September 30, 2014

Sears Castleton

1427 Oakwood, Des Plaines.

Sears Castleton from the 1916 catalog.

Cook County says this Sears Castleton was built in 1915. It could have been... the Castleton was sold from 1911-1924. It must have been a popular model, although I have never seen one other than this house in Des Plaines.

There are a lot of American Foursquare houses out there, but the Castleton has an interesting feature. That suspended bay window on the right side is where the staircase landing is. Whenever you see that design feature, you should take a closer look because the house may be a Castleton or a kit home from another manufacturer.





September 20, 2014

Harris Brothers Roselle

110 N. Prospect Manor Ave., Mount Prospect




Harris Brothers Roselle from 1928.


Yet another Roselle model from Harris Brothers, with an added dormer. Harris Brothers had a sales office in Des Plaines, so that explains why there are so many of their houses built in this area.

The Roselle shows well in the summer. Photo from Realtor site.


Is this an original garage from Harris Brothers? Sure looks like it. Photo from Realtor site.


Photo from Realtor site.


Photo from Realtor site.

 
Photo from Realtor site.


Photo from Realtor site.


Photo from Realtor site.


There's the dormer upstairs. Photo from Realtor site.



The building permit for the house was issued in September 1927. This would make it one of the first houses built in the Prospect Manor subdivision. The first owners were Valentine Frank Weber and his wife, Florence. Valentine was a land surveyor for the village.

The Webers moved out in 1949 and sold to the H. J. Nieman family.




A Case of Mistaken Identity

This Dutch Colonial was recently listed for sale as a "charming Sears and Roebuck kit home in Deerfield, IL."

Unfortunately, it's not from Sears, Roebuck.

834 Forest Avenue, Deerfield.



Harris Home No. 2012 from the 1923 catalog.
 

The house is a perfect match to model No. 2012 from Harris Brothers. (The name changed later to the Hancock.) The exterior dimensions, 32x24, precisely match the dimensions of the Harris home. The floor plans are also identical.


Photo courtesy of Realtor site.


Photo courtesy of Realtor site.


Photo courtesy of Realtor site.


Photo courtesy of Realtor site.



The house was built sometime after 1922 by George and Ida Stanger. George was a foreman for North Shore Gas. He was also a village trustee.


Harris Homes No. 2012 was on sale in January 1926 for $2695. 


George and Ida first moved to Deerfield in 1907. In 1933 they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the house. George died in 1939 and Ida died in 1946.

George and Ida both came from pioneering families.

George's father, Daniel Stanger, was born in 1810. He walked from Warren, Pennsylvania to Illinois in 1834 to establish residence as one of the first white settlers in Wheeling.

Ida's grandfather, John George Rockenbach, came to live in Deerfield in 1841. His family and four other families journeyed from Chicago that year in search of farm lands. The Rockenbachs settled on land near the Des Plaines River and built a log cabin. At that time, most residents of Deerfield were Native Americans. It took six hours to reach Chicago using horse and wagon. The Deerfield Area Historical Society has a collection of information about the Rockenbach family.


Photo courtesy of Realtor site.



Update!
The new owners demolished the house.








September 18, 2014

A Rarified Homart Home in Wheaton

From 1946 to about 1952 Sears sold prefabricated Homart Homes. Because these houses were mostly factory-built, all customers had to do was assemble the sections. There are very few Homart Homes known to exist today.

Realtor Dana Hybl recently contacted me about a Homart Home she listed in Wheaton.

609 E Indiana, Wheaton. Photo courtesy of Dana Hybl. I guess Dana left her chainsaw at home.


The house on the cover of the 1951 Homart Homes catalog.


The original owner worked for Sears and built the house in 1951. The current owner bought the house in 1956. 

September 16, 2014

A Testimonial House in Irving Park and a Family Victimized by the "Black Widow"

3227 N. Keating. Screenshot from Google Streetview.


Montgomery Ward model No. 179, from the 1916 Book of Homes.




This house in Irving Park/Kilbourn Park is a No. 179 model from Montgomery Ward. This is the only known No. 179 in the country.

The building permit was issued in September 1913. Montgomery Ward estimated that the house would cost about $2,385 including labor. It actually cost $11,500 to build this house. 


The house is a bland two-flat today, but back in 1913 it was a charming bungalow featuring stuccoed gables, bay windows, a seating nook, and leaded glass windows.

The house and a testimonial from its owner, Thorvald Lindboe, were featured in the Wardway catalogs in 1915 and 1916.

