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. I learn all kinds of interesting stuff here; thanks! It was built in 1917. 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. All these years later it is still a fortress.. 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. The CNDDB is comprised of two data components: Text information and spatial information. 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. Cities with large numbers of documented Sears Modern Homes include: The Carlinville, Illinois, concentration consists of houses bought in bulk by the Standard Oil Company in 1918 to house its mineworkers at a total cost of about US $1 million. Or did we just go wrong somewhere when someone decided the house you live in should be treated like a bank? If you are a Historical Society interested in awarding plaques for specific homes understood to be Sears houses, please feel free to contact us to verify for you that the house does match a model offered in the Sears Modern Homes catalogs. 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? Because lets get real: those adorable and affordable ranchers were only for CERTAIN veterans and their families. A Newport Beach home remains dangerously close to tumbling down a cliffside after the ground underneath gave way on Friday morning. 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. On another block of W 11th Street, there is an example of the Sears Modern Home No. In a second blog post, I'll show the several probable kit houses that we've found in LaPorte, Indiana, from other companies. I don't feel comfortable making that assumption. During the Modern Homes program, large quantities of asphalt shingles became available. Our list, by the way, began in the early years of our research group. But the houses don't match any of the designs that Sears sold in their catalogs. The nine easy signs follow: 1) Look for stamped lumber in the basement or attic. This means that information about the Modern Homes department is scarce. 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. Our home also resembles the Bedford Model # P3249, 1926 (this was not in your listings). that ranged from simple and rustic to utterly decadent. 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. Sears began offering financing plans around 1912. Following is a list of Sears Homes enthusiasts who have agreed
My daughter and son-in-law have a 1924 Homeville in Abington! 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. city or state, or to find someone who owns the same model as you. What was up with this particular model of home building, and are there any original Sears houses left? I thought it was very interesting when I learned that you could also buy a house from their catalogs.. I think that maybe Google maps Streetview wasn't great quality on many of the streets. In areas where the land is already mostly developed and zoned, its not that simple. Tony LaRussa is a Tribune-Review staff writer. From 1931-1942 Sears sold about 5,000 houses altogether. I hope you found this informative, and learned that Sears houses come in lots of shapes, sizes, and styles. . Other models only appeared for one year. By Posted on Mar 10, 2021. national database of sears homes. 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. Spatial information is available through GIS downloads or can be viewed in the BIOS Viewer. within a fe A very special, authenticated Aladdin home just hit the market in Takoma Asphalt shingles were cheap to manufacture and ship, and easy and inexpensive to install. contacting them by clicking on their name. People always seemed surprised to learn that Sears sold home kits. They had 447 different styles that ranged from simple and rustic to utterly decadent. Simply put, life was rougher. 181, and the early version of the. Shipping label image from my mother's family's 1911 Sears No. The two-story schoolhouse was priced at $11,500 and its design included six classrooms, a library, an auditorium, and a superintendent's office. 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. If those were the top sellers, no model could catch the Argyle at that rate. 199 models here in La Porte, are somewhat tweaked in their design, but we still do think that they are examples of that model. 306 Highland, Madison, WI. Thanks for giving me a new appreciation for the Argyle! HBM (. Photo from Realtor site. Her parents did not care much for the house and eventually moved back into their original farmhouse. But, as of this date in 2021, here are leading areas in the U.S. with high numbers of Sears houses. 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. Carrying on with Same Name, Different House topic we find that some of the That's what happens But articles are so scattered by time, date and location that it is difficult to realize the scope and number of Sears homes here in the Pittsburgh area.. Sears Modern Homes were kit homes and the framing members were stamped with a letter and a number to help facilitate construction. 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". 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. Many of these homes were built in Sears planned "Home Club Plan" developments in New Jersey, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.[9][10][11]. Sears Modern Homes were sold between 1908 and 1942. In the early years, the models were identified with numbers. 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. Because of the economics after 1931, I can say I am. The company was forced to liquidate $11 million in defaulted debt. website, which was published from Oct 2013 to Nov 2014. Our team did some traveling around streets inside Philadelphia, in neighborhoods like Oxford Circle, Rhawnhurst, and Roxborough, to name a few, and added about 43 houses to our list, from these neighborhoods. Enjoy! national database of sears homes. Measuring in at a roomy 3,500 square feet, the . some ch Don't miss this never before seen catalog from Sears. [16], There was no single architect for the Sears designs. That's not shown anywhere for this model, so we can't say for sure if these are examples of the No. 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. 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. Simple theme. Parts for the homes, which were sold between 1908 and 1940, were delivered to the nearest rail station. Early on, we were joined by Sarah Mullane, who lives in North Tonawanda, New York. Welcome to the New NSCAA. It looks almost like a Sears, And, finally, we have this pretty rare model, the Sears. Andrew Mutch ran across that same article in the American Lumberman, and posted in our group, asking if anyone was interested in looking for some of the old models that might be around. of "Where are the Sears Houses?" 