Year Built: 1902 Listing Agent: Wally Kerr Listing Brokerage: Kerr Team Real Estate, Admittedly, this next listing gave us a fun puzzle to solve while we were trying to figure out its provenance. I am about to sell and would love any help in finding out more to pass on to the next buyer. Apologies for the delay. 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 . It's also helpful that you clarified what a not-a-Sears-house could be. We pinpointed nine models from across the country that still stand tall as a testament to American ingenuity. Kirkwood homes that were originally thought to be Sears houses, but are not. 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. I have been pouring over house plans and scouring the internet looking at catalogues and am coming up short. Are you able to tell me the model name is of the kit? North American Construction Company, Bay City, Michigan. and this 1941 ALADDIN KIT HOME CATALOG (see for example the Brentwood, Brewser, Bristol, and Norfolk model Aladdin homes) At these sales centers,sales agents helped home buyers design just the home they wanted. the identification of Sears Catalog or Kit homes and including references to other expert books and resources on Download Our Free E-book. 73 m 1 2. They included location specifics and many photos. However, we do work with a select group of software companies and service providers that we feel provide real value for our readers. It was a Sears, Roebuck and Co. kit home, the Martha Washington, advertised in. After which it was relocated to Aurora, IL. @George, I did find some blue grease pencil numbers but they are hard to make out. Sears Houses: This article series provides detailed photographic and historic clues to assist in @Gail Minthorn, 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. by Adrian McCullough, @Inspectapedia Com Moderator, It has a sears name plate in basement. As an amateur historian and NOCO Realtor, this list will be most helpful. Get actionable real estate strategy in your inbox. You will see that a stencil marking on lumber or sheathing or even specific bits of hardware can identify the home even if its general layout and plan are similar to those produced by more than one manufacturer. In . You will not receive a notification when a response to your question has been posted. On 2021-12-22 Dimensions are also the same, and when we purchased it in 2018 from the grandson of the original owner/builder, he told us is a Sears house. 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. Hi Wizards, had become more complex, detailed, and demanding, including stricter requirements for electrical wiring and plumbing, and Sears abandoned NTL Stacks TH4819.P7R42 1915, Robinson's Money-Saving Mill-Made Cut-To-Fit Houses. 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. I discovered that the Sears Modern Homes program sold 447 ready-to-build, customizable house varieties via catalog to buyers between the years of 1908 and 1940. Here are five recent sales and listings of Sears homes around Chicagoland. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61, Aladdin Homes. Montgomery Ward sold Van Tine homes under their own name. tips and photos with this article. Wilton is thinking of designating houses from this era as worthy of preservation, so this is why I am trying to gather more information. At least, we think this is a Wabash. A 1921 catalog of Sears kit homes offers the Magnolia for $6,488. in the Kit House Identification article above we cite Thornton's books describing Sears kit homes, but you may want to step through the definitive list of key Sears Kit Home identification points given in the article above right here; 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. 415 Kenwood, LaPorte, IN. Included in the overall purchase, were all elements needed for the house, from lumber to roofing; wiring and plumbing; windows and door knobs, and hinges and nails and screws; staircases and all of their parts, pre-mitered; flooring, bath tubs and sinks and faucets; kitchen cabinets and ironing boards; window screens, window shades, and light fixtures. Price: $649,900 Horse haven:This 1932 catalog home sits on nearly 7 acres of fenced horse property. We have a Sears Craftsman home that was built in 1910-1912 and would love to identify the style off home. Rosemary Thornton's two books But the observation of stencil marks on some framing visible in the interior of the home and research by the owners turned up the original plans for this Aladdin home. The American Foursquare house, defined by its distinctive cube shape and hip roof, was popular in the 1890-1930s, especially for its affordability. Michael That was the way our American towns were built. When people say. The Homart kits that Sears sold, were available from about 1946-1952 (depending on your source). The problem starts out front, where the place is just oozing Sears Modern Homes, but the sheer size of the place and unorthodox design left us a bit puzzled as to what exactly we were looking at. 20 items. @Carlyn, But nestled in a golf course in Anderson, Indiana, we found this gorgeous and stately Sears catalog home that wouldnt look out of place in Greenwich, Connecticut or Westchester. A review of some of our inspection photos came up Price: $334,000. Between 1908 and 1940, Sears provided house kits. The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. We recommend those books for any owner or serious investigator of Sears Catalog homes. What About The Train's Role In All Of This? Kit and Plan Homes by Bungalow Man. 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. Sometimes, people will say. Or see SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION FAQs - questions and answers about Sears Kit Houses posted originally on this page. 