In the early 1900s, America’s cities were a dirty place to be. We were burning coal for transportation (trains), and for home heating and cooking, and also for industry (to power large machinery and heat large buildings). Cities were filthy and the ubiquitous coal dust and soot wreaked havoc on the health of young children, particularly their lungs. Stories abound of women’s flower beds and veggie gardens being destroyed by the soot that rained down from the skies above. In large cities, garments hung out on the line were quickly ruined by the omnipresent clouds of soot.

Pictured below are two workers on the side of a tall building. Any guesses what they’re doing? Let me give you a hint. They’re not painting the brick. They are scrubbing the soot off the side of this building. Now, if that’s what the side of a massive building looks like, imagine what a child’s lungs might look like.

(Story continues below the photo.)

The mail-order catalogs issued by both Aladdin and Sears promoted the idea of happy, healthy children, playing with their siblings outside in the fresh, clean air.  The Sears ad (below) says, “Know the joy of living close to nature where your children have a chance to play in safety…”

In this context, “safety” was not about dirty old men luring children into their dark sedans with promises of candy and kittens.  It was about getting your children into a salutary environment - with tall trees and fresh breezes and clean air - so that the children might live to adulthood.  One old advertisement read, “Give the kiddies a chance…get them out of the city.”

Happy children playing in expansive yards on well-tended suburban lots were an important part of the kit home literature. Below is a picture of two young children, playing under the watchful eye of their mother, in the shadow of a darling little Sears Barrington. The graphic appeared in the 1928 Sears Modern Homes catalog.

So that was how Sears promoted the “happy children” aspect.  Like Sears, Aladdin kit homes were also offered through a mail-order catalog. Aladdin actually started selling homes in 1906, two years before Sears, and lasted until 1981. Sears closed up their Modern Homes department in 1940.

In the late 1910s and early 1920s, Aladdin (like Sears) also leaned on the “healthy, happy children” aspect to sell their homes. The image below is from the inside cover of the 1919 Aladdin catalog.  By the way, these children are playing in front of an Aladdin Pasadena. What a pretty picket fence! These rosy-cheeked children are enjoying the pleasures of strolling along well-maintained city sidewalks.

Sears homes offered families a way out of the city and out of the slums. They opened the door to a brighter future, and a sweet little two-bedroom, 850-square-foot-house on a small lot with a picket fence. They offered people their very own piece of the American Dream, at an affordable price. Best of all, they offered men and women a promise that their little children could grow up in safety. And for the low, low price of $34 a month.

To learn more about Sears Homes, click here.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

*   *   *

Sunday afternoon, two gents stopped by our house and asked if they could see the pergola in our back yard. They seemed sincere and trustworthy, so we stepped outside and escorted them through our gate and into the back yard.

Turns out, “Jack” had been admiring our pergola every time he drove past our home on Gosnold, and wanted to re-create something similar in his own backyard.

As the two men stood in front of our pergola, gushing praise and saying all the right things, I looked at my husband’s face. He was grinning from ear to ear.

In November 2008, he started building working on this pergola, working from nothing but a picture. He designed it, did the necessary math for that little hip roof, installed the slate roofing shingles (modern), and even applied the primer and finish coats of paint. It took him a year of weekends to finish the project, and about 3,381 trips to various lumberyards.

I’d first seen this pergola in an old 1924 house plans book, and being a die-hard purist, I wanted all improvements to the yard to be of a proper time period. And, I thought that the pergola shown in that old book was one of the prettiest things I’d ever seen.

And it’s even prettier “in the flesh.”

To read about the pretty pink house, click here.

To read about Sears Homes in Norfolk, click here.

*   *   *

More than 100 of the 370 designs that Sears offered during their 32 years in the kit home business were named after cities in Illinois (107 to be precise).

The Ivanhoe was not one of them. I’m not sure who dreamed up this name for this behemoth of a house, but it’s an interesting choice.

