Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I found out that there are Sears homes up north in Newton Falls in St. Lawrence County. Wikipedia has an informative article on the topic.
Also, the Aladdin Company was the first to build or have plans for kit homes(1906).
Wikipedia is NOT a reliable resource for info on kit homes. Every time I go in there and make corrections, someone comes behind me and changes it back to the old text - which is rife with errors.
Aladdin started in 1906 and Sears was 1908, but didn't sell any houses until 1909. Montgomery Ward started in 1910.
This is is a very interesting thread. When I was a young child, probably under the age of 10, one of my older relatives pointed to a house on West Genesee St in Westvale, and said that it was a Sears kit house. He explained to me that Sears used to sell kits for houses. To be honest, I haven't really thought much about this comment in over 40 years.
This morning I drove West Genesee St in the Westvale area. While I'm not entirely certain of the house he pointed to, I do believe that I recognize it, and will sometime soon take a photo of it. Just from looking at the OP/Rosemary's various websites and related info, it would appear to me, and my rather untrained eye, that there are all sorts of Arts & Crafts style homes in the Syracuse area. They are probably not all Sears homes, but some probably are. Definitely some in the Westvale/Fairmount area. As a matter of fact, the house on Mackay Ave that was previously mentioned in this thread, is within walking distance to me. There are a number of Dutch colonials in the area, as well as some bugalows. Looks like a walking tour for me.
As for my own home, it's a bungalow built in 1919-20 by my grandfather and a friend. I do not believe it was from a kit, as the whole place is a little off kilter. (Hey, it's home, and it's paid for. Can't ask for more than that.) But I do believe that my house is inspired by the Arts & Crafts movement. It has 2 dormers, front and back, plus a large across the front porch with pillars, and a small bay window in the dining room. I know that my grandmother was fond of Stickley, but couldn't afford it, so she had a Stickley knock-off of that era which I still have.
OP/Rosemary---think you need to make a trip to Syracuse sometime to check out the architecture.
118 Mackay Ave in Fairmount resembles a Sears Mitchell from the front, but I didn't have a camera and it's not on Google Street View. It's on Bing though, you can see different aerial views (zoom in to orange map point, it's the corner house):
Cool and informative article. I would if people caught wind of this former movement/era, if kit homes could be popular again?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
photo
