And then I come across a house like the Sears Somerset in Berwyn.
 | |
|
 |
| Sears Somerset. |
Almost all the original exterior details on this Somerset are intact. It's adorable. This house shows exactly why Sears sold thousands of homes to customers across the United States.
 |
| I think the shutters were added in later years, but that's the original window. |
 |
| View from the other side. Those pillars with the rectangular inset are original, as are the brackets. You'll notice that the catalog illustration shows a full front porch but the Somerset in Berwyn does not have one. |
Sears sold the Somerset until 1925. Carl and Ragnhild Meyer got in before the cutoff and built their Somerset in the Proksa Park neighborhood of Berwyn that year. Carl was a salesman for a roofing company.
 |
| Carl Meyer. Public photo on Ancestry.com. |
 |
| Young Ragnhild Meyer. She was a Norwegian immigrant. Public photo on Ancestry.com. |
 |
| Ragnhild in later years. Public photo on Ancestry.com. |
The Meyers sold the Somerset sometime after 1938.
1 comment:
It is indeed refreshing to see a Sears house which has managed to come through time relatively intact... hopefully the interior has managed to keep its originality as well! Aside from the addition of decorative shutters, the only exterior change I can see is the omission of the open (as in not roofed) section of the porch.
The house was likely built without it as the stone-faced block of the foundation can be seen to continue at the front. Had the larger porch been built, it is likely that a plain block would have been used on the front where it would be hidden by the porch. It's always good to see a house which appears to be loved, also. Nice find!
Post a Comment