As shown here in September, 2005 this charming house was listed for sale by its owners for $299,000. Located in NYS Adirondack region. To fully appreciate the impact of the Sears kit homes, it's important to understand the reach of the company's famous catalog. No matter where the depot was, to which the kit was delivered, homeowners found a way to haul the materials to their lot. the trains didn't stop at the homeowner's lot, and let them unload, there, just because their lot happened to have rail lines near it, or behind it. it's a house whose blueprints and building supplies were ordered from a specialty Sears catalog, and all of these supplies were shipped, by rail (primarily), to the homeowner (who either chose to build the house himself, or use a contractor to arrange the construction). Please refrain from any comments or jokes about anything else. The renovation expanded the homes footprint to four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and more than 2,000 square feet. Three neighbors - three Sears catalog homes were built in a row by Wappingers grocer Adolph Von Vorstel on N. Remsen Ave. in Wappingers Falls. The reason these companies want to work with us is that they know our readers represent the most engaged, professional, and committed real estate agents online today. Maybe evidence that our Sears model spotting skills are improving, or maybe because of the distinctive peaked entryway and side porch, we immediately pegged 319 Sycamore as a Glen Falls. 240 Best Sears kit homes ideas | sears kit homes, kit homes, sears Sears kit homes 248 Pins 1y A Collection by Alanagh Macdougall Similar ideas popular now Architecture Sears Kit Homes Build Your Own The Creator America Building Youtube Life Diy Buildings Build your own Sears Kit Home - Life in America - YouTube Interesting History Sweet Home Cabin An April 1955 photo of the Zoeller home shows the siding now painted white instead of the original wood color. 35 Point St., New Hamburg, NY, a 936 sq.ft. thank you kindly. We also fell in love with the stone facade, leafy front yard, and awesome built-ins inside. - Stacey Vairo et als, HISTORIC AND ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES INVENTORY FOR THE TOWN OF WILTON, CONNECTICUT [PDF] (2018) Wilton Historical Society, http://wiltonhistorical.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/2018-Survey-Narrative.pdf also available at I havent found any other obvious stamps. The Home Depot - hardware. The first complete Sears Kit homes, that is, residences, were marketed For some of these items, there were options (type of wiring, heating, plumbing fixtures, for example, or upgrades for flooring and trim wood), and any masonry items were purchased through Sears, but obtained through a local supplier, rather than being shipped by Sears. The Fullerton Sears Kit House - Photos and examples [Click to enlarge any image] . Sears kit homes were shipped via boxcar and came with a 75-page instruction book. Above is the original catalog Thank you for the resources. I am licensed in just Missouri and Kansas, however, I have a great network of agents with a few good ones in eastern Tennessee. Becky Bracken covers celebrity and other notable real estate for Realtor.com. Robinson Company, Providence, Rhode Island. This house, #15 N. Remsen, in Wappingers Falls, NY, arrived by train. They were hoping to meet the needs and desires of the same folks who were buying from the lumber companies. If My House Is Not A Kit, Then Where Did It Come From?? Asking: $375,000 Sears Modern Homes Model: The Crescent Year Built: 1929 Listing Agent: Steve Heilig Listing Brokerage: Baird & Warner. 1. In the 1930s, during the Depression, the housing market took a sharp downturn, and by 1940, Sears stopped selling kit homes, as many people had lost their jobs and defaulted on their loans. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland The rest are not Sears houses although that house identified as a Glen Falls is close but not a match. If My House Is Not A Kit, Where Did It Come From? ). The Journal article (1/7/1990 F1-2), also identified other Sears You can read more about them here, here, here, and here. I have been pouring over house plans and scouring the internet looking at catalogues and am coming up short. now, this woman was the head of facilities for the company and knew her stuff, but looking at the . And which kit? the identification of Sears Catalog or Kit homes and including references to other expert books and resources on More than 70,000 Sears Modern Homes were sold between 1908 and 1940. In Detroit, The Ford Model T, the first car built using Henry Fords revolutionary assembly line, sputtered into life and changed the world. @Gail Minthorn, Robinson's Kit Homes are often cited along with Sears and Wards, we're still looking for details - I'll post what I can find under Robinson's in the article above - give me an hour or so and don't