It also has a daydream-worthy covered porch with three exposures; a perfect spot for a late summer dinner. 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. cited at "References" below. Zillow says it was built in 1939 and the original square footage was 1,362 (before additions were made). homes were sold and built before that year, but it is certainly the case that the sale of some models continued to 1940. InspectAPedia tolerates no conflicts of interest. 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. we own a sears home..We are interested in saleing..it and land surrounding it its in the beautiful mountains of eastern Tennessee. Great finda Sears "Magnolia" in Canton, Ohio, and its catalog listing. The first complete Sears Kit homes, that is, residences, were marketed Ready Built House Company, Portland, Oregon. How can you spot a Sears Catalog Home? Above is the original catalog Rosemary Thornton At these sales centers,sales agents helped home buyers design just the home they wanted. 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. Apartment in Munich, Upper Bavaria. They were shipped by rail, with pre-cut lumber stamped for assembly. This was the norm in the era of kit houses kit houses were not the norm. From 1908 until 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Company, then headquartered on the West Side of Chicago, Sears homes can be found across the continental United States. That "Bungalow" stencil or stamping appears to be on the wall or roof cavity side of wood sheathing - and may indeed indicate that the home was built from a kit. thank you kindly. Hipercor - hypermarkets; Spain. While Sears no longer has records of where each of the nearly 75,000. Fully renovated in 2011, the home won the Moore Country Home Builders Associations Excellence Award for the Best Historic Renovation. The materials were reportedly shipped in via railroad as a package. This is a great resource for people in the St. Louis area. In the 19-teens, 1920s, and 1930s, American suburban neighborhoods were growing. On 2021-12-22 The Journal article (1/7/1990 F1-2), also identified other Sears It has always been used as a seasonal summer cottage and is uninsulated. Most real estate company names are boring at best. In some inspections you will find a few rafters or beams which show, Framing marks on other kit house brands and their framing lumber are discussed below at, Labels may be present on the back of millwork (baseboard, window, door trim, staircase) as Sears used a common supplier, "Sears, Roebuck and Company," or "925 Homan Ave. Chicago" may be present on shipping labels. ALADDIN KIT HOUSES https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Aladdin_Kit_Houses.php The list, below, gives you model names and addresses of 80 houses that we have located in the St. Louis area. Have you gotten your home sold yet? 1917. For readers whose Sears Kit home used Sears Goodwall plasterboard as a plaster base (in stead of wood or wire lath) you might be able to find a "Goodwall Sheet Plaster" stamped on the wall-cavity side of the rock lath and you might notice that the rock-lath sections were usually 4' x 4' - unlike modern drywall and fiberboard products that were and are more-often 4' x 8' or longer. 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. The big thinkers at Sears Roebuck took ready-to-build homes one step further. Sears Goodwall was touted as more fire-resistant than alternative plant-based fiberboard sheathing products. 721 Illinois Street, Geneva, IL, 60134 Sold for $390,000. by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Excerpting from this new website: Daniel Friedman has inspected and identified Sears catalog homes in the Hudson Valley of New York, and has included additional identification Capture from Google Streetview. Some of the earliest kit houses had few markings or stencils but you still may be able to recognize common Hardware. 1. One of the surviving Sears kit homes stands along Oak Springs Road in Chartiers Township. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. Thornton is also 3. As an amateur historian and NOCO Realtor, this list will be most helpful. It has a sears name plate in basement. 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. A Sears Castleton model with 4 bedrooms, 1 bath, living room, dining room, kitchen and tiny den just past the vestibule entry. In . 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. An April 1955 photo of the Zoeller home shows the siding now painted white instead of the original wood color. You will not receive a notification when a response to your question has been posted. You might try some of those to see if they have an older historical connection to Keystone kit homes, though we emphasize that these are a bit of a long-shot. inspectapedia.com/Design/Kit_Houses.php We have encountered such a home in northern Dutchess County in New York State, one which looks just like a Sears model but We know of authenticated Sears houses that were built miles and miles from the location of the depot, and we know that the family hauled the kit supplies to their lot, nonetheless. 870,000. Price: $421,000 Waterfront wonder: Sitting just a few steps from the waters edge on Triangle Pond, this 898-square-foot cottage was delivered in 1954 and assembled on-site. would a S&R house have had bead board on all walls and ceilings?? Scroll down to the section with that title, to learn more about plans-only companies. 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. 1908 was a heady year for technology. Do you know the city and state? - Keystone house plans (modern prefab construction) from Nelson Homes - https://nelson-homes.com/home-plans/keystone/ I am licensed in just Missouri and Kansas, however, I have a great network of agents with a few good ones in eastern Tennessee. was so identified and its history written in a Poughkeepsie Journal article in 1990. All of the house designs of the era of kit homes, were of similar styles Sears, and the other kit companies, were not offering anything unique. 