Sears Crescent, as seen in the 1929 Modern Homes catalog.

"Interior Views" of the Crescent (1929).

Close-up of the Crescent's kitchen (1929).

Nice looking living room, too!

The bedrooms weren't' this big but why let details get in the way of a nice story?

The Crescent was offered with two floorplans, C33258A (shown here).

And this C3259A (the larger floorplan). Note it has THREE columns on the front porch.

Adding a couple dormers (on the front) to the optional "finished" second floor would have created a lot more space. The finished second floor was only offered with the smaller Crescent. But that does not mean that someone couldn't finish off the 2nd floor on their own!

Glen Ellyn (Illinois) has a Crescent with three dormer windows.

This dormered Crescent is in Ypsilanti. Photo is copyright 2013 Andrew and Wendy Mutch and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

In Ypsilanti, they like their Crescents with dormers! Photo is copyright 2013 Andrew and Wendy Mutch and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

A sad little Crescent waits for death in Godfrey, IL. Again, note the unique angle of the porch roof. This has also been authenticated as a Sears Home.

A picture-perfect Crescent in Raleigh. The dormers were original to the house.

Some Crescents have very steep porch roofs and some have very shallow. This Crescent in West Point has been authenticated by Rose as the real deal.

This Crescent look-a-like is in Atlanta. I suspect it is NOT a Crescent.

A Sears Crescent in Wheaton, IL.

Hubby and I found this Crescent on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

Is this a Sears Crescent? It's in Elmhurst IL.

This poor Crescent in Elgin, IL has had a hurting put on it. Rebecca Hunter has authenticated this house as a Sears Crescent.

It's been remodeled, but you can still see it's a Crescent. (Elgin, Illinois)

This Crescent is also in Elgin, IL.

Elgin Illinois has the largest known collection of Sears Homes in the country. They have a lot of Sears Crescents, too!

Not surprisingly, the Chicago suburbs are full of Sears Homes. This one is in Crystal Lake.

Another beautiful Crescent. This one is in Champaign, IL.

I stalked this house for 30 solid minutes, but the young woman on the porch never did hang up the phone, so in desperation, I snapped a photo of the house, phone caller and all. This beauty is in Charlotte, NC.

A perfect Crescent in Charlotte, NC.

This Crescent also has the less-steep pitch on the porch roof, but it's most likely a Sears Crescent. Notice the medallion inside the front porch (on the wall).

This photo was taken in 2003 (and it was scanned from an old slide) and it's in Bloomington, IL.

Is this a Crescent? The pitch of the porch roof is much less than that of the traditional porch roof in other Crescents, but I'd be inclined to say it probably is a Crescent. This house is in Wood River, Illinois.

This Crescent has a dramatically raised second floor. To compensate for the extra steep pitch of the roof, the porch roof was also raised a bit. This beauty is in Alton, Illinois.

Yet another dormered Crescent is in Ypsilanti. Photo is copyright 2013 Andrew and Wendy Mutch and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

A beautiful and well-loved Crescent in Webster Groves, MO (near St. Louis). Again, look at the variation on the pitch of that porch roof, and yet this is an authenticated Sears Home.

Now this house has some dormers! It's in Illinois, and was discovered by Rebecca Hunter. Photo is copyright 2013 Rebecca Hunter and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

The Crescent was a perennial favorite and was offered from 1919 to 1933. It's shown here in the 1933 Sears Modern Homes catalog.

Aladdin (based in Bay City, Michigan) sold kit homes through mail order. This is my favorite graphic from their catalog (1919).

The Stanhope was one of Aladdin's most popular little houses.

It had three bedrooms, but it was a very small house.

The catalog page featuring the Stanhope, as it appeared in 1919.

"Are you not pleased with the Stanhope?"

Aladdin was famous for their "Dollar a Knot" guarantee.

The Stanhope can be tough to identify because it looks like every little early 20th Century bungalow and is rather nondescript.

And yet, they can be identified if they're in original condition. Here's a perfect Stanhope in Scotland Neck, NC (near Roanoke Rapids).

Nice match, isn't it?

And here's one in Norfolk, Virginia. This house is very close to ODU, and is on 51st Street. It's a perfect example of the Aladdin Stanhope and one of my favorite finds!