forget to refresh your browser or clear your browser cache to see the updated page. as we describe above on this page. Examples have also been found in Alaska. In Chicago, Richard Sears had an equally disruptive idea. Whether their customers needed a simple cottage without a bathroom (an outhouse could be purchased separately), or wanted to submit their own multistory blueprints to Sears, there was a Modern Home for every location and budget. Our home in Orofino, idaho was built about 1913. NTL FOLIO TH4819.P7S42 1936, One House or a Hundred. after 1940. Try the search box just below, or if you prefer, post a question or comment in the Comments box below and we will respond promptly. I would love an opinion. The homes are located in Ortega, Murray Hill, and Fairfax Manor neighborhoods, and Jacksonville Historical Society historian-at-large Wayne Wood said Wednesday they represent an important part of American history. Benefiting from Hunter's work as well as our own search we list a number of kit or catalog home manufacturers here. Sears kit homes were popular in the earlier part of the 20th century. One of sears original models. After 1940: However some homes could have been purchased around 1939 or 1940 but not completed until several years later, depending @inspectapedia.com.moderator, While it's absolutely true that Sears Modern Homes house kits were shipped by train, in several box-car loads, by rail, I think that the whole concept of the railroad being part of the story, has been greatly misunderstood. A Sears catalog home fan website, searshomes.org discusses the plaster systems used in older homes, including Sears kit homes. The houses were sold out of the pages of the Sears Roebuck catalog, and the houses in St. Louis were shipped from Cairo, Illinois. 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. a complete school or office building. Illinois has the largest collection of Sears kit homes in the country after the state of Ohio. I know New Hamburg well, having spent a lifetime nearby in Poughkeepsie. On 2021-05-13 In the 19-teens, 1920s, and 1930s, American suburban neighborhoods were growing. Price: $239,000 Converse Heights: Built in 1925, this three-bedroom, Arts and Craftsstyle home shines. The fact that there was a railroad in the town, or running behind a house, does not really make it any more likely to have Sears houses in the town. The Anderson, Indiana house is a custom design as are quite a few Sears houses in Anderson, some of which were featured in the Modern Homes catalog in the early 1930s. And, like all of the companies, Sears offered homes of many sizes and styles. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N6, Aladdin Houses. Fiberboard could be used as a plaster base or painted, or simply left in its tan-brown color. Wondering what model this Sears Craftsman is. (See below for clarification on that concept. Specially prepared plaster was also sold in bags of the hard plaster and top coat hard plaster to be applied over this Sears plasterboard. Number 26. Americans anywhere could flip through the four-pound, 1,400-page . 1917. Price: $649,900 Horse haven:This 1932 catalog home sits on nearly 7 acres of fenced horse property. This home is in Dansville, NY and was built in 1930. Unless you have developed a really good eye for recognizing the several-hundred models offered by Sears, for example, youd never know what house on a block with a kit house mixed in with other 1920s or 30s houses, was from a kit from Sears. Thank You, Marsha Blankenship, Your email address will not be published. The best place to start would be see GUIDE TO KIT HOUSES AND HOMES It was a Sears, Roebuck and Co. kit home, the Martha Washington, advertised in. Designs for 370 different plans ranged from the elaborate to the simple; the 'Goldenrod', for example, was a three-room vacation cottage (no bath, out-house separate). Since 1971 Sears Mfg. NTL Stacks: TH4840.S43 1935, Modern Homes. Price: $179,900 Historic house:Built in 1911, this Sears home sits on a large, corner lot in a historic district, surrounded by antebellum homes. MASONRY BLOCKS WITH A DECORATED EXTERIOR FACE, CENTER BLOCK UNDER FRONT PORCH ROOF (Vallonia), HISTORIC AND ARCHITECTURAL RESOURCES INVENTORY FOR THE TOWN OF WILTON, CONNECTICUT, SEARS KENMORE WATER HEATER AGE & MANUALS, SEARS ROEBUCK VINYL ASBESTOS FLOOR TILE RECOGNITION, ARTICLE INDEX to BUILDING DAMAGE, DISASTER, REPAIRS, Amazon Books on Sears and other Kit or Catalog Houses, Gentle Beam Publications - http://www.gentlebeampublications.com/, HOME INSPECTION EDUCATION COURSES (Canada), HOME INSPECTION EDUCATION: HOME STUDY COURSES, Although its outside appearance that closely resembles the home show in this, A Sears Catalog home built decades ago may by now have been covered with, These homes may also have been expanded at the side and/or, Some interior details remain and are easy to find, including a wide, This particular Sears catalog house in New York also had an interesting, Insulation in Sears houses: Mineral wool also called, In some of these photos of framing lumber stamps you may also recognize, Stamps or stenciled markings on ends of floor joists, Manchester Road in Poughkeepsie, NY (Dietz, late 1920s) which includes markings 'Order Chgo Milwk Sup', and 'hall closet' on a hall closet door frame. 