The Houses That Sears Built:
Rosemary Thornton has been writing and lecturing about Sears homes for three years. She's also conducted surveys of Sears homes for several communities. As a result, Ms. Thornton found that she received frequent ... [... more]
Old House Web |
The Amazing Mr. Sears
Local merchants and owners of general stores were up in arms at the low prices Sears offered in his catalog and the bold promises that buyers could save money by eliminating the middle man. Of course, the middle man ... [... more]
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The Carlin, No. 3031
First Floor From the porch, a glazed door leads into the living room, which has an open stairway to the second floor. A cased opening leads to the dining room and a swinging door into the kitchen. From the kitchen a ... [... more]
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Building A Sears Kit House: First-Person Recollections
Pipeless Furnace was a 1910s euphemism for a coal-burning, fire-breathing, soot-belching, behemoth space-heater that lurked in the basement, directly underneath the living room floor. It didnt have pipes (ductwork) ... [... more]
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Sears Modern Homes
Don't put too much stock in front porches. You may find a perfect match for a Sears house, but then discover that the front porch doesn't match the catalog photo. This is common. Perusing old Sears homes catalogs, I ... [... more]
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California's Kit Homes, Part I
The history of Pacific Homes is especially interesting (and wonderfully Californian) because in the 1930s, the company transitioned from making kit homes to surfboards. In fact, Pacific Homes became one of the ... [... more]
Old House Web |
Sears Modern Homes
Hoge, Sr., Cecil C. The First Hundred Years are the Toughest: What We Can Learn From the Century of Competition Between Sears and Wards. Berkeley, California: Ten Speed Press, 1988. ... [... more]
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California's Kit Homes, Part Ii
Rose has spent six years living and breathing Sears kit homes. She's published two books and given hundreds of lectures, including a presentation at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. In the process, she ... [... more]
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Sears Modern Homes
In later years (the 1930s), Sears began calling the same house a different name if it had brick rather than wood siding. For example, the Willard and the Randolph are identical in every way--but one is brick and the ... [... more]
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Sears Modern Homes
In 1895, Sears, Roebuck and Company began selling building materials in addition to the tens of thousands of items already offered in their mail-order catalog. By 1908, customers were invited to write in and ask for ... [... more]
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Windows On The Past Carlinville, Illinois Celebrates The ...
A woman, known locally (and to us) as simply as "The Lady on Horseback" supervised the massive building project, riding from house to house and keeping a close eye on the workmen. She reportedly kept the construction ... [... more]
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Tiny White Tiles And Big Soaking Tubs
An interesting feature in the Fenton home is the storage cabinet over the staircase. The 36" wide enclosed staircase off the living room has a 3' wide by 6' deep storage cabinet attached to the stairwell ceiling, ... [... more]
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