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. By downloading, youll automatically subscribe to our weekly newsletter. The rest are not Sears houses although that house identified as a Glen Falls is close but not a match. Sears recommended that wood molding be installed over the joints for superior results. Attractive top floor apartment in the best location This dreamlike top floor apartment is on the fourth floor of a house built in 1890. I wonder what else is in those archives! Any ideas out there?? If My House Is Not A Kit, Where Did It Come From? 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. The thickness dimensions do not include field-applied top coat layers of finished plaster. Historic house: Built in 1911, this Sears home sits on a large, corner lot in a historic district, surrounded by antebellum homes. by danjoefriedman (mod). I would love to get more information about the Sears Roebuck Home I have recently purchased in Fresno, CA. Added to our resources on Sears Kit homes is a now-available archive from Sears itself: http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/byimage.htm Any ideas about the model of this home? Your #1 Source For Actionable Real Estate Advice. Number 26. 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. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N61, Aladdin Homes. Thank you so much. Or see SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION FAQs - questions and answers about Sears Kit Houses posted originally on this page. True Bungalow Effect. NTL FOLIO TH4819.P7S435 1920, A Plan Book of Harris Homes. You can read more about them here, here, here, and here. We did not examine the mechanicals closely in this house, as they were not provided by Sears and Roebuck and were obtained locally. 562.0K . a complete school or office building. With this new book, even the inexperienced can make "educated" conclusions about whether or not a home is one of the 75,000+ Sears catalog kit homes that were sold between 1908 and 1940. @Judy Gehrlich, 1924 Bowers Beach, Delaware. 1915. A handful of Sears homes have been identified in Canada. GUIDE TO KIT HOUSES AND HOMES then left the rest to the construction company. 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. The following excerpt is from Rosemary Thornton's book cited on this page: In 1915, Sears offered Wood Fiber Wall Board, an early sheetrock-type alternative to lath and plaster. On 2022-01-23 Luckily, the owners also kept lots and lots of original goodies intact that are highly sought after (and highly expensive to build) by design conscious folks across the country. Hello, Im looking for help identifying my home. Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland as we describe above on this page. 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. I always thought it was a Sears kit house, but the work Keystone sits in my memory, as well. Please refrain from any comments or jokes about anything else. What year and style home? 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. Illinois has the largest collection of Sears kit homes in the country after the state of Ohio. Outdoors, a large deck in the backyard offers an ideal spot for warm-weather entertaining. In 1908, when Sears began selling homes by mail, one-fifth of the country subscribed, according to a 99 Percent Invisible podcast about the program. More than 70,000 Sears Modern Homes were sold between 1908 and 1940. As you've indicated, you already have some helpful information from your home. by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. One satisfied Sears homeowner, Edith Sides of Dallas, lived in a home that was built in 1911 and sold to her stepfather in 1917. However the owners and listing realtor had been unable to identify the Sears catalog model. Number 29. For this weeks listing of the week, we decided to find seven charming Sears Catalog homes you can actually buy today. It was also built in 1902, and Sears didnt start selling homes from their catalog until 1908. . 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. From 1908 until 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold over 70,000 kit houses through their Modern Homes and Honor Bilt catalogs. 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. 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. Rather than trying to include all the information from the above article, the best procedure would be to go through the Sears Kit House identification steps and details given above on this page. Let us know in the comments! Notes: this product was sold by Sears beginning in 1916. Additional keys for identifying kit homes are given on the page above. @Roseanne R., it certainly could have, but also certainly not in all Sears Kit homes. The updated five-bedroom home is zoned for residential and commercial use, which makes it a great opportunity for a bed-and-breakfast or live-work space. Thanks for your interest! ). We are proud to carry Dutch Housing manufactured & modular homes. @Jessica, https://inspectapedia.com/Design/Aladdin-Kit-Homes-Catalog-1941.pdf. They are always welcome. Homes has been a family owned & operated home center. The original 1926 Sears & Roebuck label identifying the house at 115 Belleclaire Avenue in Longmeadow as a Sears kit house. 12 Shocking Real Estate Facts: FREE Social Media Posts [Download]. Built in 1930, and the grandson of the original owner/builder told us it was a Sears house. More than 100 years of history now available online.Sears has a rich, long history to tell dating back to 1886 when Richard Sears sold the first batch of watches. 