There is some debate about whether some homes from Sears that were built in 1941 and 1942 qualify as Sears Modern Homes. Ha! Sales peaked in 1929, just before the Great Depression. People always seemed surprised to learn that Sears sold home kits. When we find a mortgage record, we're just given a buyer's name, and a legal description of a property. We maintain the National Database of Sears Houses in the U.S., where we add new finds, almost daily. 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. Tucker/Crossroads It's highly improbable that any model could hit the 1,700 mark. Some of the models are easier to identify visually and their counts may be disproportionately high. 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. Thanks to Ancestry.com, we are often able to get a street name from a census record, but we run into problems there, when we find a town that has no street names (yes! Without complete sales records, we cannot say definitively that the Sears Argyle was the top seller. There were about 132 million people by the time Sears stopped selling Sears Modern Homes kits in 1940. 171 examples in La Porte. This means that information about the Modern Homes department is scarce. 1916 Sears Roebuck Modern Homes. Keep in mind, however, that even though we have found well over 200 Sears houses in the PA and NJ suburbs of Philadelphia, those are densely populated areas. 02, 2023 : History: Catalogs: Homes: Products: Brands: Stores: People Historic Homes : . Pre-cut lumber reduced construction time by up to 40%, according to Sears. 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". We loosely refer to ourselves by the name. From 1931-1942 Sears sold about 5,000 houses altogether. Call me a cynic, but I often wonder why kit houses were not stolen. A Gilded Mansion in Newport Beach, CA (Unreal), Fallen Titan that is Sears department stores. Among those chiming in about the article was Judith Chabot of St. Louis, Mo., who runs SearsHouseSeekers.com, which serves as a depository for information gathered by Sears home enthusiasts across the country. Simply put, life was rougher. I think the reason the Sears house is so interesting is that most people associate them with the Wish Book catalog that came in the mail at Christmas. 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. Cities that have records of building permits may list Sears, Roebuck as the original architect. You roughed it until you found a new place and if you wanted a FOREVER home, you stayed put until it was done being built. Excuse me while I openly weep thinking about how many vacation cottages today probably cost the same or even more than house houses in many parts of the country. And, to top it off, Gordon-Van Tine has a model almost the same. Later, Sears constructed a second mill in Port Newark, New Jersey and purchased the Norwood Sash and Door Company in Norwood, Ohio. Sears provided "capital and materials", on the condition that lots and foundations were already in place. We found and listed about three houses, I think but didn't really focus on La Porte much more than that day in 2015. Given the more disposable nature of shipping container homes and the portability granted by some tiny houses, its kind of sad in a way that this current crop of Internet-order homes is not only not as simple or affordable as it was yesteryear, but also carries less permanence compared to these mail-order houses. Her parents did not care much for the house and eventually moved back into their original farmhouse. They werent all the 3-bedroom Craftsman ranch style you see throughout Los Angeles or the compact Levittowners in Pennsylvania and Long Island to the east: the Atlanta and Chateau models were probably the great-grandaddy of the modern McMansion, with the Malden model being its odd little cousin that sits in the potato salad at the family reunion, what with the odd arrangement of dormer windows although they arent fake. Ohio and Illinois are still leading, though, with 2700+ and 2300+, respectively. Local Sears house enthusiast Karen DeJeet, who owns a Hamilton model in Forest Hills and is a member of the Sears House Finder team, has already done much of the work identifying the mail-order homes still standing in the region. Chabot runs a national website dedicated to gathering and sharing information about Sears mail-order homes. Molly Harbst of Munhall sent along photos of her beautifully preserved Sears homes a 1920 model called The Crescent after reading the article. Due to reviews by homeowners then and now, it would appear that Sears Modern Homes are just as appreciated now as they were then. Rosemary Thornton 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. Search crews have rescued Californians stranded for days in multiple feet of snow after back-to-back storms plastered the state's mountain communities and trapped many in their homes. some ch Don't miss this never before seen catalog from Sears. I learn all kinds of interesting stuff here; thanks! According to the catalog image, both models have only a partial porch at the front of the house. BMO, LAFC, and Angel City FC leaders were joined by special guests Earvin "Magic" Johnson and Mia Hamm for the . Sears Modern Homes were catalog and kit houses sold primarily through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Co., an American retailer. Researching Historic Kit and Plan Book Homes. Built around 1917 home resembles the Hazelton Model C2025,l 1915-1920 and the Vallonia Model P13049A or P13049B, 1927-1932. Sears' first kit houses sold for $650 to $2,500, or approximately $16,500 to $63,700 in today's dollars. I'm currently working my way through the Burlington County records, but they are limited, and set up in a way that makes the process very time consuming. The next housing