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I went with some out-of-town guests on a Segway tour that included "Historic Oakwood" and I am almost certain that the guide stated that several of the homes where Sears kit homes. I bet if you contacted them that they might have some answers for you.
That house at 1807 St. Mary's might be a Sears Cedars, but I'm not convinced. It's just not a spot-on match - and it should be. The porch is wrong, the entry is wrong, the roofline is wrong and the *angles* are just not right. I'll drive by it when I'm in town.
The catalog image is from the 1928 Sears Modern Homes catalog. The photo is from Kirkwood, Missouri.
And here's a nice "Westly." The photo is from Oakwood, West Virginia.
Heretofore, I've only posted photos of the "pretties" but here's a poor little Westly in Northern Illinois that had a neighborhood built behind it.
By the way, I'm still looking for the house on page one of this thread. Thanks to your kindness and assistance, the addresses of two out of three are now known.
How about that Lewis Marlboro on the way to Peace College?
Rose
PS. I leave for Raleigh early tomorrow morning and won't have internet access again until Saturday night - late. Time's running out!
And PSS. It *is* like a scavenger hunt and it's always a ton of fun.
Last edited by RosemaryT; 02-04-2011 at 03:44 AM..
I'm betting that you'll find a few kit homes in the Five Points East area. That's the east side of Glenwood between Wade Ave. and Whittaker Mill Rd. . The little side streets like Sunset are likely to have a few. This is guesswork on my part, but the period is right, and the neighborhoods are crammed with small to medium sized homes that seem to fit the styles that Rosemary and others have pointed out.
Thanks for a look at some great little pieces of history. Very Cool!
I'll bet more than a few of us will be keeping our eyes open for these gems from now on.
I realize you may not have 'Net access, but if you get this while in Raleigh, a friend of mine lives on a street simply called "The Circle", off Glenwood Ave, that has a lot of homes with the "look" of the ones you've been posting--might be worth a drive through there. This is not too far from Five Points where the above person is mentioning.
I don't leave until tomorrow morning. Keep those cards and letters (and addresses) coming!
Here's one of my favorite finds (see below). It's a kit home from MONTGOMERY WARD. They (like Sears) also sold kit homes, but while Sears sold about 70,000, Montgomery Ward only sold about 25,000.
Still, they're nice looking houses. This one is in West Virginia.
Ah, another day What made me think of The Circle is a house there that I first thought might be a "Cedars", as it is VERY similar, but not exactly, to the catalog pic you list. Would there have been a "Cedars 2.0" or something? I actually know of another of this identical floor plan in Durham.
This is such an awesome thread! I love stuff like this. I have so many questions.
First since I am not really in the know about kit homes... how exactly does this work? You purchase a kit or materials for the home (for instance, the Montgomery Wards kit above is only $1855 for materials). What all does that include? I'm guessing nothing electrical or plumbing but strictly the lumber for the house? Are these houses then built by the families that purchase the kits or does the company build it for you? How about permits or things of that nature?
I'm really enjoying this thread. The pictures are fabulous!
This is such an awesome thread! I love stuff like this. I have so many questions.
First since I am not really in the know about kit homes... how exactly does this work? You purchase a kit or materials for the home (for instance, the Montgomery Wards kit above is only $1855 for materials). What all does that include? I'm guessing nothing electrical or plumbing but strictly the lumber for the house? Are these houses then built by the families that purchase the kits or does the company build it for you? How about permits or things of that nature?
I'm really enjoying this thread. The pictures are fabulous!
To read more, google me.
The way it worked was, you'd study the pages of your Sears Modern Homes catalog, which typically had about 100 designs within its 130 pages. You selected a house that you liked. Then you sent in a $1 good faith deposit to Sears Roebuck. By return mail, Sears would send you a complete set of blueprints and a list of all the building materials that would come with you house.
If you liked what you saw, you'd send in the balance of the money and Sears would ship you - often by rail - an entire kit home, comprising about 12,000 pieces of house. It was not "just lumber," but a complete kit, including framing members, sheathing, flooring, roofing, shingles, tar paper, 750 pounds of nails, finish trim, 10 gallons of varnish, 27 gallons of paint, coat hooks, towel racks and every single thing you needed.
(Hauling 12,000 pieces of house took some time. That's why kit homes are typically located within 1-2 miles of the railroad track. When I go hunting for kit homes, I start next to the train tracks and work my way our from there.)
Plumbing, heating and electrical equipment was NOT included in the kit. These were offered in different grades (good, better and best) and were purchased separately, for lots of reasons.
Some of these modern homes were more modern than the communities into which they were sold. You wouldn't need a Hiawatha Plumbing Outfit if you didn't have a water supply.
Sears promised the average homeowner that he could have the house ready for occupancy in 90 days. That was optimistic. Based on interviews I've done with people who built these kit homes, average assembly time was six months to two years.
More than 50% of the time, homeowners built their own home. Sears estimated a builder would charge $450 to erect a Sears kit home.
Here are a few of my favorite kit homes in North Carolina. These are Aladdin Kit Homes. The Pomona below is in Roanoke Rapids, and you'll notice, it's very close to the train tracks!
Tell me about Mordecai Neighborhood (another kit home question from Rose)
North Raleigh Guy posted this photo in another thread (see below). The thread is four years old, so I didn't add onto it.
The house he posted appears to be an Aladdin kit home, The Plaza.
Can someone tell me where this Mordecai neighborhood is? What are the boundaries? I'll be in Raleigh Saturday (about 16 hours from now), and I'd love to find this house.
I use a GPS and I need street names to navigate my way through the labyrinthine streets of Raleigh.
And the website for the Mordecai neighborhood shows that they have a brick Shadowlawn (also Aladdin) with a porte-cochere. Where's this sweet thing located?
Thanks for any help.
Rosemary
Last edited by RosemaryT; 02-04-2011 at 03:51 PM..
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Cedars
