres a whole checklist of signs to look for. Freestanding suburban or rural homes were more likely to stand alone in undeveloped lots instead of planned tracts that were set aside by federal and state governments and/or builders that had uniformity in mind. Sometimes the legal description is nice and straightforward, like, "lot 15, block C, Tanglewood Estates, in the town of Dunham". Depending on where you live, the thought of just building a small or medium sized house can sound totally bizarre or perhaps totally doable if youve got miles and miles of wide open space to work with. Photo from Lake County Assessor. This one, too, looks pretty much like just a taller version of the Greenview/115 and the Rossville/171, from the front and porch side of the house so, it was another mystery, as to what to look for on the other side of the house. website, which was published from Oct 2013 to Nov 2014. [2] No comprehensive list of their locations exists.[3]. In some cases, Sears provided construction services to assemble the homes. They came in all sizes and price points before buying a ready-made house or building kit of your choosing became relegated to the tiny house movement if you dont have the resources to buy a plot of land and build from there. Price: $179,900. Some models were offered with variations, the most common of those being expanded floor plans and additional finished living spaces. Compare that to about 330 million people today. In the companys own words, Sears didnt really innovate home building. I don't feel comfortable making that assumption. The house forms part of the farmstead at the museum.[40]. The bulk order is the largest known order for Sears Modern Homes and led to Sears, Roebuck naming their "Carlin" model after the city. "Our national database of Sears houses in the U.S. has over 13,500 homes on it, and, after Ohio and Illinois, Pennsylvania is No. Some of the most popular models were:[12], The largest and one of the most expensive Sears models was the Magnolia. | Sears Modern Homes", "Sears Houses in Arlington Virginia: A Comprehensive List", "How Sears built an entire local neighborhood", "Historic Structures Crystal Lake Historical Society", "Sears Houses in Elgin Illinois arranged according to model name", "Philadelphia Inquirer: Sears Homes in the Philly Suburbs and Sears House Hunters", "Where are the rest of the Sears houses in the U.S.? A kick-off celebration was held March 3, 2023, for the newly renamed BMO Stadium. Carrying on with Same Name, Different House topic we find that some of the This is what these two models look like, in the catalogs (these are from the 1911/1912 catalog): Up until this point, we weren't really sure what the difference was between these two models. Harbst said many of the original features in her home are intact and the exterior remains mostly unchanged. Chabot notes that Sears mail-order homes sold before 1916 did not use precut lumber that was stamped with numbers to guide construction. I think that one of our researchers, Lara Solonickne. Our list, by the way, began in the early years of our research group. 110 (, 1524 2nd Street, La Porte, Indiana earliest version of the Sears No. My father knew the local builder (Mr. Humphreys) who put the house together. Once delivered, many of these houses were assembled by the new homeowner, relatives, friends and neighbors, in a fashion similar to the traditional barn-raisings of farming families. Sears Modern Homes offered more than 370 designs in a wide range of architectural styles and sizes over the line's 34-year history. Dover, Chateau, and Lexington models are particularly plentiful there! And, shortly after me, came Karen DeJeet, a Pittsburgh resident who learned of Sears houses when she found out that she lived in one (the. While these features werent in every single Sears home, they still set the stage for home builders to realize what people wanted in their new digs because of how much their quality of life was improved.