boom came after World War II so that veterans could have affordable housing for their families and suburbs could accommodate the massive amount of white flight taking place. Many of the homes original features remain intact. ), or streets that have houses with no designated house number (yes, again! Then, we always get a chuckle when the legal description includes things like, "by a large Elm tree" or "100 feet past a stone marker". Fabricated houses sold primarily through mail order, Column detail from a Sears Vallonia house, pictured alongside its appearance in the catalog, Modern interpretations of Sears Modern Homes, "Did Sears, Roebuck Sell Homes in Canada? marlon brando children; pete the cat and his four groovy buttons comprehension questions; nolin lake conditions; dan majerle hall of fame; dayton floor drill press,belt The new owner was a Sears House fan - even produced a short doc film about the house and how she updated it. In the story, homeowner Alicia Dallago said she had no idea the home she bought in 1998 was built from a kit. If you don't know what that means, look at these two examples, and note where the orange arrow points that little extra strip of roofing that makes a sort of closed triangle. The Sears Argyle was a small house, about 1,000 square feet, and many of them have been demolished. 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. For more information on who we are, and what we do, visit our website: All photos in these blog posts are the property of the author of this blog- link to this blog. Sold for 12 years and discontinued in 1928. Sears began offering financing plans around 1912. I-79 restrictions begin Wednesday night in Allegheny County, West Deer firefighters respond to bedroom fire, heavy smoke at Poplar Street home, Man shot dead in McKeesport the 4th slaying this week and 5th in a month, Medical examiner IDs man killed in McKeesport shooting, Report on Allegheny County Jail deaths finds no 'trends or common factors' that led to them, Historic Hempfield cemetery seeks volunteers, donors to help care for grounds, 2nd annual 'Restaurant Ramble' features 10 downtown New Kensington eateries, Tom Sizemore, Saving Private Ryan actor, dies after brain aneurysm, TV Talk: Mel Brooks History of the World, Part II belatedly arrives on Hulu, Western Pennsylvania's trusted news source, story about a 1922 Sears mail-order home in McCandless, number of those homes are featured on the organizations website. True to the companys roots in selling to rural Midwesterners, they even had a catalog for farmhouses, barns, and other barn buildings. [34], Like the Standard Addition in Carlinville, neighborhoods of Sears houses still hold a sense of identity and community. Related: Floating Chairs and Texas McMansions | McMansions vs Really Big Houses | Strange Mansion in Carmel, Indiana | What is a Mansion. Stamped lumber: Most easily found in unfinished spaces like a basement or attic, framing members were stamped with a letter and a number. 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 . Instead, shipping labels were affixed to the backside of trim that identified properties. presentation, nows your chance! 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. 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. However, many houses described as Sears Homes are not true Sears Homes, being either the product of another kit home manufacturer or not a kit home at all. took off, many builders started offering everything from ready-made prehab homes to foundations and blueprints. . Sears Modern Homes were kit homes and the framing members were stamped with a letter and a number to help facilitate construction. Sears houses could also be ordered with reversed floor plans. In it, they included excerpts from an interview with David S. Betcone, who was the chief architect for Sears at the time. 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. You'll also notice that the No. There are many very close lookalikes to this model, so we aren't always confident that they are from Sears, when we spy them in the wild, but this house has Sears curlicues on the hinge end of the decorative iron strapping. 118 In Columbia, 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. Some of these homes were based on models offered in the Sears Modern Homes catalog. Our list, by the way, began in the early years of our research group. So, Can We See Some Philly Suburbs Sears Houses? Here is the Uriel or Conway at 408 Bond Street. Today, those marks can help prove that you have a kit home. We cannot be absolutely certain, but the numbers do not support it. This site is a tribute to the original Sears Houses in Cincinnati Powered by, This September 2017 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, this short video story by the Washington Post. At one point, I realized that I needed to organize a list of online catalog resources, so I put together this blog post, which has links to catalogs not only from Daily Bungalow and AntiqueHome, but to the many catalogs uploaded on another key resource, Archive.org (have you donated lately?). The last Sears Modern Homes catalog was issued in 1940. PDF See the video of my interview on the St. Louis Business Journal's website. You usually just left with the clothes on your back and a few trunks, and that was it. There were about 132 million people by the time Sears stopped selling Sears Modern Homes kits in 1940. . Carrying on with Same Name, Different House topic we find that some of the Looks like Yoho probably bought plan #466 from H. L. Wilson, the actual designer. [14], In addition to houses, the 1908 Sears catalog offered a kit schoolhouse with the model name "Schoolhouse No. They produced three different product lines based on budget: the high-end Honor Bilt homes, Standard Built homes that were popular with young families, and Simplex Sectional low-budget homes that were mostly used as vacation cottages. Fast forward to this past summer --early August of 2022. Sears Magnolia was also known as Model #2089. , there were about 88.7 million people living in the United States. 