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. Model name? A consummate salesman, Ford even joked that the Model T was available in any color his customers wanted, as long as it was black. A 1952 kit home could have been a Sears Roebuck product, though that construction year is a decade past the Sears Modern kit home series. Buyers of a Sears Kit home saved about one third of the typical construction costs of their era. Sears Modern Homes 1930 pg14, Elmhurst.jpg download. If the house at 35 Point St., New Hamburg, NY, was "shipped by Gordon Van Tine" It is more likely a Montgomery Ward "Wardway" structure, or perhaps one of the Van Tine company's own. by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Measuring in at a roomy 3,500 square feet, the four-bedroom. 870,000. One way to achieve the "American dream" of homeownership was to actually buy an entire house through a mail order . Attractive top floor apartment in the best location This dreamlike top floor apartment is on the fourth floor of a house built in 1890. It has always been used as a seasonal summer cottage and is uninsulated. Here are those we know of from Lewis Homes, Gordon-Van Tine, Wardway (Montgomery Ward), and Aladdin: . One satisfied Sears homeowner, Edith Sides of Dallas, lived in a home that was built in 1911 and sold to her stepfather in 1917. then left the rest to the construction company. Please call or text 815-603-7338. If you havent sold it yet, Id be happy to refer someone to you in your area. In addition to trying the Sears Kit Home catalogs and identification resources we give here, you're welcome to post photos (one per comment - as many comments and thus photos as you need) of your home and to give what background you can about it (location, history etc) to see if other interested readers can offer suggestions. For more information on who we are, and what we do, visit our website: This question was recently posed in a FaceBook group that focuses on St. Louis history. 613.3K . NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61, Aladdin Homes. Tucker/Crossroads. I would love to get more information about the Sears Roebuck Home I have recently purchased in Fresno, CA. when i moved to MD and bought a house, my boss at the time gave me a going away/housewarming gift that consisted of a very fancy and comprehensive hammacher schlemmer tool kit, and a $100 GC to home depot. by Sears & Roebuck in 1908, and eventually Sears offered 370 different models of residential homes, ranging from small bungalows There is no list of homes sold by Sears, as all of their records were discarded. Even better, unlike the other homes weve seen so far, 1670 Whitcomb seems largely untouched from its original design. We also fell in love with the stone facade, leafy front yard, and awesome built-ins inside. The materials were reportedly shipped in via railroad as a package. 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. A 1925 Colonial-style home in Washington, D.C., that sold last year for $1.06 million had humble beginnings. Above is the original catalog NTL FOLIO TH4819.P7S435 1920, A Plan Book of Harris Homes. We describe and provide photographs of Sears Catalog homes, using examples of these homes located in the Hudson Valley of New York. inspectapedia.com/Design/Kit_Houses.php Examples have also been found in Alaska. Fiberboard could be used as a plaster base or painted, or simply left in its tan-brown color. Sears reported that more than 70,000 of these homes were sold in North America between 1908 and 1940. They also sold an economy grade wallboard made of cardboard and asphalt, which sold for 42 cents per sheet. More difficult to find in some homes is the definitive stamp/stencil letter-number identification on framing lumber and trim, but it is often there for the diligent inspector, for example on. 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. Other kit homes, not Sears, include Montgomery Ward Kit homes and Aladdin Kit homes. detail which is still in place on a Sears house was unique to those homes and can help in their identification today, even though These along with some houses I photographed There are towns all over America that have railroads running through them, but in which we don't find any Sears houses. sometimes we do find Sears houses in those towns, but also, absolutely, in other towns far away from the railroad line. Like many houses with a history of incomplete insulation and dormers with flashing failures at the dormer wall-to-roof juncture, there are often visible in the attic of both Sears Catalog and non-Sears homes of this design. On 2022-03-07 Notes: this product was sold by Sears beginning in 1916. Sears has opened the doors to its vast archival collection and invited the public to peek inside. 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. The milestones, introductions and stories fill volumes. Want even more free resources? The clues you already have seem to indicate that it may very well be the Elsmore model - age, interior and exterior designs, and 'provenance' confirmation from previous owner. 61 proven lead gen ideas from coaches & top-producing agents to help you close more deals. 