The Magnolia was Sears biggest and best (and most expensive) kit home, but the Ivanhoe was a close second. I’ve only seen a few of these in my travels, and one of them was in Lewisburg, WV and the other was in Elmhurst, Illinois. According to the testimonials found in the old Sears Modern Homes’ catalogs (and referenced in Rebecca Hunter’s book), there’s a Sears Ivanhoe in West Point, Virginia, but it faces the waterfront and is so far off the public road, I’ve not been able to get a photograph.

Below are the Ivanhoes in Lewiston, West Virginia, Elmhurst, Illinois, and an unknown city in northern Illinois.

First, the original catalog image.

If you know of the location of an Ivanhoe, please leave a comment below.

If you’ d like to read more about Sears Homes, click here.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

* * *

On a recent trip to North Carolina, I found a Sears Elmhurst. And on a recent trip to my attic, I found a picture of a Sears Elmhurst somewhere in a Chicago suburb (first picture below). This was not an especially massive house, but it is an elegant home, and full of classic English Tudor features.

To read more about the Sears Homes in Rocky Mount, click here.

To read more about the Sears Homes in Northern Illinois, click here.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

*   *   *

The fact is, I’m just biding my time in the 21st Century until the smart people figure out how to travel through time. Once that happens, I’ll get back to the 1920s, where I belong. Until then, I’ll just have to pretend that’s where I live.

My current home is a 1925 Colonial Revival in Colonial Place, Norfolk (Virginia). It’s a grand old house, but the repairs have been substantial. In the last four years, we’ve spent more than $40,000 doing repairs and improvements.

One of the “improvements” was the little house we had built in the back yard.  “La Petite Manse” is the creation of artisan and master craftsman David Strickland. He and I worked together to design the little house, and David built it. It’s designed to mirror the look of the 1925 Colonial, and I’m tickled pink with the work David did.

I love my little house. Sometimes, I just sit in the back yard and admire the little house. It makes me happy.

To read about the kit homes in Colonial Place, click here.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

*   *   *

An EPA press release (3/31/2011) proclaims that they’ve successfully put a hurting on yet another small business, and this one’s in the Midwest.

They’ve inflicted a $40,000+ fine on a Kansas-based construction company for the unspeakably horrific crime of…

“Failure to hand out a governmental brochure to potential customers.”

Good for the EPA. We’ve got way too many small businesses in the Midwest. We don’t need any more employers out in “The Rust Belt” anyway. Those entrepreneurial types who put their own venture capital into businesses and create new jobs need to be closed down and they deserve to suffer heavy penalties, and the EPA is just the agency to do it.

With a few more successes like this, the EPA will soon be completely triumphant in fulfilling their stated purpose: The full-scale ruination of America’s independent contractors, and - as a bonus - the unintended consequence of destroying the value of America’s pre-1978 housing stock.

This one is especially interesting, because the EPA forced the contractor to replace 73 windows at “three group home facilities operated by a non-profit organization.”

Gosh, looks like the EPA found a way to get some free windows for their favorite charity!

Meanwhile, BP hasn’t paid a penny for destroying the Gulf of Mexico. Why beat up one big corporation when there are so many small business that can be eviscerated so easily?

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., March 31, 2011) - Window World of St. Louis, Inc., has agreed to pay a $19,529 civil penalty to the United States to settle allegations that it failed to notify owners and occupants of at least 20 St. Louis area residential properties built before 1978 of lead-based paint risks prior to performing renovation work at those locations.

According to an administrative consent agreement filed by EPA Region 7 in Kansas City, Kan., the window replacement company, located in Maryland Heights, Mo., was legally required to provide owners and residents of the properties with an EPA-approved lead hazard information pamphlet before starting renovations at the properties.

Provision of the lead hazard information pamphlet to property owners and occupants is one requirement of the Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act, which Congress passed in 1992 as an amendment of the federal Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

The regulation is intended to protect owners and occupants of residential properties, child care facilities and schools built before 1978 from health risks associated with lead-based paint. Lead-based paint was banned for residential use in the United States in 1978. Most homes built before 1978 contain some amount of lead-based paint, and subsequent renovation activity of such properties can cause occupants to be exposed to dust, chips and debris that contain lead.

The Residential Lead-Based Paint Hazard Reduction Act requires renovators of such properties to obtain certified training, follow safe work practices, and take specific steps to make owners and occupants aware of health risks associated with lead exposure before renovation work occurs.

