Discovering a Harris Kit Home in Highland Park

650 Gray Avenue, Highland Park.

The Lake Forest from Harris Brothers was sold in the late 1920s. 

The house in Highland Park is reversed from the catalog illustration (most kit house companies would do this for no extra charge).

This Tudor Revival is a fine example of a Lake Forest model from Harris Brothers. The Lake Forest was a bright, one-story cottage with six rooms (about 1,000 square feet). It features storybook details: an enclosed front entry gable with an asymmetrical roofline, a side-gabled bay, and a battered side chimney. Half-timbering, stucco walls, flower boxes (missing from the Highland Park example), and an arched door add to its period charm. 

The Lake Forest was part of Harris Brothers’ line of “Perfection Homes”—the company’s top-quality offering.

In 1928, buyers could purchase the Lake Forest for $61 per month over ten years when financed through Harris Brothers. That made it an appealing choice for many middle-class families of the 1920s.

The Lake Forest even appeared on the cover of the 1927 Harris Brothers Building Material catalog. Harris sold both complete kit homes and separate building materials, allowing customers flexibility in how they built their houses.

A very hard-to-read floor plan for the Lake Forest. Information about the late 1920s Harris models is scarce, and this was all I could find. The Lake Forest had two bedrooms and one bath.

 

The front door is on the left.

The kitchen appears to have been expanded from its original footprint.

The house was built in 1926 by Thorsch & Co., a builder known to have constructed other Harris homes in Highland Park.

The first owners were Harry C. and Ruth Southard, who purchased the home in February 1927. Harry worked as an office manager in loan finance. 

In the 1930 census, the Southards valued the home at $15,500, a substantial appreciation from the original $4,000 mortgage. However, the couple’s time in Highland Park was brief. By February 1933, Harry and Ruth had relocated to Hingham, Massachusetts. They sold the property that October.

Nearly a century later, the Lake Forest in Highland Park still exemplifies the enduring appeal of the Harris Brothers homes.

Copyright Disclaimer: All photographs in this post (unless otherwise noted) are from real estate aggregate Redfin.com and are used in this post for the purposes of education, consistent with 17 USC §107.

A Century-Old Sears Clyde in Chicago

7017 N. Osceola, Chicago.

Sears Clyde from the 1921 Modern Homes catalog.

The Sears Clyde was a modest Craftsman-style bungalow offered by Sears, Roebuck & Company from 1920 through 1929. With its distinctive architectural details and efficient floor plan, the Clyde offered homeowners an attractive, affordable house.

This authenticated Sears Clyde in Chicago's Edison Park neighborhood was built in 1921. The house closely follows the catalog design, although the bedroom adjacent to the chimney projects farther out than shown in the original illustration.

 One of the Clyde's most recognizable features was its oversized decorative knee brackets, located beneath the front gable, porch roof, and projecting side bay. These details are still visible on the Edison Park house (Google Streetview).

A building permit for the house was issued in August 1921. Math Thome was the owner, and the house cost $5,000.The permit describes a house measuring 39 by 20 feet, which are the exact dimensions of the Clyde. The architect was George C. Nimmons & Co. 

Just over two years later, the house was advertised for sale in the December 23, 1923, edition of the Chicago Tribune.

Dec 23, 1923 Chicago Tribune.

More than a century after its construction, this Edison Park bungalow remains a recognizable example of the Sears Clyde.

The Haunted Sears Haverhill

From the outside, the Rossetti House on the University of Pittsburgh’s Greensburg campus doesn’t seem like the kind of place that would send chills down your spine. It is a Sears Roebuck house that now serves as the university’s Office of Admissions. And legend says its original owner never truly left.

The Pitt-Greensburg Rossetti House at 121 Lynch Way, Greensburg, PA. Photo from Crazypaco on Wikipedia.

The Sears Haverhill, a Colonial Revival with symmetrical windows and a central entryway.

Built in 1940, the Rossetti House began life as a Sears Haverhill. The house was originally constructed for Mary Lynch Quinn. Quinn and her husband lived there for decades.

In 1997, tragedy struck when Quinn, then in her 80s, was found by her caretaker in the swimming pool near her beloved home.

The following year, the University of Pittsburgh at Greensburg purchased the 1.5-acre property, converting the Sears home into housing for international students. In 1999, it was renamed Rossetti House in honor of Dr. Guy Rossetti, a longtime professor and administrator at the university.

If you ask around campus, the Rossetti House isn’t just another administrative building — it’s one of the campus’s most famous haunts. According to Paranormal Pitt: Ghost Stories and Legends of the University of Pittsburgh by M. L. Swayne, students and staff have reported unexplained knocks, footsteps, and flickering lights inside the old house.

Some even claim to hear a woman’s voice humming softly in the halls. Many believe it’s Mary Lynch Quinn herself, restless after her home was renamed and repurposed.

One of the eeriest details? Several witnesses have described feeling a sudden cold chill in the living room — the same room where Quinn’s body allegedly was laid out after her death.

Last year, Jason Iampietro of the Revenant Entity Paranormal Society led an investigation of the Haverhill. His team reported possible contact with two entities — Mary Lynch Quinn and a spirit named Juan, thought to be a former student. The group captured electronic voice phenomena (EVPs) and temperature changes suggesting an unseen presence.

Today, the Sears Haverhill is a place where history refuses to rest quietly. Maybe it’s the lingering presence of Mary Lynch Quinn, still watching over her house. Or maybe it’s just the creaks and groans of an old Sears home settling in the Pennsylvania night. Either way, the Rossetti House is a fascinating blend of Sears home history and local ghost lore.

Photo from Pitt-Greensburg.