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. CNDDB Maps and Data. But Matthew has a way of pulling everything together and spitting out a coherent comparative analysis with visuals that helps us see what we hadn't noticed previously. But, in the case of the early, non pre-cut houses, when we know that a large number of houses were bought by a company (or offered up on spec, by Sears), we sometimes see that special versions were created for these neighborhoods, specifically. The house that would soon become the Argyle in one of Yoho's magazines, 1913. Documented Sears houses have been found across the United States and in a few locations in Canada. Weve got so much fucking housing just sitting there that NO ONE should be condemned to homelessness. [15] 1908 was the only year the schoolhouse appeared in the catalog. Thanks for giving me a new appreciation for the Argyle! Those are ridiculously difficult to pin down. The Sears Tower is nearly finished. All these years later it is still a fortress.. 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). Knowing the limitations of a newspaper article, I know that he will only be able to show one or two house photos, so I thought that I would highlight a few that we have found, through our research. I'm sure it was Matthew who cleared up for me that the No. Images are available The truth is out there, and I think you've found it! If my house is not a kit, where did it come from? To see a variety of models similar to the Mitchell, that were offered during the kit-house era, see this article. Michigan, Indiana, and New Jersey have large overall numbers, as well. As some areas begin to see population booms, such as the tech triangle region of Raleigh, Durham, and Cary as more companies and tech talent make exodus from California and New York based on what I hear from taxi drivers and my university contacts in the region at games conferences every year? national database of sears homes. of the original Sears homes built from kits are still standing today. Other times, the legal description refers to a house being on "a road leading from York to Millville", and maybe the lot bordering "the land of Joseph Craws" usually, that road, if we can figure out which one it is, is miles and miles long, and there's no way to find "the land of Joseph Craws", so that's of no help at all. Sarah is especially interested in searching the kit homes of Western New York State, and has found us some beautiful Sears houses, but she is especially revered by all of us for her extensive knowledge of kits from the Ray H. Bennett kit homes company, which was based out of North Tonawanda. Your comment will appear after it has been previewed and approved by the blog author. When the. The group has identified nearly 540 of the estimated 1,000 Sears mail-order homes that are believed to have been constructed in the region. Sears licensed the plans for the Argyle from a. real estate builder/developer named Jud Yoho. Thanks to the Santa Clara Valley Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, the NRDB will continue to be updated and available at least through 2023, and in some form, beyond that. Did materials and labor really get that much more expensive between now and then? Sears, Roebuck and Company's Modern Homes program began in 1908 and ended in 1940. By Posted on Mar 10, 2021. national database of sears homes. . Jud Yoho may also have been the designer behind the popular Sears model called the Hollywood. He published the design as #466 in his 1912 "Craftsman Bungalows" catalog. A number of those homes are featured on the organizations website. So, I've added an asterisk next to the addresses of these possible No. 171's porch roof (when it is a partial porch) connects to the house far to the right side of that upper window and then has a wedge-shape side part to that roof, so that both models end the porch just to the edge of the front door, but with a very different treatment to the shape of the porch roof there. The iron strapping itself can be strait or curved, but the curlicue is always there, if it's iron strapping from Sears. It's likely that other Sears models can be traced to him as well. In a second blog post, I'll show the several probable kit houses that we've found in LaPorte, Indiana, from other companies. Betcone spoke of how housing styles were drastically changing and how many customers wanted more efficient, streamlined designs. the case of the Anstett family of Torrington, Connecticut. The nine easy signs follow: 1) Look for stamped lumber in the basement or attic. If you have any authenticating source for us, we'd love to hear about it (you can email me directly at [email protected]). The multi-million-dollar home has been red-tagged while two other As I detailed in the account of the rise and fall of the Sears empire, this literally led them to become the largest retailer in America because they had so many burners going at onceand their Modern Homes kits, and even the home buying process itself, were part of that in addition to catalog and retail sales. Chuck Holtzen has joined up with Lara to do research in Illinois, and has been helpful in adding a number of authenticated houses to our list. Click to visit. Our list, in fact, began with 345 Sears houses that Mrs. Lask had found in the Cincinnati area, as part of a Masters Degree thesis project at the University of Cincinnati. Here is one at 17 Hill Street, Villa Park. 06/16/2022 . While researching the property, Harbst learned it was among the first homes built in the boroughs Homestead Park neighborhood. Orders were placed by mail, the See more 5,581 people like this 5,890 people follow this https://www.searshouses.com/ [email protected] Ive visited New Orleans several times and love the style of the buildings there. *Sears Americus - Temple, PA*It's been about 3 months since the last update Lg Refrigerator Temperature Min Max, Cardinal Health 2017 Annual Report, How To Cook Lettuce Indian Style, Friday Brushed Canvas Extra Slipcovers, Pacinos Italian Family Restaurant Menu, Thekkady Tourist Places In Tamil, How To Get A Job At Target, , Cardinal Health 2017 Annual Report, How To Cook Lettuce Indian Style, Friday Brushed Canvas Extra 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 No 137 In Mendham, New Jersey, Morris County. 