Thorvald believed the house was in the Grayland neighborhood, but it's actually just north of Belmont Avenue.


The bungalow on Keating was lovely back in 1913. Thorvald did not purchase the fireplace (fireplaces were extra cost).


Thorvald Lindboe was featured in newspapers around the world a few years before the house was built. His brother, Olaf Lindboe, was a victim of Belle Gunness, America's first female serial killer. Gunness, the "Black Widow", killed dozens of men (and her own children) for their cash and life insurance payouts.


Thorvald Lindboe's interview with the Chicago Tribune, May 1908.


Belle Gunness.


Olaf immigrated to the United States from Norway along with his brothers Ole and Thorvald. Olaf worked as a laborer on a farm in Wisconsin and diligently saved his money (he had over $300 and a gold watch according to Thorvald). 


Olaf Lindboe in the Chicago Tribune, May 1908.


In 1904 Olaf answered an ad in a Scandinavian newspaper that was placed by Gunness, She was looking for a farmhand for her property in LaPorte, Indiana. Olaf accepted the position and swung through Chicago to visit Thorvald on his way to the Gunness farm.

A few months later, Olaf sent Thorvald a letter and said he planned to marry Gunness. That was the last contact Thorvald had with his brother.

Thorvald, concerned, wrote Gunness to inquire about his brother. Gunness wrote back that Olaf had gone to St. Louis and she never heard from him again.

When Thorvald went to LaPorte to check on his brother's whereabouts, people in the community said that Olaf and Gunness were romantically involved. When Olaf disappeared, Gunness told one neighbor that, "He got mad and left me in the lurch. He said he was tired because I was putting him off so long and last night he wanted me to say whether I would marry him at once." She told another neighbor that she received a letter from Olaf saying he returned to Norway.



The story of Olaf's disappearance was reported all over the world.


Thorvald was unable to identify his brother's body from the remains found on the Gunness farm. Olaf is considered by all accounts to be one of Gunness's first victims.


Investigators on the Gunness farm in LaPorte, searching for human remains. Photo courtesy of Murderpedia.









September 9, 2014

A Couple of Clydes

Edison Park, Chicago

7017 N. Osceola, Chicago.


Sears Clyde from the 1921 Modern Homes catalog.


This Sears Clyde in the Edison Park neighborhood was built about 1922. It's a close match to the catalog illustration. The bedroom adjacent to the chimney has been bumped out even more.

Des Plaines

635 Arlington Ave., Des Plaines.



The county says this Clyde in Des Plaines was built in 1921. The floor plan is reversed and the front door has been moved. These changes were not a big deal--Sears often did not charge for a reversed floor plan and the front door opened directly into the living room so it was not important where it was located.

I believe the original owners were Albert and Anna Reck. Albert worked as a machinist, and they bred Corneaux pigeons (probably in the backyard). The house address was originally 629 Arlington. The Recks owned the house until at least 1954.




September 2, 2014

Model Sears Homes in Milwaukee

In the 1930's Sears began building model homes in major metropolitan areas. The company believed that if potential customers could walk through models, they would be more inclined to purchase. Milwaukee had a Sears Modern Homes sales office, and this office built three models that we know of.

The first two were built in 1931 in Milwaukee's Wilson Park subdivision.

Part of an 1931 advertisement in the Milwaukee Journal. "Come out today--experience the thrills these new homes will give you."


3707 S. 19th St., Milwaukee. Photo courtesy of Heather Lukaszewski.


Sears Bellewood.







3757 S. 19th St., Milwaukee. This appears to be a custom design. Photo courtesy of Heather Lukaszewski. 

According to an article in the Milwaukee Journal, the larger house at 3757 S. 19th St.demonstrated "new ideas in home arrangement, equipment, furnishings, and color schemes".  It was decorated using the new fall line of furnishings from the two Sears retail stores in Milwaukee. The interior decorator hired by Sears furnished eight rooms for $1600.


State-of-the art features in the larger model included a milk receiver.


Sears built a third model home in 1937.

837 S. 76th St., West Allis, WI. This appears to be a custom design. Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.


An undated photo of the house in West Allis. Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society.


The house was English style with a Lannon stone veneer and was constructed for about $6,500. Crowds flocked to see this house. 6,000 people came on just one Sunday. 

Today this house is knows as the Chester A. McCreedy Residence. Chester worked for the Sears Modern Homes sales office and apparently bought the model for himself. Chester and his wife Claire lived in the house until at least 1949.