Betcone spoke of how housing styles were drastically changing and how many customers wanted more efficient, streamlined designs. 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. Call me a cynic, but I often wonder why kit houses were not stolen. 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. 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. That is unique to Sears. During the Modern Homes program, large quantities of asphalt shingles became available. While I'm at it, I'll tell you a bit about our mission, as a research team. 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. According to the catalog image, both models have only a partial porch at the front of the house. Hi, Lauren! Sears houses could also be ordered with reversed floor plans. Our goal is always to authenticate these houses through mortgage and deed research, or other primary sources, but, when that is not possible, we apply a careful, team approach to analyzing each house that goes on our national list. Because the Modern Homes division sales records were destroyed, there is no way to definitively verify the number of Sears houses that still exist. Powered by, This September 2017 article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, this short video story by the Washington Post. The best guidebook to the basic history of the Sears Modern Homes program, is the book, Houses By Mail, put out by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and written by Katherine Cole Stevenson and H. Ward Jandl. Advertisements for Sears Modern Homes appeared through May 1942. that was $886 in 1940 dollars, about $16,000 today. 159. 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. They had. some ch Don't miss this never before seen catalog from Sears. Cities that have records of building permits may list Sears, Roebuck as the original architect. Sears is estimated to have sold about 70,000 of their home building kits from 1908-1940 and its currently estimated that about 70% of the original Sears homes built from kits are still standing today. When the. The article mentioned Sears having sold 50 houses in La Porte, Indiana but, interestingly, Sears had actually provided the funding and the houses, knowing that the area was in need of housing right away, and offered to have the houses paid for on time. [17] Later on in the Modern Homes timeline, Sears had in-office designers but titled them as "experts" rather than actual architects.[17]. 171 often has a full front porch that ends up extending all the way to the left side of the house. I don't feel comfortable making that assumption. Lara and Cindy were joined by Andrew Mutch, who is based out of his own Sears house, in Novi, Michigan. Weve got so much fucking housing just sitting there that NO ONE should be condemned to homelessness. We saw that on numerous Rossville/No. Whatever Happened to Those Mail-Order Houses From the Sears Catalog? 2) Look for shipping labels. 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. that ranged from simple and rustic to utterly decadent. 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 . Due to reviews by homeowners then and now, it would appear that Sears Modern Homes are just as appreciated now as they were then. 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). the case of the Anstett family of Torrington, Connecticut. 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. People always seemed surprised to learn that Sears sold home kits. Our research team especially loves searching Pennsylvania for Sears houses because there are so many there, Chabot said. Click on any of the linked house listings to view a picture . New models were introduced every year, and some only stuck around for a couple years. All these years later it is still a fortress.. houses that share a name also share either a number, a floor plan or had Their blueprints were based on what was popular at the time and while they werent the first or only company to do mail-order houses, theyre among the most memorable because you could buy damn near anything in their 500+ page catalogs. 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. Another old model found predominantly in that Lakeview area, was the. 199 models here in La Porte, are somewhat tweaked in their design, but we still do think that they are examples of that model. Sears licensed the plans for the Argyle from a. real estate builder/developer named Jud Yoho. 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. Theres a whole checklist of signs to look for. 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". One Magnolia built in Lincoln, Nebraska, was demolished in 1985. The Rossville/No. I think that one of our researchers, Lara Solonickne. There was one snippet in the press release that only a couple newspapers reprinted: "Following twelve years of usefulness, one old design was removed from the home catalogue in 1928, as antiquated after having been constructed more than 1700 times, which probably constitutes the world's record for any construction duplication from a single house plan, he [Betcone] says.". 