61 proven lead gen ideas from coaches & top-producing agents. NTL Stacks: TH4840.S43 1935, Modern Homes. Homes Q&A: : Does Sears Holdings give permission to reproduce catalog pages or images from its catalogs, and or other . Thank you for this set of photos of your lovely home. Thanks!! Edith, 74, told the newspaper: What seems likely here is that the original structure might have been modified after 1908 with heavily modified plans from a Sears Modern. In the early 20th century, Sears sold up to 75,000 mail-order homes (per NPR).In 1888, the Chicago-based company launched their first catalog.According to The Craftsman Blog, a variety of goods could be bought and delivered to the customer's front door.In 1908, however, the company decided to push the envelope; Sears was now going to sell and deliver houses via their Sears Modern Homes Catalog. she offers a Sears house identification service. The Crescent in Des Plaines is correctly identified. The elegant archways and what looks like the coziest home office south of the Mason Dixon gave us an excuse to linger and wonder if running the site from Lexington, Kentucky would make sense, Asking: $1,150,000 Sears Modern Homes Model: Oakdale Year Built: 1923 Listing Agent: John McElveen Listing Brokerage: RE/MAX of Boulder. True Bungalow Effect. You might want to try a copy of Rosemary Thornton's more-exhaustive book of photos of Sears Kit homes (cited and linked above in this article). More than 70,000 Sears Modern Homes were sold between 1908 and 1940. Share these engaging posts on Facebook & Instagram. 1914. Between 1908 and 1940, Sears sold about 70,000 kit homes in 48 states through their mail-order Modern Homes program, with 370 designs that you might not readily recognize as a kit. The article above gives both lists of Sears kit home identification points or details and also lists of plan books and catalogs that one can leaf through. 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. 1908 was a heady year for technology. 1915. From 1908 until 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold over 70,000 kit houses through their Modern Homes and Honor Bilt catalogs. 562.0K . Not every house in a community of 1920s-era houses, is a Sears house, for example far, far from it, in fact, as only about 2% of houses built in the kit era, were built with kits from Sears. Ohio and Illinois are still leading, though, with 2700+ and 2300+, respectively. Harris Brothers Company, Chicago, Illinois. Detailed in her book entitled, The Houses That Sears Built , Rosemary Thornton writes: "Between 1908 - 1940, more than 75,000 Sears's homes were built. I always thought it was a Sears kit house, but the work Keystone sits in my memory, as well. See full bio. Period. After 1940: However some homes could have been purchased around 1939 or 1940 but not completed until several years later, depending ), This is a fantastic post! That year, the Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan, offered the first kit homes through mail order. homes were sold and built before that year, but it is certainly the case that the sale of some models continued to 1940. Historic house: Built in 1911, this Sears home sits on a large, corner lot in a historic district, surrounded by antebellum homes. Apartment in Munich, Upper Bavaria. Over in Sears & Roebucks home state of Illinois, we found this gorgeous Crescent model Sears catalog home up for sale at a tantalizing price. Asking: $484,500 Sears Modern Homes Model: The Glen Falls Year Built: 1928 Listing Agent: Markus Cross Listing Brokerage: Keller Williams Bluegrass. Illinois has the largest collection of Sears kit homes in the country after the state of Ohio. ). The Close has a policy of fierce editorial independence. 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? The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. Well, what did you think of our picks of the best Sears Catalog Homes on the market? homes have been much modified or expanded since their original construction. The Journal article (1/7/1990 F1-2), also identified other Sears On 2022-03-06 For this week's listing of the week, we decided to find seven charming Sears Catalog homes you can actually buy today. By 1940 home designs, specifications (and building codes) 1920. Becky Bracken covers celebrity and other notable real estate for Realtor.com. The article gives lists of Sears kit home identification points or details and also lists of plan books and catalogs that one can leaf through. Easily identified by its hanging bay window on the side (which extends up to the roof line) and its distinctive Castleton dormer with 3 windows. @Judy Gehrlich, They were hoping to meet the needs and desires of the same folks who were buying from the lumber companies. Yes Mary; @Sara, we'll look through our references to see what we can add to the Sears kit home notes above for those earlier models and will follow up here. On 2021-05-27 Wagon loads of house materials were brought wagon-by-wagon in the proper order for construction while the boxcar sat on a siding. North American Construction Company, Bay City, Michigan. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. 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. For this weeks listing of the week, we decided to find seven charming Sears Catalog homes you can actually buy today. You absolutely can make real estate your side hustle. 