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. The renovation expanded the homes footprint to four bedrooms, three bathrooms, and more than 2,000 square feet. 1915. She explains that often a specific 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. ADORABLE Sears-kit home! 1918. 613.3K . 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. Asking: $475,000 Sears Modern Homes Model: Vallonia (?) Both sections span from 1886 to today. @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. She says from 1908 to 1942, Sears sold more than 70,000 kits nationwide, and more than 3,000 in the Cincinnati area. Item #1 is a great reference catalog of home designs, 35 Point St., New Hamburg, NY, a 936 sq.ft. by Adrian McCullough. NTL Stacks TH4819.P7M66 1924, Our recommended books about building & mechanical systems design, inspection, problem diagnosis, and repair, and about indoor environment and IAQ testing, diagnosis, and cleanup are at the. SEARS KIT HOME IDENTIFICATION at InspectApedia.com - online encyclopedia of building & environmental inspection, testing, diagnosis, repair, & problem prevention advice. 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. I havent found any other obvious stamps. Number18. Please do take a look. Bill and Diana Zoeller's dog Bear stands on the original flooring inside their Craftsman home. Kit homes used drywall, asphalt shingles, and "balloon" style. Even better, unlike the other homes weve seen so far, 1670 Whitcomb seems largely untouched from its original design. Located on a tree-lined street in a lovely, mature neighborhood, the property has had the same owner for 25 years. These type of details in addition to what we've noted in our earlier response may help with identification. Continue reading at KIT HOMES, ALADDIN, SEARS, WARDS, OTHERS or select a topic from closely-related articles below, or select a topic from the closely-related articles below, or see the complete ARTICLE INDEX. NTL Stacks TH4819.P7C22 1914, Wardway Homes, Montgomery Ward, Chicago, Illinois. Some of those houses are still around, and the custom houses shown in the photos from the Sears archives we have located. We have a Sears Craftsman home that was built in 1910-1912 and would love to identify the style off home. The best place to start would be see More than 100 years of stories, product and brand histories, photographs, catalog images and more are now available online. Each house has a link that you can click on, that takes you to a resource to see the house (blog post, real estate listing, or Google map). Sears kit homes were popular in the earlier part of the 20th century. Another uber charming craftsmen with a tasteful renovation and original details, 1315 9th Street had us lingering on our open Zillow tabs for a few more minutes than a team under deadline should. Share these engaging posts on Facebook & Instagram. However the combination of catalog Hi Wizards, by Adrian McCullough, @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. 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. 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. Sears Archives Home Page The group has identified 2,700 Sears homes in Ohio and 2,300 in Illinois. Located in Cairo Illinois, the largest of these mills covered nearly 40 acres, and the sheer variety of homes it shipped out was staggering. 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). I believe we own one of the original sears homes. R.R. modular home company) - https://www.homesbykeystone.com/ But we can't rule out traditional plaster lath. We pinpointed nine models from across the country that still stand tall as a testament to American ingenuity. Thank you so much! Our Comment Box is provided by Countable Web Productions countable.ca, Click to Show or Hide Citations & References. This house, #15 N. Remsen, in Wappingers Falls, NY, arrived by train. Sears prefabricated almost all of these homes in giant mills situated across the country. I'm in search of the floor plan that goes with this old house that we believe is an old Sears Kit house. After which it was relocated to Aurora, IL. They were hoping to meet the needs and desires of the same folks who were buying from the lumber companies. Please call or text 815-603-7338. cit. 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. Minor andmajor changes - from adding a few more windows to changing from a hip roof to agabled roof - were suggested and encouraged. - 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 It helps to narrow that search through Sears home catalogs if you can find the year that your home was constructed. On 2022-02-01 by Inspectapedia Com Moderator. Stamps on millwork or labels from "Norwood Sash and Door" (maybe) indicate Sears suppliers. 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. Enthusiasts call the Magnolia the "holy grail of kit houses." (Photo: Courtesy Andrew and Wendy Mutch) This past . It helps to narrow that search through Sears home catalogs if you can find the year that your home was constructed. Thornton also cites an "R" either in the cast-iron base of some sinks (kitchen?) Thornton rattles off some statistics about Sears Catalog homes and By 1940 home designs, specifications (and building codes) Rock lath plaster systems like the Goodwall sheet plaster product are detailed. Thank you for this set of photos of your lovely home. A consummate salesman, Ford even joked that the Model T was available in any color his customers wanted, as long as it was black. 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. Try looking through the Sears kit home ID tips and photos and catalogs given on this page above. We recommend all three of these publications. 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. To fully appreciate the impact of the Sears kit homes, it's important to understand the reach of the company's famous catalog. Please use the add image button to post a photo or two of the home - one per comment. That year, the Aladdin Company of Bay City, Michigan, offered the first kit homes through mail order. Americans anywhere could flip through the four-pound, 1,400-page . I would love some insight! 