168 (Matoka): Here is the catalog image of the No. Rebecca lives in Elgin, Illinois, and undertook a huge research project, to find, and document, kit houses in that town. Thank you for visiting! Action in the Community Through Service Homeless Shelter. The Sears Argyle was a small house, about 1,000 square feet, and many of them have been demolished. Price: $179,900. I thought it was very interesting when I learned that you could also buy a house from their catalogs.. It wasnt until she was in her 20s that Chabot learned about the homes history. 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. You can find catalog images for these models, in the links on the table at the end of this blog post: Also on W Johnson Road, we have new information from Nancy, who contacted me to let me know that she grew up in the Sears house shown below, a Sears. Carrying on with Same Name, Different House topic we find that some of the Sold for 12 years and discontinued in 1928. by . So, they are likely from Sears. An open floor plan with sensible . So this blog has been radio silent for a while now! Sears Homes Enthusiasts . We've found examples from the Wardway, Gordon-Van Tine, Harris Homes, and Ray H. Bennett companies. Normajean Moser of McCandless owns a Walton model that was purchased from the Sears Modern Home catalog. of "Where are the Sears Houses?" 506 W 11th Street, La Porte, Indiana probable Sears No. However, we are pretty much limited to counties which have online accessible historic records, and to counties which we are able to physically visit to search in person this means that there are some counties out there with lots of undiscovered Sears houses, because we can't get to the records. Between 1908 and 1940, Sears Roebuck and Co. published specialty catalogs offering house plans and building materials. As sales grew, Sears expanded its production, shipping, and sales offices to locations across the U.S. To provide the materials needed for the Modern Homes division, Sears operated a lumber mill in Cairo, Illinois. Photo from Realtor site. presentation, nows your chance! 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. took off, many builders started offering everything from ready-made prehab homes to foundations and blueprints. *Sears Americus - Temple, PA*It's been about 3 months since the last update Its not like nowadays where you move, wait for your stuff to arrive, and if youre a. like me, youre pretty much unable to work while you wait for a technician to ensure you have Internet access. 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? Run by experienced researcher Cindy Catanzaro (with a little help from yours truly). 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. Shipping label image from my mother's family's 1911 Sears No. I believe my parents were the 3rd owners purchasing the house in 1965 or 1966. This is just the top of the blog page you'll find dozens of links to online catalogs here, a link to the excellent Pinterest resource made for us by Sears-house owner Dale Haynes, and a list of hard-copy book resources that are both interesting and informative. Natural Resources DataBase - NRDB Her parents did not care much for the house and eventually moved back into their original farmhouse. Those are ridiculously difficult to pin down. In the companys own words, Sears didnt really innovate home building. I saw a recent article in The Star Ledger about Sears Homes that mentioned your blog. 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 The kit was greatly modified by Lane's ambitious designs. , 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. Pre-cut lumber reduced construction time by up to 40%, according to Sears. Without facts and sales records, we can make an educated guess. Here is one at 17 Hill Street, Villa Park. sub 2:15 half marathon training plan; national database of sears homes. Simply put, life was rougher. 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. I grew up in a Sears house located in Keyport NJ. 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. 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. But what if you want something bigger than a tiny house, but not as gargantuan as the average American single family home? Philadelphia Inquirer: Sears Homes In the Philly Suburbs and Sears I hope you found this informative, and learned that Sears houses come in lots of shapes, sizes, and styles. In areas where the land is already mostly developed and zoned, its not that simple. Andrew is responsible for adding hundreds (and hundreds) of Sears houses to our database, especially in the Maryland suburbs of D.C., in numerous counties in Michigan, and a gold mine of houses in Westchester County, New York, especially in Yonkers. Primarily shipped via railroad boxcars, these kits included most of the materials needed to build a house. ", "How to Properly Identify a Sears Magnolia", "Have You Seen This Kit Schoolhouse? Some of the models are easier to identify visually and their counts may be disproportionately high. Honor Bilt homes used the best quality materials that Sears could source and they were designed with what was then state of the art heating, plumbing, and electricity. There havent been any major structural changes, she said. In some cases, Sears provided construction services to assemble the homes. Additionally, at