I am trying to determine if the house shown in the attached photo is a Sears kit house. The owner said it was. I have looked through a couple of web sites, and I have not seen a match. Any help would be appreciated.

Go to http://www.elginarea.org/kithouse/ scroll down and you will find 3 websites that should help you.

thanks for the links to the sears archives. i have identified at least one style that i have found at least 3 samples of in one neighborhood.
(louisville, KY)
i may try to contact residents to see if the inside matches.

the model is the osborn model 2050. this house is also shown in paul deuschners "inside the bungalow" from a 1915 Bungalow Magazine.

Wow- three osbornes in one neighborhood? That's pretty cool. I don't recognize your house as a Sears house but it could be another kit house such as Aladdin or Gordon Van Tine. Good luck with your hunt!

Donna

Regarding my earlier post, the Aladdin site doesn't work,try http://clarke.cmich.edu/aladdin/catdir.htm This is where, quite by accident I found my Wabash on p.45 of the 1920 cat.

here is a shot of the one i am most confident is the osborn.

here is the shot from sears archive

this one has different front porch wall, but rest looks very close

on closer inspection, this one may not be, but still shares a lot of similarities.

Don. Good for you! I'm now inspired toget off my butt and do the same here(Smithers B.C.).Although it is a small town there are for sure 2 maybe 3 other Aladdins here.I just have to scour the caalogue and ID them as you have. I don't know if you have been to the Aladdin site but i"ve asked them to set up a registry with model and location. Just sent it today so I hope for a response soon

it didnt take a lot of searching, i grew up six houses from one of these. i recognized it was like the one on the cover of the 1915 bungalow mag. then i saw the sears listing and made the connection. it faces an 800 acre park designed by Olmstead. the neighorhood is packed with unique and i think remarkable bungalows. i am doing a photo essay and may publish through the local historic preservation office.

the sad thing is that this is now an economically depressed neighborhood and many of these gems are poorly cared for, carelessly modified and generally falling apart.

Hey Don-

My guess is that all three are osbornes- I've seen at least one brick one here in Cincinnati- maybe two- and we have about 10 that I've found here altogether. Its one of my favorite Sears Houses!

Donna

Golly, I just stumbled upon this bulletin board whilst doing some searching for something else. The house pictured at the beginning of this thread does not appear to be one of the 370 Sears Homes that Sears offered during their 32-years in the pre-cut kit home business.

It's possible that it's a Sears Home that was extensively customized when built, but it's not a good match to any of their designs.

About 80% of the time, people who think they're in a Sears kit home are wrong. Often it's a kit home from another company or it's a house that came in pieces and parts from Sears, but is NOT built from a Sears kit home blueprint.

ROse Thornton
author, The Houses That Sears Built
and
co-author, California's Kit Homes

Hi Donna,
I'm the new owner of a Lewiston model, but have not been able to authenticate it other than floor layout and room sizes. I've looked for numbered lumber and markings on hardware, but haven't found anything. Is there a list of known Sears homes here in the Cincinnati?

Thanks,
Teresa

Hey Teresa-

There's a woman who works for the Cincinnati Historical Society named Beatrice Lask who did her masters thesis on Sears houses in Cincinnati and she found several hundred. I don't think her thesis is published though. She does presentations at the Library occasionally on Sears houses. I've been hunting Sears Houses for about 3 or 4 years now and have probably found close to 300. I haven't authenticated them - just found them while cruising through different neighborhoods. I've only discovered two Lewistons so far, one is on Upper Rd and the other on Ludlow in Greendale, Indiana. I hope this helps!

Donna

As Dale Wolicki (Aladdin and Gordon Van Tine expert) has told me (and shown me!), Aladdin had a design that was very similar to the Sears Lewiston, so some of these suspected Sears Lewistons could be the Aladdin clone, or even a look-alike built by a local developer.

And...only about 2/3rds of Sears Homes have stamped lumber, although the Lewiston is of a vintage that it should have SOME numbers on the framing members.

There are some other things to look for when authenticating purported Sears Homes. Shipping labels on the millwork, room dimensions being identical to dimensions listed in original catalog pages, "SR" stamped on underside of original bathroom and kitchen plumbing fixtures, etc.

Authenticating these houses is very important before they're put on a driving tour or promoted publicly as SEARS HOMES.

I speak from experience on that one!!

Rose

I'm desperately hoping someone here can help me ID this supposedly Wards home??!! Tax and deed records indicate it was built 1910-1915..nothing definite anywhere. I can't find any markings on lumber, hardware, tubs...nada, zip. It's 4 square, with a large living room that has fancy woodwork spandreles, 2 staircases...one off the living room and one off the kitchen...also has pocket doors between living room and dining room, a central chimney, fancy door headers. I can send interior shots once my son returns my camera. The photo attached shows the house as it stands today. Thanks to any help!!!