Possibly the Only Sears Norwood in Illinois

The Sears Norwood, just 16-feet wide, was designed for narrow city lots and perfect for urban living.  One example still stands in Oak Park, the only Sears Norwood in Illinois. 

1034 S. Elmwood, Oak Park.

Sears Norwood.

This Sears Norwood in Oak Park was built in 1922.  The house is a genuine Sears kit; the building permit has the architect recorded as "Sears, Roebuck & Company". 

The Norwood was a small, practical design aimed at working-class buyers, with Craftsman-inspired details. Sears offered other similar small bungalows, each with slight variations in porch, roofline, or floor plan. 

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 note that the models like the Norwood reflect the “democratization of homeownership”—bringing Craftsman design to everyday buyers. They state that these smaller homes were the backbone of Sears’s sales volume, even if less architecturally elaborate than contemporary models like the Magnolia.

Although the house in Oak Park now has vinyl siding and replacement windows, the original gable ornament remains.

With the porch enclosed, it's hard to see whether the house has the front door abutted by windows on each side. However, Google Streetview shows us the house before its most recent set of renovations.

Yup, this entry matches that on Sears Norwood. The door touches the frames of the two adjacent windows. See those decorative false beam ends on the porch roof? That was the original overhang delivered from Sears--the Norwoods in Cincinnati have the same one. The main roof has notched rafter ends just like in the catalog illustration (Google Streetview). 

The original eaves brackets.

There is a large two-story addition to the rear.

The Norwood was a narrow residence. The rooms are arranged one behind the other with a staircase at the side. There were two cozy bedrooms upstairs (the Norwood in Oak Park has three today).

 

The rear addition includes an expanded kitchen.

The owners added a first-floor half bath and a sitting room.

A master suite was added to the rear where the roof was originally.

OK that scared me for a second!

The new master suite.

The first owners, Luther and Josephine Harnden, lived there for almost four decades. Luther, a fireman for Engine Co. No. 3, lived there until his passing in 1963. Josephine stayed until 1967 before moving in with her son in St. Charles.

Special thanks to the late Donna Bakke for her help with the house identification.

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