Posted on 05/17/2016 12:12:08 PM PDT by PROCON
Not long ago, the Sears, Roebuck and Co. mail-order catalog was the ultimate marketplace, much like Amazon is today. You could even buy a house straight from the catalog. Just pick out the home you like, and voila, Sears would deliver it just for you. (The best Amazon can do is either a DVD box set or houses that, uh, would have some size and space issues for most people.)
These Sears homes weren't cheap low-end houses. Many of them were built using the finest quality building materials available during that time. It's not uncommon to find Sears homes today with oak floors, cypress siding, and cedar shingles. As with most old homes, the tough part is finding one that has been well maintained, and with the youngest of Sears homes going now eight decades old, they all require a significant amount of care. From 1908 to 1940, Sears sold between 70,000 to 75,000 homes, so there are plenty out there, you just need to know where to look.
(Excerpt) Read more at popularmechanics.com ...
Never lived in a sears home myself, but have a friend who does.
My ex-wife’s grandmother owned one that was built in 1910 and was in her family from that time until she passed in the late 80’s.
Jim Walter’s Homes. Came as a kit.
My grandparents built a magnificent Sears house on their large parcel of property. I have fond memories about that home.
A friend of mine lived in a Sears house in Hollywood, CA, from 1921. It was pretty much in original shape but dismal. Dark, 2 outlets per room. Railroad shack kind of thing, not pretty like the one pictured.
His doorbell had stopped working years and years before. One day the mailman came up to the door with a package, rand the bell, and “ding!”
Somewhat later my friend realized what had happened, and began a diligent search to find out what was powering the bell. It turned out to be one those old cells, like 3” in diameter and 8” tall. Everready, with the black cat. Buried deep in the rafters.
So he called the company thinking they’d be at least mildly interested in the story.
Couldn’t care less.
My dad put a few of these kits up. One right down the block from me. Also Medallion Homes. Whole house arrived on a trailer with precut framing.
Back then an oak floor was a “cheap” floor.
The failure of vision that led to the current state of Sears, rather than leveraging their vast catalog operations to become what Amazon has become instead, is a sad thing to ponder. They had practically all they needed, already in place.
http://www.sears-homes.com/2012/01/unknown-origin-of-richard-nixons-mail.html
Richard Nixon was born in a kit house, but it was not a Sears house.
Jim Walter homes were notoriously cheap, though. One step up from a trailer.
I lived in a house which was built in 1957 from a Popular Mechanics floor plan. The original plans were included in the documents provided with the house. Very nice design actually.
My town has many of those homes. A number of them were made from just purchased plans.
I always wondered why so many house looked exactly the same as a kid.
Sears also sold automobiles.
They're on the verge bankruptcy now from what I've heard.
Uncle Arthur’s home, on a farm in Kansas, was from Sears. I don’t know when it was built.
There were the all-metal Lustrons, and also Gunderson pre-fabbed houses that could be assembled by 2 men in a week.
IIRC our fraternity house was a Sears house
Grandparents owned one . It is still standing and in very good shape .
My ancestors had lost everything in the fire a few years earlier, couldn't afford Sears, they went with a different vendor. Thanks PROCON.
Well, I once wore a Craftsman suit.
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