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. The gorgeous 2-acre lot has plenty of room to expand. One of the most fascinating parts of the story, is that the framing lumber was (in most cases) pre-cut and labeled, allowing the homebuilder to follow an instruction booklet to help in the organized construction process. @Em H, My home was built in 1915 , an addition was built on in the 1980s , but I believe the original home was from a kit. Edith, 74, told the newspaper: Cairo had access to five railroad lines, and the Illinois Central line abutted the Sears plant. @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. Scroll down to the section with that title, to learn more about plans-only companies. Researching Historic Kit and Plan Book Homes, 2) Unless you can recognize the many models offered in the Sears Modern Homes catalogs, houses built from kits are indistinguishable from those built through the standard process using a construction company. AUTHOR:Eric Beechem (no email) We settled on Vallonia, because of the awning, but the porch and columns are all wrong. by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. BOOKS ON SEARS AND OTHER KIT OR CATALOG HOUSES. Any ideas? Thornton is also Any help is appreciated! Sometimes, people will say. 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. she offers a Sears house identification service. Instead of hiring an architect and an army of carpenters, prospective homeowners could now simply place an order and get plans and building materials delivered right to their property. The sheets were made of pressed wood pulp and cost 46 cents per sheet. Our Comment Box is provided by Countable Web Productions countable.ca, Click to Show or Hide Citations & References. This home retains its beautiful o. A local example of this is LaPorte, Indiana, where Sears sold 50 houses in one subdivision. (order #51300) by George and Gorgianna Hasbrook in honor of their golden wedding anniversary. Hello! The Crescent in Des Plaines is correctly identified. Buyers of a Sears Kit home saved about one third of the typical construction costs of their era. 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. A Sears Castleton model with 4 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen and tiny den just past the vestibule entry. On 2022-01-23 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. By 1940 home designs, specifications (and building codes) A review of some of our inspection photos came up Sears reported that more than 70,000 of these homes were sold in North America between 1908 and 1940. Number 29. Outdoors, a large deck in the backyard offers an ideal spot for warm-weather entertaining. 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. 1920. Price: $569,000 Bungalow beauty: This beauty of a bungalow is tucked in the historic Westside neighborhood and has a newly remodeled kitchen and other modern upgrades. This was the norm in the era of kit houses kit houses were not the norm. Oddly, there is no sales blurb included in the Sears Modern Homes catalog for this one. Aladdin Homes. 562.0K . Required fields are marked *. 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. 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. I would love to get more information about the Sears Roebuck Home I have recently purchased in Fresno, CA. What year and style home? I work with a group that maintains the national database of Sears Modern Homes. Price: $200,000 Happy home: This 880-square-foot, ranch-style home has two bedrooms. This home was built from a Sears & Roebuck kit delivered by rail & moved from the train depot to its current location in 1914. We pinpointed nine models from across the country that still stand tall as a testament to American ingenuity. Let our vast experience and top picks guide your decision. In 2005, a high-end Sears home sold for $900,000. It's also helpful that you clarified what a not-a-Sears-house could be. 61 proven lead gen ideas from coaches & top-producing agents. 69 reviews of The Home Depot "4 stars for home depot. Hello, I know my friend's house was built from a kit but I'm trying to determine from which company the kit house was built by. Hipercor - hypermarkets; Spain. 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. $165,900 USD: First time on the market in 57 years. This photo is of an Aladdin kit home constructed in Tivoli, New York. 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. On 2022-03-06 We are proud to carry Dutch Housing manufactured & modular homes. 