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. 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. 1232 click. While I'm at it, I'll tell you a bit about our mission, as a research team. The Sears Argyle was a small house, about 1,000 square feet, and many of them have been demolished. Were most Sears Houses built by the owners? 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. You can see that La Porte, Indiana is mentioned as one of the "built at" locations: We found four examples of what we believe to be the model No. The houses, comprising eight models, were all built in a 12-block area known as the Standard Addition. But who knows, maybe well see tiny shipping container homes in a museum someday after we take back the rest of the real estate after the revolution. 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. We have a database of all the models that have been identified nationwide to date. They kept up with it, of course, but it sure has good bones. Spatial information is available through GIS downloads or can be viewed in the BIOS Viewer. 159. 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. 2) Look for shipping labels. We have not surveyed all areas of the country equally. TribLIVE's Daily and Weekly email newsletters deliver the news you want and information you need, right to your inbox. Camden County would be a great place to search, because we know that there are Sears houses in Collingswood, Haddon Township, Haddonfield, and Haddon Heights but, how many? The suburbs of Philadelphia are not the only places where we find Sears houses, by the way. Click on any of the linked house listings to view a picture . Goodwall sheet plaster was an early drywall-like product offered by Sears and may be an indication of a Sears Modern Home. Whatever Happened to Those Mail-Order Houses From the Sears Catalog? There havent been any major structural changes, she said. At Greenlawn Cemetery, near the Hampton Roads waterfront in the Newport News, Virginia, area, the cemetery office building is a 1936 Sears Modern Home. that was $886 in 1940 dollars, about $16,000 today. 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. Please contact me if you would like a free Many of the famous designs were commandeered from other sources and/or purchased from architects but given just enough change to be advertised as their own. Despite being prefab, they got more character than the endless sea of suburban eyesores we got out there now. Asbury Methodist Village Communications Dept. While the vast majority of models were for single-family house designs, Sears offered some duplex house designs and even a few larger multiple-family buildings. Please browse through and enjoy the 1,000+ posts and 5,000+ photos! [4] Other homeowners relied on local carpenters or contractors to assemble the houses. Images are available Click to visit. The Greenview/No. 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. Charleston, West Virginia is a hotspot for Sears model homes, in addition to Aladdin and Montgomery Ward homes. After all, future generations became more transient out of circumstance or in light of the digital nomad movement and taking advantage of technology in general, more mobile by choice. The rest of these models are singletons, from the mid 1920s to early 1930s. small-town America, 1920! That year, the Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan, offered the first kit homes through mail order. Walker O. Lewis (primarily before early 1930), William C. Reed (primarily from 1922 - 1929), Nicholas Wieland (sometimes spelled Weiland), Shipping labels: Often found on the back of. 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. 920 North Madison Avenue, Anderson, Indiana Asking: $379,900 Sears Roebuck Model: Elmhurst Year Built: 1932 Listing Agent: Julie Armington Listing Brokerage: F.C. One key set of homes that we are fortunate to have on our list, comes from the research of noted Architectural Historian, Rebecca L. Hunter. I know of several other models in McCandless. 217 (early Starlight), Sears Modern Home No, 126, on the left, at 808 W 11th Street, La Porte, Indiana, On the right, Sears Modern Home No. Historic house: Built in 1911, this Sears home sits on a large, corner lot in a historic district, surrounded by antebellum homes. The company was forced to liquidate $11 million in defaulted debt. ", "Sears Houses of Massapequa Park, New York", "Made to Order: Many American Dreams Came Out of the Sears Catalog, Including Do-It-Yourself Houses", "Yesterday's kit houses are today's sought-after properties", "The Story on Sears: Houses by rail and mail", "Syracuse house, which came from a Sears catalog, is one of only seven of its kind in U.S.", "The House Is in the Mail: 'Kit homes' from Sears and others were an affordable housing option", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sears_Modern_Homes&oldid=1142882633, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0.