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Just wanted to say for thanks for sharing this important part of history. I had no idea that Sears and Wards sold homes and did so via catalog. Amazing!!
Are you familiar with Lustron houses? They're post WWII prefab structures built of enameled (porcelain, I think) steel. I believe these homes were built nationwide. There's quite a supply of them in Chicago's western 'burbs.
I could be mistaken but I dont think those are BEFORE and AFTER photos. I think the BEFORE is the drawing that might have been in the advertisements/instructions and the AFTER is an actual house that was built.
Very cool thread. I worked with a woman that owned a Sears home. It was adorable. It is very close to the 3rd picture that was posted on the first thread. She said when they did a renovation in the home, the studs actually had a Sears stamp on them! How cool!
Are you familiar with Lustron houses? They're post WWII prefab structures built of enameled (porcelain, I think) steel. I believe these homes were built nationwide. There's quite a supply of them in Chicago's western 'burbs.
Oooh, of the vintage manufactured homes, the Lustrons are by far my favorite! So kitschy! They were based in the Chicago area, if memory serves, and there are surprisingly a lot of them disbursed throughout the country, given the fact that the company failed, and really only made them for a very short time. My old neighborhood in Kansas City had three of them right in a row...one in nice condition, and the other two had been unfortunately more let go. But they're neat.
I think we have a lot of Sears/kit homes here in Youngstown. My neighbor claims his house is a Sears home, because he can see the stamps on the joists in his basement. But, it has been sided, and the porch columns have been replaced with wrought-iron, so I imagine it would be hard to recognize. Another house up the street looks like a Sears Modern Home No. 162, "The Elmwood."
I don't have a picture of the real house, but the upper and lower porches are enclosed.
The Sears Elmwood (also know as the Sunbeam) was one of their most popular designs. I'd say it was one of their top 10 most popular designs. A key feature of The Sunbeam (Elmwood) is that the roof in the front extends further down than the roofline in the back of the house.
How do you find out if your home is a kit home, or a Sears home? I just bought a 1950's house, have a copy of the original title, and the house is certainly similar to a few other homes in the neighborhood. Although, this is really not a cookie cutter area, so there's lots of styles here.
We have a home that doesn't look like any other on the street. I'm wondering if it's a Sears home too. The floor plan is almost similar to the floor plan on bottom right with the rooms in exact same layout.
The house was totally redone and modernized by owners before me. When we bought it, it still has the skeletal keylocks and we threw them out. Perhaps I should have saved them.
Last edited by echinela; 03-24-2010 at 12:35 PM..
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