February 24, 2015

Where's the List?

One of the most common questions I am asked in classes is:

"Where can we find the list of Sears homes?"

You know, the master list of Sears house locations compiled by researchers for the last 40 years.

I asked the same question myself a few years ago.

A Frustrating Lack of Information
When my daughter was in third grade, she had to create an exhibit for the Chicago Metro History Fair. We decided to cover the topic of the ready-to-build kit houses that Sears, Roebuck sold through mail order.  I had read articles about Sears homes in our local newspaper, and I thought it was an understandable history topic for young kids.

My daughter wanted to include photos of actual Sears houses in our area.  I inquired at the nearby historical societies. They gave me a few leads, but I was surprised to learn there was no master list of Sears home locations.

As I helped my daughter do her research, I soon learned that most articles and websites simply mention the name of a town where a particular Sears house is located but do not mention street names or house numbers. When you're dealing with a dense, highly populated area like Chicago, a town name is essentially useless--a person could spend hours looking for a single house and not find it.

Sears, the company, had attempted to start a national list of Sears houses on its Sears Archives website (now abandoned). The meager list contained only one house from my immediate area and, as you might guess, the street address was not included so it didn't help me locate the house for my daughter's project. Frustrating.

At the time, there were a few detailed lists of homes. Elgin had paid for an architectural survey and published its list of kit houses online. The cities of Aurora and Blue Island had published brochures about where their kit houses were located. A resident of Park Ridge had launched a website about where the kit houses were in that town.

My daughter and I were able to cobble together enough photos for the exhibit (five houses). But the precise locations of most Sears homes in the Chicago area remained a mystery.

My sweet little third grader in front of a Sears Wilmore at 743 N. Pine in Arlington Heights. We used this photo as part of her history fair exhibit. 



The Birth of the Sears Homes of Chicagoland Website
I started a free website and posted the house photos that my daughter used in her history fair exhibit (and their specific addresses).Maybe the information would help someone else one day. 

As people started contacting me through the website about their kit homes in the Chicago area, I soon realized that I must start posting about more of these historic homes and make the addresses available. We live in a land of teardowns, and it’s important to know a house’s history before hitting it with a wrecking ball. 

My policy is that I do not include a house photo on my website without a specific address. (Homeowner names are another story; I include those only with permission.)

"The List"--the National Database of Sears Homes 
There were several other researchers throughout the country gathering addresses of Sears homes just like I was. We agreed that the addresses needed to be readily available and housed in one central location.

This group started the National Database of Sears Homes where we could enter the addresses of Sears houses in the United States as we discovered them. This official registry is just a simple spreadsheet, but it's better than nothing. It's slow going; as a volunteer I admit that I add only a couple houses a week.

This list contains about 17,000 of the Sears houses still in existence today. (Sears sold roughly 65,000 houses.) When I asked one researcher why no one had ever started a master list, the answer was, "There are just too many houses." You have to start somewhere!






Researching kit houses is no different from any other scientific discipline. Scientists must communicate their discoveries and results so that others may build on that work to extend knowledge. Additionally, openness about findings enables other investigators to challenge and verify results.

Looking Towards the Future
But there are still some kit house researchers who choose not to share specific addresses of houses they locate. What will happen to that research if something unforeseen happens? Poof... it's gone.





If you have information you would like to include in the National Database of Sears Homes, please email me.








20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good background information on how you began your search for Sears homes. Genealogy has been a hobby and history of older homes fits right in. Good job saving info.

Cindy Catanzaro said...

Thanks for getting this information out there, Lara. I knew both Laraine and Donna personally, and had toured the Cincinnati area with both of them. They were always willing to share what they located, and did so joyfully.

Unknown said...

Voorhees NJ, Spruce Avenue, is lined with Sears Kit houses. I lived in one that as built in 1919 by drunken amateurs. Not a square corner in the entire house.

Sears Homes of Chicagoland said...

Funny, David! I'll take a look--thanks for the lead.

Anonymous said...

Dunellen, NJ is also supposed to have a bunch but I only heard stories from old-timers and never verified it. It does make sense since Dunellen is a railroad town. If you do come by, contact the Dunellen Library and they will be able to get a member of the historical society to join you.

Unknown said...

1 Garden Lane in Durham NH is a Sears kit house. My sister bought it after our neighbor, the original owner (and orderer) passed away, but has since moved herself. It was ordered & built by Lorus & Margery Milne, famed naturalists and writers. Margery changed nothing from the original plans, but my sister put in some new windows and painted it yellow. You can see different labels on parts in the house. :)

Anonymous said...

