A Sears Home in Homewood

Sears Homes of Chicagoland reader Donald Moore alerted me to this Sears Lewiston in Homewood.

18219 Riegel Road, Homewood. Too many trees! Photo courtesy of Donald Moore.

Sears Lewiston.

There are a lot of Lewiston clones, but this house is the real deal. The architect of the Lewiston is David S. Betcone.

This shot clearly shows the original Sears door. By the way, the "S" decorative element on the chimney has nothing to do with Sears. Photo courtesy of Donald Moore.

 

A park-like yard. Photo from Realtor site.

 

The living room has the original fireplace mantel and original diamond muntin windows facing the front of the house. Photo from Realtor site.

 

This house was built in 1931. The original owners were William and Minnie Welby. They had nine children. He was a switchman for the Illinois Central Railroad.

Minnie had a heart attack at home in 1934 while playing cards with her family. William moved out of the house by 1935.

By 1940 Arthur Nelsen, wife Gertrude, and son Robert were in the house. Gertrude died in childbirth in 1941 while giving birth to daughter Joan. Arthur later remarried. He worked for Standard Oil Company of Indiana for 43 years. In 1968 Arthur and his wife, Bernice, moved to Florida.

The Proud Owners of a Sears Modern Home No. 118

11104 W Cook Rd, Fort Wayne, Indiana. Photo courtesy of Ashley Thorpe and Nick Karn.

Sears Modern Home No. 118 (later known as the Clyde) from the 1914 catalog.

Yes, I realize this Sears house is not in the Chicago area, but the old photos were too good not to publish. This Modern Home No. 118 is an authenticated Sears house. The current homeowners found the original shipping label.

Felix F. Ladig likely built this house in 1914 or 1915. (In 1915 the property tax amount jumped dramatically.) Felix lived in the house with his wife Frances and their four children.

The catalog text reads: "One is immediately impressed on approaching this house by its quiet dignity and air of comfort. The large, roomy porch seems to invite one to its cool shade."

The Ladigs in 1916. Left to right: Mildred, Frances, Milo, Felix, and Cletus. Frances was pregnant with little Homer. Photo courtesy of Ashley Thorpe and Nick Karn.

The Ladigs in 1916 with their two big purchases. Does anyone know what model car this is? Photo courtesy of Ashley Thorpe and Nick Karn.

An undated photo, no sign of the car. Is that Milo in the background? Photo courtesy of Ashley Thorpe and Nick Karn.

The house materials were delivered by train to Arcola, Indiana and carried to the farm on wagons. The Ladigs grew onions and peppermint on the farm.

The Ladigs did not live in the house very long. In November 1919, Felix ran an advertisement in the Fort Wayne News and Sentinel that he was leaving the farm and selling his livestock and equipment.

The 1920 census shows the Ladigs in the Sears house; by 1922 they had moved to another house in Fort Wayne.

How Many Sears Homes were Built?

In this post I will re-examine another common “fact” about Sears homes that is frequently mentioned in the media and on internet sites.

How many Sears homes were built?

• "Sears, Roebuck & Company sold approximately 50,000 kit homes nationally...."
• “ From 1908–1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold about 70,000 - 75,000 homes through their mail-order Modern Homes program."
• "From 1908 to 1940, between 75,000 and 100,000 houses--all components manufactured by Sears--were made available through the company's catalog."
• "From 1908 to 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold more than 100,000 house kits by mail, mostly to the burgeoning middle class."

There's a big difference between 50,000 sold and over 100,000 sold.  (And we've already learned that Sears continued to sell homes through 1942, not 1940.)

Where did these estimates come from?
When the book Houses by Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company was published in 1986, the authors stated that 100,000 Sears homes were sold, based on a total touted in some Sears advertisements. 

In the 1990 book, America's Favorite Homes: Mail-Order Catalogues as a Guide to Popular Early 20th-Century Houses, authors Robert A. Schweitzer and Michael W. R. Davis debunked the 100,000 figure. They said that that number may have included all structures built by Sears or built using Sears building materials. Schweitzer maintained Sears sold about 50,000 kit homes.

In her 2004 book, Putting Sears Homes on the Map, Rebecca Hunter estimated Sears sold 56,000-70,000 homes.

Let’s take a closer look at the source information.

A Sears House with Southwestern Flair

2324 W. 120th Place, Blue Island. Photo courtesy of David Wilson.

Sears San Jose, from the 1928 Modern Homes catalog.

The San Jose was a stucco cottage in the Spanish Colonial Revival style. The front tower over the entrance mimics a bell tower. The archway leads to a side entrance.

The front door was relocated to route visitors directly into the living room. 

The San Jose was sold for only three years, and this one in Blue Island was built in 1928 or 1929. The original owners were likely Axel and Lucy Nelson. Axel worked as a molder in a foundry.

Photo from Realtor site.