Dear Members,

Rosemary Thornton has been kind enough to write an article for The Arts & Crafts Society.
Do You Have a Sears Kit Home?

So grab your field guides
The Houses That Sears Built
Finding the Houses that Sears Built; A Guide to the 60 Most Popular Designs

Let us know what you find out!

Lauren

{At the left: The Chelsea Model - Sears Modern Home from the 1916 catalog.}

Hello Lauren,
We have several of these houses here in London, Ohio which is my home town and as the weather permits I shall gather some pictures to send you to post.

Since my easiest method for sending pictures is via the email and you may choose or delete any you feel unworthy to be on our forums.

Respectfully,

Ralph Jones

There used to be a Sears house in McQueeny,Tx down the road from me.But someone bought the house,which I believe was the Elmwood model and moved it.
There are a couple of bungalows there in town I need to take photos of which might be Sears,but won't know until I compare the photos with the houses in the book.
I have a reprint of a Sears catalog,called Homes In A Box,which is a reprint of I think
the 1913 or1914 catalog,which shows a house in New Braunfels,Tx.
There is an Aladdin,The Shadowlawn,which sits along the Interstate 35 access road as you go north towards Austin near New Braufels.
And I know of a couple of houses,one in Spring Branch,the other is in a field near Gonzales.Both are similar to a house in one of the Sears catalogs, but may have come instead from a William A. Radford plan book.
There is a small house near Geronimo and also near Stockdale that could have come from Lewis Liberty Homes,but I'll have to look at a catalog to tell you the name of the house.

A Sears Home in Texas? Well, according to the testimonials in the old catalogs, there were a few built in Texas, which is kind of amazing. If you want to post photos here, I'll try to be check in more frequently and render an opinion.

I just discovered this site and, yes Lauren, it looks like we do have a Sears house. My wife and I acquired our "new old house" about a year ago. We have been discovering bits and pieces of evidence from the day we first moved in. The latest find is an intact and legible shipping label attached to the back of a piece of mill work. How exciting is that? Rose, if you are within shouting distance, we would love to have you take a look at our diamond in the ruff. (Yes, the pun is intentional!) The architectural style of our house is not mentioned in your book "The Houses That Sears Built" or "Finding The Houses That Sears Built" which only strengthens my belief that we have an uncommon find here. I have a blog posted at http://searskit.wordpress.com/ which contains pictures and more info about our new old house. Thoughts? Opinions? Envy?

I believe my aunt may have a bungalow craftsman home in Moville, IA. Any idea where she can begin her hunt? I will try to get a picture up. Her floor plan is eerily similar to some I have seen here. Low roof, lots of eave detailing, central living area, with rooms off of it. Lots of built-ins and details.

http://picasaweb.google.com/LWSmith4/UntitledAlbum/photo#5205584408531014034

See the link here for front view of my Aunt's home in Iowa. Anyone recognize this?

Can you post pics of the whole house? We need to be able to see more than part of the front of the house.

Donna

Hi, we are closing on our new house next month and it's a Sears catalog home: Verona model, ordered in 1921. All the order documents and original blueprints are preserved in the home since the owner lived there until his death in the 1980s. I'm itching to go through those documents and frame and further preserve them when we get moved in.

In the meantime, I just can't find the original catalog page online like most of the other models. Does anyone have one or know where I can get a copy of the 1921 catalog?

My daughter has bought a Sears Kit Home Model 3280. Two of the interior doors have been destroyed. Is there anywhere we can purchase 2 doors from this Sears Home Kit to match all the other doors which are in good condition. I would appreciate if anyone knew where to anything for this house to put it back the way it was meant to be. Any help will be appreciated.

Dazzie Mae aka Jan Summers

your best bet would be an architectural salvage place.

we have one locally that has rooms full of doors from period houses. it may take a while, but you may be able to find a match.

the same company has a door shop and can make a replica of any door style. while not original, it would be a perfect match.

i have heard about large salvage companies all over the country.

worth a try.

Rosemary,Sorry I haven't gotten back to you yet.
I need to get some film for my camera, and drive around to look for these places. Haven't been to Spring Branch or Gonzales in years due to my part time job at TJMAXX.But maybe this summer I'll take a couple of days off, and go look for these places.

"film" for a camera? i'm confused....

very funny Don. I'm pretty sure you can still buy film...

This is for Don Szymansky. You don't mention where you live. I live in Western Pa. south of Pittsburgh. Just thought maybe from the same area or close enough to get to. Could you give me the name of the salvage place. Thank you for responding. Dazzie Mae aka Jan Summers

close to belle vernon or perryopolis? uniontown?

i am in the louisville, ky area. Architectural Salvage here is a great place to dig.

http://www.architecturalsalvage.com/home.asp

as i said, they have rooms of parts, doors, railings, baseboard, shutters, etc. they also have antiques, from full rookwood fireplace surrounds to french A&C sideboards, lamps, anything you could imagine.

Hi Don...thanks for responding. Lived and went to school in Belle Vernon. Moved to Charleroi raised our family. Moved to Coal Center (only about 3 miles from our old house in Fallowfield Twp, Charleroi). All in the Mon-Valley. Uniontown is only about 20 miles and Perryopolis is about 10 miles from our house. Are there salvage yards in our area you may know about? Is this why you asked if we were close to BV, Uniontown and Perryopolis?

my father is from belle vernon. i spent all my childhood summer vacations there. still have relatives in the area and an aunt in perry.

i have heard about an A&C dealer in uniontown but dont know particulars. no salvage dealers.

i went to Carnegie Mellon in architecture in the late 70s. lived in squirrel hill.

we were there for a visit summer before last and will probably go back sometime this year. daughter was sick last time and wants to go back to fallingwater.

its strange how many people i come across who live in or know belle vernon area. a woman i work with had a boyfriend that lived a block from my grandparents house. small workd indeed...

just did a quick google and found this article. may be of some interest to you.

http://www.post-gazette.com/ho...tectural0112fnp3.asp

Thanks so much. The article is extremely helpful. I'll let you know if I find the doors. I appreciate all your help. It is indeed a small world. I once went to Sao Palo Brazil and found family members on my Dad's side there from Italy. I lived in Sweeney Plan and my husband lived in Fairhope. I'll have to see if you last name rings a bell with my husband. Again thanks so much for your help. Jan Summers