HI I found this when I was looking at Aladdin City. In McQueeny ,Texas there used to be a Sears Home I think the Sunbeam at the corner of Farm to Market Road 725 and Farm to Market Road 78 on the way to Seguin, my county seat east of San Antonio.
The house was moved to somewhere else a number of years ago ,but to where I don't know. In Schertz here there might be a Rodessa,but i need to compare it to the photo in the book Mail Order Houses from the National Trust for Historic Preservation all about the Sears Homes. I have another book called Homes in A Box. That book shows a Sears house and gives the location as New Braunfels ,Texas up the road from me. Also in McQueeny there is a 1920s home from the Garlinghouse Company who still produce house plans today,and maybe a couple of other possible Sears homes ,but I need to check that out.
Near Gonzales ,Tx sitting out in a field is a house from either Sears or William A.Radford's Bungalows plan book,the exteriors are the same.Its located in the tiny community of Summerville. There is an Aladdin Shadowlawn on the IH35North access road outside New Braunfels as you drive to Austin. And in between Schertz and Cibolo is a collection of trailers and bungalows. One of the bungalows looks like an early Aladdin Home. In Cibolo there is a definet home build from plans by Fred T.Hodgson,and in New Braunfels I found a home built from plans by E.W.Stillwell who was out in California.HollyDolly

Unknown said...

My partner and I bought a kit home a year ago- totally in love with it :) https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/5416-39th-Ave-Hyattsville-MD-20781/37516962_zpid/

Daphidilia said...

Thank you for access to your database, I see that there are no listing for any in AZ, I ran across an article a few weeks ago, I've included it below, that caught my interest, as I have read through your blog and others, I do believe that there are more in the state. Bisbee and Clarksdale are both mining towns that had railroad access and have a few houses that may well be kit houses, though whether Sears or otherwise i know not, it is something's I hope to look into however. Thank you for the information,no I will let you all know if I run into some around d the southwest...

http://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/phoenix/2014/12/08/phoenix-plans-sell-historic-property/19948671/

Another article I ran across as well...

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/liz-and-johns-1926-sears-craftsman-house-tour-196714

Sears Homes of Chicagoland said...

Hi, Daphidilia! There probably are some in Arizona that we don't know about. I can tell you that Sears never published a letter from a house customer in AZ in over 30 years of selling houses. I can also tell you Sears did not advertise their Modern Homes in the local AZ papers. So there may not have been many customers.

There are many claims of Sears houses in AZ, but none have panned out. That house on Apartment Therapy is not Sears--we can tell from the inside features without even seeing the outside. :)

That house in Laveen is not one either--we know the models that Sears sold and that was not one of them.

Keep hunting and let me know if you need to update the database with a new find!

Thanks for reading, Lara

Unknown said...

Hi I have heard about these houses before but recently heard an episode of the 99% Invisible podcast where they talk about these homes and the search for them. After a quick cursory search on the Internet I believe I have found one of the Lexington Models in Elliston, Virginia!

Sears Homes of Chicagoland said...

The Lexington has some unusual features which you can read about here:

http://www.sears-homes.com/2014/10/the-sears-lexington-style-that-will-be.html


If you still think you have found one, please email me at lara@sears-homes.com and I can add it to the list. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Here is an article for a house in Phoenix, AZ claiming to be a Sears home. https://www.oldhouses.com/2618

Our news station also recently did a story on kit homes. Apparently they still have about 15 of them in Jerome, AZ, not sure if they are Sears homes through.
http://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/arizona-news/kit-homes-bought-from-catalogs-still-stand-in-jerome


Sears Homes of Chicagoland said...

HI, none of those AZ houses match the models that Sears sold.

argyle said...

check 801 iowa st indianapolis "the argyle" which has been exterior painted and google street view shows before painted.

Sears Homes of Chicagoland said...

Thank you I added the Argyle.

Unknown said...

I was trying to email you about possible Sears kit homes in the central Illinois area. I've found very little data on any website about Sears kit homes in this area and was wondering if you could help me. Possibly point me in the right direction of someone else who may have already searched this area. If not I am curious to help look since it doesn't seem that this area has much of a historical society specially when it comes to local residents. Please feel free to email me. I tried using your link but it wasn't working for me through outlook. Thank you so much for the information. I've loved delving into your blog.

Sears Homes of Chicagoland said...

Hi, I don't have your email address, but you can email me at Lara@sears-homes.com

Unknown said...

I live in a house that was my husbands grandparents. It is the Vallonia. We wondered what year it was bulit? Can anyone tell us.

Sears Homes of Chicagoland said...

The Vallonia was sold from 1920 to 1940 so sometime in that range!

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