this point in the Sears Modern Homes program, the homes were sold/packaged only with standard-length wood, so none of the framing lumber would have been pre-cut (and, therefore, there would be no alpha-numeric stamps on the wood pieces in the house). [13] Only seven Magnolias are known to be still standing. small-town America even into the 1940 census). Determining which company manufactured a particular catalog and kit home may require additional research to determine the origin of that home. The CNDDB is comprised of two data components: Text information and spatial information. The house was in original condition and was never modified while we lived there - it was sold in 2003 or early 2004. Compare house designs to original catalog images. Kmart History | Search Archives | Sears Holdings Alumni | sears.com | kmart.com : Thursday, Mar. Data Portal - NASA How do we know another house didn't outsell the Argyle after 1931? Browse the list below to see if there are Modern Homes in your Rockstar, Consistent Trees, and Baryon Mass data from the Generation 3 and Generation 6 VELA Simulations. Another gabled ell farmhouse that we found quite a few of in La Porte, is the No. Species: 4,512; Preserves: 238; Sightings: 95,174 . Catarina is quite well informed about Sears houses in the D.C. area, but also has researched the origins of many of the Lewis Homes kit homes in the area. CNDDB Maps and Data. I'm not surprised that the Argyle is likely the best seller; it had a long run and was as good-looking as it was practical. to share their names with others who might be interested in Telephone 847-697-4551. www.kithouse.org. Local building requirements sometimes dictated that certain elements of the house construction be done professionally and varied depending on where the house was constructed. 159 was available with either clipped gables or peak gables, for the roof. We just love the Walton model! To drum up business, Sears issued a press release to newspapers across the United States. 7 Charming Sears Catalog Homes You Can Buy Today The mortgage program was also a PR disaster, as many of the families Sears foreclosed upon refused to do further business with the company. hennessy privilege limited edition / what is mc hammer doing now 2020 / national database of sears homes. Ohio, Michigan, and Illinois in particular are your best bet for finding Sears homes although Newark, New Jersey apparently still has a couple. [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. Some of these homes were based on models offered in the Sears Modern Homes catalog. Rosemary Thornton | 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.? While seeing a bunch of Sears homes jammed together in a cookie cutter suburb wasnt a very common sight in the 1930s and 40s, they still got knocked together like IKEA furniture compared to building a home from scratch. The multi-million-dollar home has been red-tagged while two other Square . Because the various kit home companies often copied plan elements or designs from each other, there are a number of catalog and kit models from different manufacturers that look similar or identical to models offered by Sears. Sears, Roebuck and Company's Modern Homes program began in 1908 and ended in 1940. 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. national database of sears homescalgary police organizational chart. If my house is not a kit, where did it come from? , there were about 88.7 million people living in the United States. Not all Sears houses became private residences. rebeccahunter1216@gmail.com. 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. Precut framing timbers, an innovation pioneered by Aladdin, were first offered by Sears in 1916. 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. Click to visit. But David Betcone told us what model was in first place as of 1931. The original "Sears Modern Homes" community page on Facebook, for those interested in Sears homes. In late 1930, sales of Searshomes were starting to tank. 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. The HMS data portal is a collection of models, simulations and synthetic observations of the Sun. And Sears Modern Homes werent a monolith. Years later, the sales records related to home sales were destroyed during a corporate house cleaning. Cindy's research in Delaware County, coupled with my research in Montgomery County, netted at least 200 hundred authenticated houses, but that research was preceded by many hours of searching the streets of Willow Grove, Glenside, and other suburbs, by Karen, Nigel, Sarah, Marie, and Andrew. I'm sure it was Matthew who cleared up for me that the No. There were about 132 million people by the time Sears stopped selling Sears Modern Homes kits in 1940. We scour real estate listings, we "drive" around streets (using Google maps Streetview) in towns with a concentration of homes of the era, and we especially love researching, using primary sources such as historic newspapers and the old mortgage and deed resources held in each town's Register of Deeds office, looking for houses that were financed through Sears. Its as sturdy as a house as Ive ever seen.
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