Here are six of the most distinctive undiscovered Sears models. Have you seen any of these? Email me!
1. No. 264P158
No. 264P158. Customers built this house in New York, NY and Terre Haute, IN. Were those the only two built? |
2. No. 138
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No. 138. The porch roof is oddly shaped, with a cut-out. There is a teeny dormer in one of the upstairs bedrooms that originally had colored art glass. This house was sold for only one year, and then Sears designed a completely different No. 138. Scan courtesy of Dale Haynes. |
3. The Edgemere
4. No. 204
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No. 204 was sold 1911-1913. It almost looks like a house from today that has had an awkward second story added. The square windows on the second story are an enclosed sun porch. |
6. The Millerton
3 comments:
These are all very interesting houses! I would guess that number 5, the Vinita, might have been a popular seller but, as you note, exterior alterations to subdue the exterior would be expected and would definitely make the house much harder to recognize today. I'm surprised that as many as 99 Sears models have never been located. Is it possible that Sears offered houses which simply never sold? I hope to run across one of these six in the future!
Yes, I think it's possible that there were models that didn't sell. There were many "one-and-dones"--offered in the catalog one year only. There were big, expensive homes in the list of 99 that most buyers couldn't afford. There were little simple ones that may have been built but were likely demolished or added onto so much we couldn't recognize them.
I'll bet we'll locate at least 30 of the remaining 99. As more mortgage records become digitized we'll be able to find the houses that Sears Roebuck financed all over the country.
I'm hoping The Millerton is hiding somewhere in Ohio. :)
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