A Quaint Sears Stratford--Complete with a Gun Firing Range

3 South Edward Street, Mount Prospect.

The Sears Stratford, designed by architect David S. Betcone.

The Sears Stratford was a Tudor Revival kit house introduced in 1929, notable for its brick veneer and steep gables that reflected the popular English cottage style of the era. The front featured tall, narrow windows that reinforced the vertical emphasis.  A large, brick and stone chimney was a hallmark of the Stratford.  

The Stratford was part of a new line of brick veneer homes, marketed by Sears as fire-resistant and more durable than frame houses.  

The Stratford featured an arched entryway and a small front porch. The Mount Prospect house still has its original storm door, mail slot, and window; the front door has been replaced.  

Today, the house has a sprawling footprint, but originally it was a five-room house with two bedrooms.

However, the records in the Mount Prospect Historical Society reveal a surprise: a house already stood at this location in 1925 that was built for William and Goldie Ladervicz.

If the Sears Stratford was not sold until 1929, how is this possible?

The information on the build date and original owners originally came from Forest and Marilyn Roberts, who purchased the house in 1985. Their house was featured on the Mount Prospect housewalk, and they wanted to include a complete history of the home.

In 1988, the Daily Herald featured an article on the house.

The Daily Herald article mentioned that the Roberts discovered two "statue niches" in the living room that had been covered with panelling.  One of the hallmarks of the Stratford is two recessed, built-in bookcases in the living room— another indication that the Mount Prospect house is from Sears.

Forest and Marilyn spent days at the public library poring over old telephone directories, trying to figure out who had lived there and when the expansions were made. Their early efforts led nowhere.

Then a neighbor mentioned she was still in contact with a former resident. The Roberts were soon connected with Ethyl LeFevre, whose family had lived in the home from 1945 to 1958. Ethyl, visiting from Florida, stopped by and spent hours walking the property and sharing the history she remembered. 

It is much easier to do house research today, with censuses, directories, and newspapers all digitized. Now we can confirm that the house was not on Edward Street in the 1930 census, and this date aligns with the years the Stratford was sold (1929-1933). Additionally, there is no record of a Ladervicz family ever living in Mount Prospect, suggesting the earlier attribution was incorrect. 

LeRoy and Glendean Risberg lived in the house in April 1934, but it is unclear whether they were the original owners or renters. After 1935, the house changed hands every year or so, and there were renters there in 1940. 

 

And then the LeFevres arrived.

Joseph E. LeFevre was a general contractor. When he moved his family from Chicago to Mount Prospect in 1945, he brought with him a builder’s eye and a post-war appetite for expansion.

Over the next several years, LeFevre "literally built a house around a house by expanding it in three directions,” according to the Daily Herald.  Working entirely on his own, he transformed the modest English cottage into the sprawling residence you see today.

His additions included:

• a new dining room

• a sun porch (now the family room)

• a covered patio

• an enlarged kitchen

• an expanded master bedroom 

• a three-car tandem garage — the width of a one-car space but stretched 60 feet deep, long enough to line up three cars in a row

The house sat on a double lot, and LeFevre used every inch of it.

LeFevre’s best work was below ground. He expanded the basement with features that are in demand today:

• a wine cellar

• a recreation room

• a bar

• a full second kitchen

• a projection room (in the 1940s!)

• the pièce de résistance: an indoor firing range tucked into the crawlspace beneath the dining-room addition

In post-war suburban Chicago, these were astonishing amenities!

The LeFevres lived in the home until 1958, when they moved to Palatine. Their 13 years in the Stratford left a much larger, more ambitious, and endlessly fascinating structure behind.