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In Raleigh their are plenty of Sears and Robuck true craftsman homes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by raleighboy
My 94 year old neighbor told me that she and her husband picked out their classic bungalow out of a Sears catalog. They paid 12K for their brand new home back in the 30's that is now worth 600k. Mordecai(sp?) also has some great old craftsman homes.
When we bought our first Craftsman in Portland we had a little old lady in her 90s that lived around the corner from us. She was great for getting the neighborhood history. But she was no fan of "those cheap mail order Robuck houses". (LOL! I've been in some of those Sears & Robuck homes and would love to have owned them!!) But she had a stigma against them. Her comments kind of remind me of the current modular home discussions. BTW, I am in no way saying today's modular homes will stand the test of time like the Sears & Robuck houses. But this woman did not think a good house could arrive from a train yard.
Maybe the modular folks should find those old Sears and Robuck plans and build those. Now if we only had an abundance of 100 year old + trees to build those homes.
Wow-good stories! My grandparents also bought a Sears house in the 30's that was sent down from Chicago. They live waaayy out in the country and the train brought it to the train stop. They "hauled" the thing home (don't ask me how) and said everyone lined the roads to see it. The basement (not dug out but built up) was flooded many times by all the hurricanes in Eastern NC before the drainage system was dug but my grandparents stayed "high and dry". My grandmother still lives there-it is a Colonial. Sadly the house needs so much work I bet it will torn dowm after she passes.
I've heard about it and seen it on TV...that was why I mentioned Chicago first. Did you use to live around there or something? That seemed like a nastolgic "sigh".
Started out at the "Tower of Babel" near Cook County Hospital / Pres-St. Luke's / UI ended up Broadway and Addison, near Wrigley Field ((sigh))
more years ago than I care to admit to!
Started out at the "Tower of Babel" near Cook County Hospital / Pres-St. Luke's / UI ended up Broadway and Addison, near Wrigley Field ((sigh))
more years ago than I care to admit to!
Ahh, sigh, my old stomping grounds too - "back in the day"... Taylor St and Little Italy, New Town, (Clark, Halsted, Diversey locale), Lincoln Park, bleacher seats at Wrigley for 5 bucks... Neighborhoods of bungalows and greystones. Plenty of Frank Lloyd Wright homes and buildings a short train ride away in the village of Oak Park where he lived and worked for many years.
Oops, almost forgot, this is a Raleigh forum... thanks for the brief nostalgia tour!
Wow-good stories! My grandparents also bought a Sears house in the 30's that was sent down from Chicago. They live waaayy out in the country and the train brought it to the train stop. They "hauled" the thing home (don't ask me how) and said everyone lined the roads to see it. The basement (not dug out but built up) was flooded many times by all the hurricanes in Eastern NC before the drainage system was dug but my grandparents stayed "high and dry". My grandmother still lives there-it is a Colonial. Sadly the house needs so much work I bet it will torn dowm after she passes.
Great story. Love that your grandma still lives there!
Not quite as big as a house, but I've got a Stickley design wooden chair that my grandmother put together herself from a mail order kit back in that era. Cool to think that my mom once sat in it as a little girl all those years ago.
BTW...the craftsman "style" etc is not a Sears & Roebuck thing although Sears did sell plans and home kits for craftsman style homes. Sears sort of usurped the Craftsman trade name for their tools etc from Gustav Stickley. Stickley,mission style, and the arts and crafts movement where afoot before Sears got involved with their kits. In fact, the main section of FLW's home in Oak Park Il. was built in 1889.long before Sears kits etc. For anyone interested in any of this stuff if you are ever near Chicago take the time to go to Oak Park and do the walking tour etc.. It is really not to be believed what this guy was up to more than 100 years ago.
BTW...the craftsman "style" etc is not a Sears & Roebuck thing although Sears did sell plans and home kits for craftsman style homes. Sears sort of usurped the Craftsman trade name for their tools etc from Gustav Stickley. Stickley,mission style, and the arts and crafts movement where afoot before Sears got involved with their kits. In fact, the main section of FLW's home in Oak Park Il. was built in 1889.long before Sears kits etc. For anyone interested in any of this stuff if you are ever near Chicago take the time to go to Oak Park and do the walking tour etc.. It is really not to be believed what this guy was up to more than 100 years ago.
I would hope that nobody on this forum would think that Frank Lloyd Wright built his home in Oak Park from a Sears kit....lol!
I am laughing so hard now...
Ahh, sigh, my old stomping grounds too - "back in the day"... Taylor St and Little Italy, New Town, (Clark, Halsted, Diversey locale), Lincoln Park, bleacher seats at Wrigley for 5 bucks... Neighborhoods of bungalows and greystones. Plenty of Frank Lloyd Wright homes and buildings a short train ride away in the village of Oak Park where he lived and worked for many years.
Oops, almost forgot, this is a Raleigh forum... thanks for the brief nostalgia tour!
It looks very different now - County has had a face-lift, U of I expanded, Pres-St. Luke's has built around the el somehow and "The Greeks" burned down........
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