1908 was a heady year for technology. Download Our Free E-book. 1931. In addition to the four-bedroom home, the purchase price includes a workshop, a covered, outdoor entertaining area, an 1894 restored barn with attached two-car garage, a clubhouse, and a horse barn. 1924. We know that there are two purported Sears kit homes on Route 302 in Bridgton, a Sears house in Saco, and there are likely more kit homes that have not yet been surveyed and identified in subdivisions from the 20s, 30s, and 40s in our communities. a company which sold it as a kit house in the early 1940's. 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. Gunnison pre-fab kit homes. Sears Whitehall. Thornton also suggests that inspectors check for identifying marks at plumbing access panels where you may find marks on wall studs in the bath wall cavity. Homes has been a family owned & operated home center. The family has owned the Sears kit house ever since. Over in Sears & Roebucks home state of Illinois, we found this gorgeous Crescent model Sears catalog home up for sale at a tantalizing price. 721 Illinois Street, Geneva, IL, 60134 Sold for $390,000. And give us the country and city of location of the home. It was also built in 1902, and Sears didnt start selling homes from their catalog until 1908. On 2021-08-18 2. @George, On 2022-02-01 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Please take a look there as that's more thorough than if I'm asked to make up that advice de-novo here. The construction company ordered standard-length lumber through the lumber yards, measured, cut, and constructed the house. 1910. It also has a daydream-worthy covered porch with three exposures; a perfect spot for a late summer dinner. Sears homes can be found across the continental United States. 1 story, 2 br, chimney In middle. The house was shipped by Gordon Van Tine Co. of Davenport IA, and delivered by railroad box car to the New Hamburg freight yard. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. Many original featuresincluding built-in cabinets and hardwood floorshave been maintained and add heaps of character to the four-bedroom home. She explains that often a specific Thornton also cites an "R" either in the cast-iron base of some sinks (kitchen?) 3385); ($1,359 to $1,671) We believe it might be a Sears Elsemore model, as it has the exact same floor plan, including the "reception room" in the front entrance, which was apparently unique to that model. Used within a coal room door handle. 10+ American Foursquare Sears Kit House Plans [Part 1] by Jen July 27, 2022. also see our Aladdin kit homes and catalogs found at These are listed here. There are two truths to understand about Sears kit houses: 1) They are actually pretty rare, making up only about 2% of the homes constructed during their era, So, if you come upon a neighborhood full of wonderful bungalows, or full of Craftsman-style houses, or full of Dutch Colonials, dont jump to the conclusion that they are Sears houses (some people, weve noticed, confuse the name of the Sears tool line , with the architectural style by that name, and think that a Craftsman style house is what we mean when we say. For the first time, Sears has opened the doors to its vast archival collection and invited the public to peek inside. cit. It helps to narrow that search through Sears home catalogs if you can find the year that your home was constructed. match, interior hardware, and stencil marks make the identification of this home as a Sears catalog house quite clear. I believe it is a Sears crescent model, built in 1935. Sears Modern Homes 1930 pg14, Elmhurst.jpg download. GUIDE TO KIT HOUSES AND HOMES I wonder what else is in those archives! Michael Note how the rear roof is much shorter than the front side of the roof. 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. Hi Wizards, then left the rest to the construction company. 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. https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Aladdin-Kit-Homes-Catalog-1941.pdf. They are classic. Why not sell houses in kit form through his already ubiquitous Sears & Roebuck catalog? They are always welcome. 1918. Number 44. i found this stamped on the inside of sheathing n a basement of a home I suspect is a kit house. InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. What almost no one thinks of is Don Corleones house from the first Godfather movie. The Homart kits that Sears sold, were available from about 1946-1952 (depending on your source). Thornton cites a Sears house which was completed around 1944. Harris Brothers Company, Chicago, Illinois. What is a Sears kit house? 1915. I realize that there were 7 or so kit house companies at the time. Located in the desirable Converse Heights neighborhood, the home greets visitors with a large front porch. 3. My neighbors grandfather helped build my home. 