Attack of the Clones

Today we’re talking about clones — not sci‑fi clone armies, but architectural clones.  

Sears and Montgomery Ward sometimes sold houses so similar that even seasoned researchers need interior access to tell them apart. When one company released a popular model, the other often produced its own lookalike. The result? A century later, homeowners routinely misidentify their houses.

Here's an example of Sears and Wards lookalike models.

The Salem from Montgomery Ward. Scan from Antique Home.

The Puritan from Sears. These houses are practically twins! (Sears had their design out first and Wards cloned it.)

Distinguishing Between Lookalikes--A Deep Dive
Now let’s look at a local mystery in Barrington: a house that looks like both the Sears Barrington and the Montgomery Ward Maywood.

614 Division, Barrington.

Sears Barrington.

Montgomery Ward Maywood.

There are some exterior differences between the Sears Barrington and the Montgomery Ward Maywood. 

The most notable difference is the dormer shape over the second floor bedroom. As delivered, the Sears version had a shed dormer and the Wards version had a hipped dormer. However, that was customizable by the buyer and so there wasn't a standard shape to that dormer from either company.

Sears on the left; Wards on the right.

The window locations slightly differ, and the shapes of the front vestibules slightly differ. When you're dealing with very subtle structural differences like you have with the clones, photos and Google Streetview may not provide an accurate perspective from the street.

So where does that leave us? How can we tell what company manufactured our yellow cottage? 

Oral History
We could ask the homeowners. For decades, the house's owners have said it was a Sears house.

The description from the current Zillow listing.

Real estate ad from 1996 declaring it to be a "Sears mail order home". 

If you've read anything on this site before, or been to one of my classes, you know that homeowners are wrong most of the time about the origins of their houses. Therefore, this isn't concrete evidence we have a Sears house, but interesting nonetheless.

Interior Layouts
There are a couple differences in the interior floor plans between the Sears Barrington and the Montgomery Ward Maywood.

Sears Barrington floor plan.

Montgomery Ward Maywood floor plan.

There are some significant differences in the floor plans, although the overall dimensions are identical.

The first is that the Wards version has a hallway and a sight line that runs straight through from the vestibule to the kitchen door. The Sears version does not have a hallway off the living room at that location.

The second difference is that the Sears version came with a breakfast nook as standard. It sits where the kitchen door is in the Wards version.

With those points in mind, let's look at the inside of our yellow cottage.

Bingo.  On the right is the hallway that leads to the kitchen. Just like on the Wards floor plan.  

There's the continuous sight line from the front door to the kitchen. A wall would be blocking this in the Sears version.  

In the Sears version, there is a breakfast nook where that back door is.  

Case closed. It’s a Montgomery Ward Maywood. Mic drop.

Research on the Original Owners
If we had conducted this piece of the research first, we could have gotten a quick answer.

Built in late 1929, the home’s original owners were Donald and Edna Titterton. Donald’s job? Furniture buyer for Montgomery Ward.

The Tittertons owned the house until at least 1970.

Front entry.  

 

 

The front bedroom.  

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.