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. by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. this house in near Novato California in Marin County. I'm doubtful we can confirm the Sears kit origin from a photo alone; as you note there were Sears kits for popular home designs built stick by stick as well as copycat kits; You'd want to find stamps on lumber, hardware details or other details given above on this page. All Locations for Home Improvement & Repair National team, Local service We serve all major metropolitan areas and more, with over 6,800 technicians in the field every day. Asking: $475,000 Sears Modern Homes Model: Vallonia (?) The answer to this question can be found on this Sears House Seeker blog post. cited at "References" below. Why not sell houses in kit form through his already ubiquitous Sears & Roebuck catalog? it has a small enclosed front porch. Sears kit homes were popular in the earlier part of the 20th century. Aladdin kit home photos wanted, CONTACT us. Or use the SEARCH BOX found below to Ask a Question or Search InspectApedia, Questions & answers or comments about Sears kit homes: sources, history, identification, repair, inspection. Thanks - anonymous by private email 2021/11/06, another photo of this house was posted on this page. When most people think of Sears catalog homes, they imagine Cape Cods or Craftsman style bungalows with columned porches. They are classic. Our client traced the sale and construction of the home to @Roseanne R., it certainly could have, but also certainly not in all Sears Kit homes. The Fullerton Sears Kit House - Photos and examples [Click to enlarge any image] . Sears Modern Homes, Sears Roebuck, Sears Kit Homes, Sears Catalog, Home Plans, Vintage Homes, Bungalow Plans, Sears Honor Bilt, . GUIDE TO KIT HOUSES AND HOMES Galeries Lafayette - department store; France. which lacks the Sears identifying stencils on framing and other key details. provides examples of clues useful in identifying Sears Catalog Kit Homes. How can you spot a Sears Catalog Home? Architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Brief but Doomed Foray Into Kit Homes. as we describe above on this page. Any ideas about the model of this home? We have encountered such a home in northern Dutchess County in New York State, one which looks just like a Sears model but Any idea where I might find plans from before 1908? Located in NYS Adirondack region. 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. Thank You, Marsha Blankenship, Your email address will not be published. This house, #15 N. Remsen, in Wappingers Falls, NY, arrived by train. R.R. The houses were sold out of the pages of the Sears Roebuck catalog, and the houses in St. Louis were shipped from Cairo, Illinois. would a S&R house have had bead board on all walls and ceilings?? From 1908 until 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Company, then headquartered on the West Side of Chicago, . Added to our resources on Sears Kit homes is a now-available archive from Sears itself: http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/byimage.htm Geoffrey's Toy Box - toys, video games, videos (Revival of Toys R Us) Harvey Norman - furniture, housewares, electronics; Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia, Ireland, United Kingdom (Northern Ireland), Slovenia and Croatia. NTL Stacks TH4819.P7H27 1918, Ready Built buildings. 1925. They were shipped by rail, with pre-cut lumber stamped for assembly. bungalow ordered in 1926 for $1000. Price: $200,000 Happy home: This 880-square-foot, ranch-style home has two bedrooms. On 2022-02-01 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. 1924. You're welcome to post your photos - one per comment - on that page or on any of the recommended article pages you'll find at the end of that page. I'm trying to find the plans for a Sears house that we're buying, but it was built in 1906. For example, Sears sold only, Rose and I have communicated recently about these houses, and she very graciously agreed to update her blog post to reflect that we now know that these are not actually Sears houses, as she is a strong believer in the importance of the accuracy of historic records (. Number 26. The company promised a man of average abilities that he could finish the house within 90 days if he followed the 75-page instruction . Benefiting from Hunter's work as well as our own search we list a number of kit or catalog home manufacturers here. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. And give us the country and city of location of the home. Im looking for information pertaining to Robinsons Kits. "It's the most perfect Sears Magnolia . contain additional specific details which you will find instrumental in identifying Sears Catalog Homes. Thank you again for the response, On 2022-03-06 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. And which kit? I have included an image of it. We do not accept money, services, or products in exchange for positive reviews or product placement. Zillow says it was built in 1939 and the original square footage was 1,362 (before additions were made). More than 100 years of stories, product and brand histories, photographs, catalog images and more are now available online. If you can find other details such as 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. 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. Americans anywhere could flip through the four-pound, 1,400-page . It was also built in 1902, and Sears didnt start selling homes from their catalog until 1908. For nearly 100 years the home has been meticulously cared for and features hardwood flooring, enclosed front porch, and renovated kitchen. To fully appreciate the impact of the Sears kit homes, it's important to understand the reach of the company's famous catalog. Each of the links in this section shows a photo with additional details of the interior of a Sears Kit Home. Included in the overall purchase, were all elements needed for the house, from lumber to roofing; wiring and plumbing; windows and door knobs, and hinges and nails and screws; staircases and all of their parts, pre-mitered; flooring, bath tubs and sinks and faucets; kitchen cabinets and ironing boards; window screens, window shades, and light fixtures. I am licensed in just Missouri and Kansas, however, I have a great network of agents with a few good ones in eastern Tennessee. As shown here in September, 2005 this charming house was listed for sale by its owners for $299,000. Daniel Friedman, Rosemary Thornton.