The Sears Chelsea appeared in the first Modern Homes catalog (1908). In the floorplan for the 1908 "Chelsea," the bathroom was an optional upgrade.

By 1916, the price had dropped by almost half. It was not offered as a pre-cut home until late 1917. Notice that the house now has a slightly different appearance with that center closet window (front), broader windows and more substantial woodwork around the front porch.

By 1919, the price was back to 1908 levels. This was probably due to some post-war inflation. In 1919, the Chelsea was offered as a pre-cut kit home.

This testimonial (and photo) appeared on the back cover of the 1916 Sears Modern Homes catalog. The porch columns and lack of a closet window suggest it was the earlier (1908) model Chelsea.

The accompanying testimonial explains that the house was built in Ossining, NY.

Here's a picture-perfect Chelsea in Colonial Heights, VA. The owner has done a thorough, meticulous and painstakingly perfect job of restoring this 100+ year old house to its original grandeur.

This later-model Chelsea is in Mattoon, IL. Lots of sidings there.

A comparison of the Chelsea in New York (1916) and the Chelsea in Virginia (2010).

"Refinement and Comfort here." Sounds lovely!!

Here's an Elsmore that was built in Cairo, IL not far from the spot where Sears had their 40-acre lumber mill. This Elsmore, built at 1501 Commerce Avenue, was torn down pre-2001. I visited Cairo then and went looking for this house, but 1501 Commerce was an empty lot at that point. How many Sears Homes in Cairo have been razed? It's a vexing question.

Another vintage Elsmore. This one was in Glenshaw, PA (1919 catalog).

This is one of my favorite Elsmores. It's in Park Ridge, Illinois. Picture perfect in every way. Photo is copyright 2010, Dale Patrick Wolicki and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

And the crème de la crème. Cindy Catazaro found this house in Oakwood Ohio and it has been lovingly and faithfully restored. The house has obviously had some "renovations," but they've been done in a thoughtful, sensitive manner. I'm so impressed to know that there are people in the world who love their Sears House *this* much! Photo is copyright 2012, Cindy Catazaro and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

An skinny mini-Elsmore? It might be a trick of the eye, but it appears this Elsmore in Walnutport, PA is a little narrower than the catalog version. The window arrangement is also a little different. I'd love to know the history behind this house. Photo is copyright 2012 Angela Laury and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

The Elsmore, as it appeared in the later 1910s and 20s was actually a remodel of Modern Home #126, which was first offered in the 1908 (first) Sears Modern Homes catalog.

If you compare the two floorplans, you'll see how similar they are. This is the floorplan for the Sears Modern Home #126 (1908). Notice the size of the rooms and placement of windows.

And here's the floorplan for the Elsmore (1916). The chamfered corners are gone and the front porch is different, but the rest of the house is the same, down to window placement and room size. The front porch roof on Modern Home #126 (with cantilevers) *always* sagged due to its fantastic weight. Not a good design. The changes to the Elsmore porch fixed that problem.

In the early 1900s, Ladies' Home Journal was a housing magazine for women.

The magazine's pages were filled with articles on how to build or buy a nice house.

In the early 1900s, houses were cheap, but so were wages. In 1920, these women (sorting incoming orders for Montgomery Ward) probably didn't make $1,000 a year. In 1920, the average teacher's salary was $920 a year.

Heating systems were very primitive compared to today's modern furnaces and boilers. The "pipeless furnace" was hugely popular. It would be set in the crawlspace or basement near the center point of the house. The living room would be tropical, while the folks upstairs could see their breath.

The Kismet, as shown in the 1919 catalog.

Pretty small house. Could you raise five kids in the house? Many folks did. There was the parent's bedroom and the kids' bedroom. If you were really fancy, you might get a three-bedroom house with a girls' bedroom and a boys' bedroom.

This Kismet in Elmhurst, Illinois is a cutie, but it's pretty small. And it's had a substantial addition added onto the back of the house.

The Cinderella (1921 Sears catalog) was so named because it was an efficiently designed bungalow that saved the housewife much time and effort.

Interior views of The Cinderella (1921).

Less furniture to buy - less trouble and work. Good points, actually.

In the Cinderella, the beds were tucked into a closet during the day.

This is my favorite shot. This room was about five feet wide and ten feet deep, but it looks pretty darn spacious. And look at that sink at the end of the wall. Just a lone sink.

