Your house may have come from Sears

by Joe Spake on November 23, 2010


1936sears cornell Your house may have come from SearsBetween 1908 and 1940 Sears-Roebuck sold over 70,000 homes through their catalog.   The homes were sold as kits and included nearly all the materials needed to construct a new home.  The more you look at the Sears Archives, the more you feel that you are seeing a lot of these Sears homes around Midtown and the closer in areas of  east Memphis.

Take “The Cornell” in the plan on the left.  It’s just one of  hundreds of  plans Sears offered.  Anyone who has sold real estate in Midtown or even visited Midtown much recognizes the basic shape and floor plan.  Of Course “four-square” houses were popular in the first quarter of the 20th Century.  They were pretty straight forward in design and construction, and surely not too many came from Sears.

But how do you tell if yours did?  Check over the pictures and plans in the Sears Archives; then go to Wikihow.com, which has a very useful and interesting article on identifying Sears Kit Homes.  The precut and fitted parts were numbered, and there are other telltale signs in the design and features.  Styles are quite varied, from the Victorian cottage style, to four-squares, bungalows and some mansions that you would expect to see on Belvedere or Kenilworth.

Warning: If you are an old house fan, you will probably end up spending hours perusing the links in this post.  The Sears home archive is incredible, and articles written about the kit home are quite interesting.

Here’s a challenge for you:  If you think you live in a Sears house, or know someone who does, try to do some the verification items from the Wikihow article and share it with us in the comments.  Thanks!

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Joe Spake is a Real Estate Broker , Consultant and Internet Marketer in Memphis, Tennessee.
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Tagged as: homes, kit, Sears, sears-roebuck

  • http://columbusbestblog.com MaureenMcCabe

    I love Sears houses. We have some in Worthington, Ohio. I am sure they are sprinkled across our area. In a real estate class recently the instructor said Sears Homes were from post World War II. I said “nope.” It worked with the point he was trying to make. I thought he was talking about Lustron Homes or a development built during WWII, those fit with his point.

    I understand Montgomery Wards sold “House kits” too.

    • http://memphisrealestatebuzz.com joespake

      Actually, Maureen, I didn’t know that they sold them as late as 1940. Most of them around here (I assume – trying to get some owners to confirm) are Four-Squares, Victorian Cottages, or bungalows, all pre-1930. BTW, the Lustrons were post WWII. I have one listed now that’s in pretty good shape http://2399eastwood.com

  • http://columbusbestblog.com MaureenMcCabe

    I love Sears houses. We have some in Worthington, Ohio. I am sure they are sprinkled across our area. In a real estate class recently the instructor said Sears Homes were from post World War II. I said “nope.” It worked with the point he was trying to make. I thought he was talking about Lustron Homes or a development built during WWII, those fit with his point.

    I understand Montgomery Wards sold “House kits” too.

    • http://memphisrealestatebuzz.com joespake

      Actually, Maureen, I didn’t know that they sold them as late as 1940. Most of them around here (I assume – trying to get some owners to confirm) are Four-Squares, Victorian Cottages, or bungalows, all pre-1930. BTW, the Lustrons were post WWII. I have one listed now that’s in pretty good shape http://2399eastwood.com

  • Pingback: Memphis is a great bungalow town - Memphis Real Estate Buzz

  • Edsousaphone

    I have a sears house wit h a design from circa 1980. It is located near the old Bighampton jail, and I believe there are many Sears houses located in the area from Hollywood, Collins, Broad, and Poplar. Also, contractors may have become very familiar with the basic bones of the structures and became very adept at adding indoor toilets, porches, carriage ways, carports, expanded rooms and additions using dormers and gables. This activity may have been enable and expedited by the location of a regional distribution facility in midtown Memphis. It is quite possible that Sears has had a much bigger impact on the development of Memphis then it has been here to fore been given credit. If anyone is interested in starting a census or survey please leave a blog here.

    Thanks,
    ed

    • http://memphisrealestatebuzz.com joespake

      I agree with your premise, Ed. A look through the sears archives linked in the post shows a lot of house plans that are very typical for Midtown Memphis. I would certainly be interested, and maybe we can get Memphis Heritage involved. A lot has been published on how to recognize and verify Sears homes.

  • Edsousaphone

    I have a sears house wit h a design from circa 1980. It is located near the old Bighampton jail, and I believe there are many Sears houses located in the area from Hollywood, Collins, Broad, and Poplar. Also, contractors may have become very familiar with the basic bones of the structures and became very adept at adding indoor toilets, porches, carriage ways, carports, expanded rooms and additions using dormers and gables. This activity may have been enable and expedited by the location of a regional distribution facility in midtown Memphis. It is quite possible that Sears has had a much bigger impact on the development of Memphis then it has been here to fore been given credit. If anyone is interested in starting a census or survey please leave a blog here.

    Thanks,
    ed

    • http://memphisrealestatebuzz.com joespake

      I agree with your premise, Ed. A look through the sears archives linked in the post shows a lot of house plans that are very typical for Midtown Memphis. I would certainly be interested, and maybe we can get Memphis Heritage involved. A lot has been published on how to recognize and verify Sears homes.

  • Edsousaphone

    Sounds great Joe, my house is `1908 not 1980. Another element that makes the issue of identification a little more difficult is that many sears homes were sold without the lumber, masonry, and roofing materials to reduce weight.

    I believe the most compelling reason for beginning the survey now is that design elements, window casing and moldings, hardware, light fixtures, doors, etc can be lost forever as these old structures fall into disrepair, and eventually burned or bulldozed.

    ed

  • Edsousaphone

    Sounds great Joe, my house is `1908 not 1980. Another element that makes the issue of identification a little more difficult is that many sears homes were sold without the lumber, masonry, and roofing materials to reduce weight.

    I believe the most compelling reason for beginning the survey now is that design elements, window casing and moldings, hardware, light fixtures, doors, etc can be lost forever as these old structures fall into disrepair, and eventually burned or bulldozed.

    ed

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