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". , there were about 88.7 million people living in the United States. I know of several other models in McCandless. I saw a recent article in The Star Ledger about Sears Homes that mentioned your blog. Action in the Community Through Service Homeless Shelter. But before all this, having to get your own home built was more common instead of getting on a waitlist for a HUD-subsidized tract home or buying one secondhand from the current occupant. You usually just left with the clothes on your back and a few trunks, and that was it. From that, we have to try to connect all of that to an existing street address. Others were not but were still pre-cut kit homes built from plans and materials from Sears. From 1908 to 1940, the Sears Modern Homes Program offered complete mail-order houses to the would-be homeowner what would come to be called "kit homes." Customers could select from dozens of different models in Sears Modern Homes Catalog, order blueprints, send in a check, and a few weeks later everything they needed would arrive in a train car, its door secured with a small red wax . A recent Tribune-Review story about a 1922 Sears mail-order home in McCandless that has most of its original features intact drew scores of letters and comments from Pittsburgh area residents interested in learning more about the unique role these houses played in U.S. history. Sears discontinued its Modern Homes catalog after 1940, though sales through local sales offices continued into 1942. In fact, the No. 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. I didn't have very many leads for Kevin Riordan, for the NJ suburbs but, for the PA side of the Philadelphia suburbs that's a different matter, indeed! Once again true to the companys roots, youre more apt to find Sears catalog homes still standing in former factory towns of the Midwest. 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. We've found examples from the Wardway, Gordon-Van Tine, Harris Homes, and Ray H. Bennett companies. The article explained that Sears had already sold five houses that were in the midst of construction, and these first houses were all of three different models, and at least 50 more would be built with the possibility that a total of 200 might find their way to the streets of La Porte (it doesn't look like that happened). Sears houses can be identified or authenticated using the following methods. Marie's great-grandfather, Freeman Pretzinger, built this Sears. 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. Sometimes researchers get lucky and find facts and figures in old company newsletters, personal papers of Sears managers and executives, historical newspapers, and archival interviews conducted with people who worked in the department in the 1930's and 1940's. Ive visited New Orleans several times and love the style of the buildings there. There were about 132 million people by the time Sears stopped selling Sears Modern Homes kits in 1940. . This phrase is trademarked and cannot be used without permission of Ricky Bobby, Inc. That's why we love seeking them out! As its mail-order catalogs were already sent to millions of homes, Sears had a distinct advantage over other kit-home competitors. The group has identified 2,700 Sears homes in Ohio and 2,300 in Illinois. Looking at the sorry state of Americas rail infrastructure today, this also makes me weep although today theyd just be delivered via truck. 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. Click to visit. None of these houses are authenticated through mortgage or deed research, but they are spot-on matches for the models, and we feel certain enough of their origin, to add them to our database. Your comment will appear after it has been previewed and approved by the blog author. We also find street names that have changed (without our knowing that), or, especially for folks who bought their house in 1930-32 (the waning years of the mortgage program), we find that folks lost their homes during the depression, so we can't pin them down using the 1930 or 1940 census records. It is unknown whether any were purchased or built. Some models of Sears homes were very similar in design to models offered by other kit home manufacturers or through plan books. In 1908, Sears issued its first specialty catalog for houses, Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans, featuring 44 house styles ranging in price from US $360$2,890. small-town America even into the 1940 census). Whitehouse. New models were introduced every year, and some only stuck around for a couple years. Because the Modern Homes division sales records were destroyed, there is no way to definitively verify the number of Sears houses that still exist. If your house was built between 1908-1940, theres a chance it might be an original Sears house. Sales slowly recovered as the United States emerged from the Great Depression until 1940. This product offered the advantages of low price, ease of installation, and added fire protection. Pre-cut lumber reduced construction time by up to 40%, according to Sears. , something that piqued my interest was the idea that you could buy literal houses from the catalog. My home reminds me of that type of architecture.. Also, homes in southern Ohio may have financing documents through the "Norwood Sash and Door Company" of Norwood, Ohio. "The Sears Homes of Illinois" has more than 200 color photos of the most popular designs that Sears offered and can be very helpful in identifying Sears Homes. If you have any information on a Sears house or a style that is not identified, please notify the Preservation Commission. Modest half-timbering in the gables, exposed rafters, knee braces, and gable-end ridge finials combine to create an optimistic facade. New York ranks fourth on the list with 1,679. 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, Sears Wasnt an Innovator, but They Knew Quality and Efficiency. houses that share a name also share either a number, a floor plan or had Ohio and Illinois are still leading, though, with 2700+ and 2300+, respectively. While financing through Sears helped many homeowners purchase homes, many of those purchasers defaulted during the ensuing Great Depression. 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. [13] Only seven Magnolias are known to be still standing. The most popular models appeared in the catalog for multiple years. I think teardowns are the reason that Argyles are not positioned higher in our national database of Sears homes (the Argyle comes in at number 20). A number of those homes are featured on the organizations website. The original "Sears Modern Homes" community page on Facebook, for those interested in Sears homes. that was $886 in 1940 dollars, about $16,000 today. Sears Lewiston: A Sears Model Home in New Jersey Authenticated Sears Lewiston 261 N. Jackson St., North Plainfield, NJ 1929 This great-looking Sears Lewiston was built in 1929, and used as a model home for Sears after it was built by Anthony P. Raffaniello, and his wife, Helena. 1232, later marketed as the No. If my house is not a kit, where did it come from? 5 Jun. Sales peaked in 1929, just before the Great Depression. Argyles also tend to get messed up and hard to recognize like this one at 6818 N. Oriole, Chicago or this one at 1302 Edgewood, Lake Forest. Sears Modern Homes were catalog and kit houses sold primarily through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Co., an American retailer. However, based on what the experts said in that Atlas Obscura piece, youre most likely to find Sears homes in places where railroad stations once stood (or are lucky to still have) and where Sears factories had a major role on the local economy, like Cincinnati.