The Cinderella assumed that both Living and Dining Rooms would be used as sleeping spaces.

It's so easy, even a child can do it! Sort of.

Floorplan shows how tiny that "bed space" really is. It was 10'11" long and - if the drawing is anything near scale, it appears about five feet wide. In modern times, the folks looking at this house probably thought, "How odd! A big walk-in closet next to the living room, and it even has a sink in the corner!"

"Dressing room and bed space." Pretty tiny space!!!

"Twenty rooms in 12." Eight of those 20 rooms were closets with a bed.

Here are two of those eight "bedrooms." At least they have a window.

Close-up on the Murphy Bed in the Calumet.

And here's a real, live Calumet in Bloomington, IL.

Like Sears, Aladdin (Bay City, MI) also sold kit homes through mail order. They had a line of wee tiny Aladdin homes known as "Aladdinettes." Here's a picture of the Sonoma (1919), one of their Aladdinnette houses.

The Aladdinnette's "bed space" was really tiny. Only 6'9" by 5'. You have to step out of the room to change your mind!!

Close-up of the Aladdinnette's "closet bed."

Despite what you've seen on those Laurel and Hardy episodes...

The Sears Glendale, as seen in the 1919 catalog.

An unhappy Glendale in Mounds, Illinois (just outside of Cairo). This photo was snapped in 2010. Most likely, this house has now been torn down.

"Every bit of space has been used to the best advantage..." And all this for $1,748.

And here's Catarina's Glendale in the DC area. Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

Another view. Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

Did I mention that this house is in wonderfully original condition? WOW, look at the details! How many hands have brushed past the finial on this newel post in the last 100 years? Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

Close-up of the newel posts from the original catalog page.

Original windows, too! Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

The Glendale had two small fixed sashes on the first floor.

Inside, it looks like this! Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

The newel posts inside are even prettier! Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

And further down the staircase, you'll see the distinctive plinth block that is typically found in Sears Homes. The problem of matching up difficult compound joints was solved with this simple block. Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

And there's an original light fixture in one of the bedrooms. Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

This massive built-in China hutch retains its original finish. And it's beautiful! Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

Original hardware, too! Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

If you look closely at the floorplan, you'll see the built-in hutch in the dining room. Also, take a look at the lone column in the doorway between the "parlor" and the dining room.

The second floor shows four tiny bedrooms and a very long hallway.

A view of those original windows from inside. Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

Inside, there's a column and small shelf on just ONE side of the living room/dining room entry. This is also shown on the floorplan (above). Photo is copyright 2012 Catarina Bannier and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.

Sears Hamilton, as seen in the 1916 catalog.

By 1916, this had already become a popular house! But where are they now?

Nice floorplan, too.

The house has several distinctive features. Note the inset back porch which extends the full length of the long kitchen. Also noticed the 4/1 windows on the front. The one side (right side above) extends significant further than the left side.

Close-up on that back porch.

In the 1980s, the Sears Hamilton was also offered by "Spectrum" as a wee tiny kit house for HO model railroads. And this one has only 172 pieces! Notice that it's a little different from the house above? That's because they modeled it after the 1908 design. In 2001, I purchased and built this small model house. It took some time, but it was worth the effort because finally, I'd have my very own "Sears kit House." Sadly, it was lost in "The Great Divide" (divorce).

Here's the Hamilton as seen in the 1908 catalog. It's a perfect match to the model above and slightly different from the 1916 version. The dormers in the 1908 house are shed dormers, and in 1916, they were hipped. The front center window (second floor) has diamond muntins in 1908.

You may notice that one of these things is not like the others.

One of these houses is not like the others.

The Silverdale as seen in the 1921 catalog.

The Silverdale also appeared in the 1916 catalog.

The Headache House (well, Hettick, actually).

Another view of the Silverdale in Hettick.

Floorplan for the first floor.

Second floor of the Silverdale. Note, there's no livable space over the kitchen. Back in the day, the room over the kitchen was considered uninhabitable, due to heat and smells that wafted from the kitchen below.

There are more than a few Silverdales around.

Mr. Egan and Wife seemed to be pretty happy with their Silverdale.

Typical hinge found in Sears kit home. This was found in the Silverdale in Hettick.

An old glass window (with diamond muntins) has survived the remodelings.