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. It comes with a 10-year-old garage, garden house in the backyard, an unfinished basement, and a floored attic. sears osborn, sears wilmore, sears jewel, sears jewell, sears hillsboro, sears houses in Pennsylvania, Sears houses in Pittsburgh, national database of sears houses, sears houses in the u.s., sears house seeker, 5242 towers terrace, 1213 fairmont avenue, 118 poplar street, sears modern homes, sears home construction division, sears house catalogs, antiquehome.org, kit houses, mail order houses . The best place to start would be see 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). Just inquiring about good history. These customizable homes could be manufactured for anyone, anywhere. North American Construction Company, Bay City, Michigan. Would like to build one. at $500. It helps to narrow that search through Sears home catalogs if you can find the year that your home was constructed. This Sears Sunbeam is a lovely example and in original condition. Rosemary Thornton, whose work is referenced in this document, is a leading expert on Sears catalog homes. Our client traced the sale and construction of the home to Sears recommended that wood molding be installed over the joints for superior results. Sears Modern Homes were catalog and kit houses sold primarily through mail order by Sears, Roebuck and Co., an American retailer.. From 1908 to 1942, Sears sold more than 70,000 of these houses in North America, by the company's count. The group has identified 2,700 Sears homes in Ohio and 2,300 in Illinois. One satisfied Sears homeowner, Edith Sides of Dallas, lived in a home that was built in 1911 and sold to her stepfather in 1917. the author of books on identifying Sears houses, cited at REFERENCES below, and The Aladdin Company, Bay City, Michigan. I should have known. Hmmmm you sure thats an Oakdale and not a Clyde? 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. Thanks. The total cost for this house was $1500. 13354A, 13354B); ($886 to $1,097) shown below. NTL FOLIO TH4819.P7S435 1920, A Plan Book of Harris Homes. However, we do work with a select group of software companies and service providers that we feel provide real value for our readers. Ready Built House Company, Portland, Oregon. Square Footage: 1,356. Kirkwood homes that were originally thought to be Sears houses, but are not. A couple of years ago I became more interested in catalog and kit houses as Chicagoland is full of them, many coming from local companies like Sears, Montgomery Ward, and the Harris Brothers. 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. And with this stroke of genius, the Sears & Roebuck Kit Homes were born. by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Homes offers a wide variety of energy efficient homes ranging in size from 950 to over 2300 square feet with prices starting as low as fifty dollars per square foot depending on style & size. Also see this Sears Milford Kit home from the same 1933-1940 period: (Model No. In Alabama, dozens of historic homes are rumored to be kit houses but only a small percentage have been certified as . I purchased a home in Keokuk County, Iowa one year ago . bungalow ordered in 1926 for $1000. St. Louis is home to a small neighborhood of pre-fab kit homes made by the Gunnison homes company, in 1949. I'm trying to find the plans for a Sears house that we're buying, but it was built in 1906. The cover house is the Sears Lewiston.Rachel Shoemaker Collection . On 2022-04-20 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Thank you so much! catalog homes in Dutchess County, NY. 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. C.H. This is a great resource for people in the St. Louis area. Only seven Magnolias are known to exist, including one at 1500 James St., Syracuse. A nationally recognized founder, branding expert, and industry thought leader, Emile cut his teeth in real estate in 2007 crafting marketing strategies for the Chrysler and MetLife Buildings. In 1915 Sears kit homes included fiberboard panels used for ceilings and walls. 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. Most folks turned to their local lumberyard or a local contractor, who would have offered booklets of modest-to-elaborate house plans for American home buyers to choose from (we call these, simply. Here are two examples of plans-only books, available through lumber yards and construction companies: Nonetheless, We're Always Looking For More Sears Modern Homes Kit Houses! Sears Modern Homes, Sears Roebuck, Sears Kit Homes, Sears Catalog, Home Plans, Vintage Homes, Bungalow Plans, Sears Honor Bilt, . Historic house: Built in 1911, this Sears home sits on a large, corner lot in a historic district, surrounded by antebellum homes. Look for additional clues besides lumber stamping, such as hardware, windows, etc. In 1952, my grandfather put up a Cape Cod style kit house in Wilton, CTModel # NM2137-4.