As part of its settlement with EPA, and in addition to paying the $19,529 civil penalty, Window World of St. Louis has agreed to perform a supplemental environmental project, through which it will spend an estimated $20,048 to replace a total of 73 old windows contaminated with lead paint at three group home facilities operated by the non-profit social services organization Youth in Need. Those facilities are located at 1420 N. 3^rd Street, 516 Jefferson Street, and 529 Jefferson Street, in St. Charles, Mo.

To read another article about the EPA’s insanity, click here.

To go back to reading happy, happy articles about Sears Homes, click here.

*   *   *

The number one question I’m asked again and again - How do you identify a Sears Kit Home?

First, begin by eliminating the obvious. Sears sold these homes between 1908-1940. If your home was built outside of that time frame, it can not be a Sears catalog home. Period. Exclamation mark!

The nine easy signs follow:

1) Look for stamped lumber in the basement or attic. Sears Modern Homes were kit homes and the framing members were stamped with a letter and a number to help facilitate construction. Today, those marks can help prove that you have a kit home.

2) Look for shipping labels. These are often found on the back of millwork (baseboard molding, door and window trim, etc).

3) Check house design using a book with good quality photos and original catalog images. For Sears, I recommend, “The Sears Homes of Illinois” (all color photos). For Wardway, there’s “The Mail-Order Homes of Montgomery Ward.”

4) Look in the attic and basement for any paperwork (original blueprints, letters, etc). that might reveal that you have a Sears home.

5) Courthouse records. From 1911 to 1933, Sears offered home mortgages. Using grantor records, you may find a few Sears mortgages and thus, a few Sears homes.

6) Hardware fixtures. Sears homes built during the 1930s often have a small circled “SR” cast into the bathtub in the lower corner (furthest from the tub spout and near the floor) and on the underside of the kitchen or bathroom sink.

7) Goodwall sheet plaster. This was an early quasi-sheetrock product offered by Sears, and can be a clue that you have a kit home.

8 ) Unique column arrangement on front porch and five-piece eave brackets (see pictures below).

9) Original building permits. In cities that have retained original building permits, you’ll often find “Sears” listed as the home’s original architect.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

To read another article, click here.

* * *

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

* * *

Send Rose an email at thorntonrose@hotmail.com

To read more about Sears Homes, click here.

* * *

I’ve seen a lot of houses in a lot of cities, but I’d have to say, the collection of kit homes I found in Raleigh is really remarkable.  The houses were (for the most part) in wonderfully original condition, and the homeowners we met during our survey were absolutely joyous to learn that they lived in a kit home.  And the diversity of kit homes was remarkable, too!

During the six hours we spent  riding around on April 2, we found kit homes from Sears, Aladdin, Montgomery Ward, Gordon Van Tine, Harris Brothers and even Sterling Homes.

The other thing that made this collection remarkable is that Raleigh has some of the higher-end models offered by these kit home companies.  To sneak a peek, scroll on down! 

To see photos from my first visit to Raleigh (in February 2011), click here.

Rose will be giving a talk in Raleigh on Saturday, May 19th (Saturday) at the Rialto Theater. Learn more by clicking here.

*

But wait, there’s more!

*

Maybe if I’d told them I was coming, they would have baked me a cake (and moved the cans)! 

In addition to Sears, Raleigh also has several kit homes from Aladdin. Aladdin was a bigger company than Sears, and in business 40 years longer than Sears. They sold 75,000 kit homes (more than Sears). Aladdin was based in Bay City, Michigan, but they had a large mill in Wilmington, NC (which explains why I find so many Aladdins in the southeastern part of the country.

While driving around, we also spotted this house (see below). It’s a plan book house and was built as a four-family home. The house we saw in Raleigh has been converted into a single family and I should have taken a photo, but we were getting dog-tired after so many hours in the car. If anyone knows the address of this house in Raleigh, please leave a comment below.

And about an hour south of Raleigh, there’s the Sears Magnolia! There were only six Magnolias built in the country, and there’s one in Benson. This is the biggest and best of the Sears Homes.