1 story, 2 br, chimney In middle. We recommend those books for any owner or serious investigator of Sears Catalog homes. Better yet, can you identify the model for the listings we couldnt quite get? That was the way our American towns were built. A Sears catalog home fan website, searshomes.org discusses the plaster systems used in older homes, including Sears kit homes. It was said to be in the original Chicago worlds fair. which lacks the Sears identifying stencils on framing and other key details. I own a home in Prattville, AL that Ive been told by surrounding neighbors was purchased from Sears and Roebuck. These are listed here. In Detroit, The Ford Model T, the first car built using Henry Fords revolutionary assembly line, sputtered into life and changed the world. Today, the only way to find these homes in literally one by one. What is a Sears kit house? 217 Dutchess Turnpike, in Poughkeepsie, NY, a (1917) 7-room cape which used a basement cistern for its water supply and a fieldstone fireplace. 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? With so many of these homes sold, many still come up for sale. So look instead for those key ID points, hardware, stencil marks, etc. catalog homes in Dutchess County, NY. two boxcars were needed to ship all of the parts to build a complete home) were brought by wagon to this site in the village of Wappingers Falls, NY. Measuring in at a roomy 3,500 square feet, the four-bedroom home is ready for its new owner to take it into its next century. Sears, Roebuck and Company, Chicago, Illinois. Yes Mary; and of course 2 Additions later and its still standing. Rosemary Thornton's two books After 1940: However some homes could have been purchased around 1939 or 1940 but not completed until several years later, depending The gorgeous 2-acre lot has plenty of room to expand. What About The Train's Role In All Of This? detail which is still in place on a Sears house was unique to those homes and can help in their identification today, even though The milestones, introductions and stories fill volumes. 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. The construction company ordered standard-length lumber through the lumber yards, measured, cut, and constructed the house. Sears Houses: This article series provides detailed photographic and historic clues to assist in These along with some houses I photographed Most of the interior has been untouched other than the kitchen, which was remodeled by the previous owner (son of the builder) - the woodwork and detail is truly beautiful! Let our vast experience and top picks guide your decision. homes have been much modified or expanded since their original construction. New York ranks fourth on the list with 1,679. 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. Sears Whitehall. Could this be a Sears Elsemore home? Continue to look for the kit house identification clues discussed above on this page and in this article series. 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. I should have known. 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. 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. Here are some tips for how to make this career choice work for you. So far we haven't found Sears identifying marks, but will be renovating the basement soon and will be able to look more closely. These customizable homes could be manufactured for anyone, anywhere. after 1940. The homes were sold through the Sears Roebuck catalog from 1908 to 1940. . 1935. Michael The closest I found was in the list of Sears kit homes sold between 1933 and 1942, the Cape Cod (Sears Kit Home Model No. Where was this manufacturer based out of? 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. . 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. Love these homes. It would be worthwhile to gain visual access to the next rafter or stud bay to the left of that shown in your photo where you may see a kit number or manufacturer's name. While I have expanded, edited, and illustrated this list based on our own field experience, and we have added photographs and other details, this material has its origin in Thornton's books 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. NTL Stacks: NA8480.N6, Aladdin Houses. Well, what did you think of our picks of the best Sears Catalog Homes on the market? Sold under the Sears Modern Homes brand, the kits soon became a huge hit; selling thousands of homes all across the country in the company's 33-year history. Are you able to tell me the model name is of the kit? The book details the 60 most popular designs (of the 375 designs Sears produced) with original catalog drawings and contemporary pictures. I have researched over th years trying to find the original plan or any information on the floor plan. For nearly 100 years the home has been meticulously cared for and features hardwood flooring, enclosed front porch, and renovated kitchen. Rosemary Thornton, a recognized expert on Sears kit homes, offers several tips to verify a homes Sears lineage. Sears homes came in all shapes and sizes, and this Colonial hits a sweet spot with four bedrooms and three and a half bathrooms spanning nearly 4,000 . There . On 2021-05-13 which are definitely not Sears Catalog Houses are included in this list as a fun exercise for readers. This article 1924. Real Estate. 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 . Eric: I've looked through the Sears kit house archives (that I do not think are actually complete) and don't see that exact cape cod design with the center chimney and with that lower roof level and smaller window on the right. Robinson Company, Providence, Rhode Island.