This is but a sampling of the kit homes we found in Raleigh. To see photos from my first visit to Raleigh (in February 2011), click here.

In conclusion, the collection of kit homes in Raleigh really is remarkable and historically significant, and it’s my hope and prayer that people of Raleigh will start to think about what can be done to protect and preserve these homes.

To learn more about Sears Homes in nearby Rocky Mount, click here.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

*    *    *

As mentioned in Part 1, I recently visited Hopewell (Virginia) for the first time in several years.

In early 2003, I went to Hopewell to give a talk on Sears Homes. The talk went well and I sold a bunch of books and I had a wonderful time. Unfortunately, there was a downside to this otherwise delightful visit. Driving through the city, I discovered that most of their Crescent Hill “Sears Homes” being promoted in a local brochure were not Sears Homes.

Unfortunately, a handful of people did not agree with me, and Hopewell’s brochure - with its inaccurate information on their Sears Homes - was not to be changed.

It was very upsetting. Those who write about history have a solemn charge to make sure it is kept pure and honest. That’s something about which I feel passionate.

When I returned to Hopewell (March 18 2011), I was gratified to see that a few of the errors had been removed from the city’s well-promoted brochures, but many non-kit homes were still being wrongly identified as Sears Homes.  (Reader’s Note: This blog is Part 4 of a series.  Click on the links to read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3. To read about the collection of Aladdin kit homes in Hopewell, click here. Blogs with photos of Aladdin kit homes are labeled with Roman numerals.)

The beauty part of identifying Sears Homes is matching the houses to their original catalog image.

Below is one such example:

Now that’s a nice match. The house in Hopewell looks just like the catalog image. That’s what makes this topic so fun and so intriguing and so delightful. And the cold hard fact is, if you can not match up a suspected kit home to an image in a vintage mail-order catalog, you got nothing.  The house must be a spot-on match (minus remodelings, substitute sidings, etc.).

And that’s my complaint with Hopewell’s purported “Sears Home” at 105 Prince George Avenue. The brochure offered at the Hopewell Visitor’s Center identifies this house as (and I’m quoting), “Original Sears model (remodeled).”

I kid you not.

That’s all the information offered on this house.

Speaking as someone who’s written several books on this topic, and as someone who’s traveled all over this country for the last 11 years, seeking and finding kit homes of every name and nature, I can say with authority, I have no idea what they’re talking about. Sears offered 370 designs of kit homes. Their very first catalog had 22 designs within its 44 pages, and not one of those designs was called, “Original Sears Model.”

There is no “original Sears model” (remodeled or not).

Further, I’m of the opinion that the house at 105 Prince George Avenue is not a Sears Home. And if it was a Sears Home, I’d show you a catalog image so you - the reader - could contrast and compare the two pictures.

But on this house - I got nothing. No idea. So here’s the house in Hopewell that the brochure identifies as, “Original Sears model (remodeled).”

To read more about identifying Sears Homes, click here.

To see Danville’s amazing collection of Sears Homes, click here.

*   *   *

As mentioned in a prior post, I went through Rocky Mount, North Carolina several months ago and found a handful of kit homes, but apparently (without my handy dandy Garmin), I missed the good stuff. Today, I returned to Rocky Mount and this time (thanks to Garmin), I found all kinds of treasures in neighborhoods that I didn’t even know existed. (Read Part I here.)

All of the houses (below) are located in Rocky Mount, and most likely, the people living in these early 20th Century homes don’t realize that they have a kit home that came from a mail-order catalog.

And finally, my two favorite finds of the day!

The first is the Aladdin Williamette. This house was offered only in the 1920 Aladdin catalog, and this Williamette in Rocky Mount is the only Williamette I have ever seen. And it’s just a perfect match.

The second house is the Sears Elmhurst. This was also a very rare house and looks nothing like a typical “kit” home. This neo-tudor is both spacious, grand and ornate, and has lots of fine features you won’t find on your average Sears House!

Enjoy the photos, and if you know of anyone in Rocky Mount who might be interested in learning more about these amazing and delightful discoveries, please share this link!

To learn more about Sears Homes, click here.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

* * *