Should I start with my favorite? Above is a picture of the Sears Sherburne, from the 1921 Building Materials catalog. It was a spacious, grand house and I've not seen many of these.

And here it is, looking much like it did when built in the late 1910s or early 1920s. What a house! And it came from a kit!

And despite this being a fairly rare model of Sears Kit House, I found a second one, within a few blocks of the first house! And it's also a real beauty! Notice the dramatic cornice returns extending well over the front porch area.

The big surprise of this excursion was this house, the Sears Avalon. This was another unusually fine and somewhat hard-to-find kit house offered by Sears. Prior to Richmond, I'd only seen maybe five Avalons throughout the country. And yet, in Richmond, I found FIVE within one seven-block area. FIVE Avalons! What in the world??

Here's another view of the Avalon from the 1921 catalog. Notice the three square vents on the gabled porch roof (far left) and the small indent in the chimney. Also notice the small attic window over the porch. See how the porch columns are mostly masonry with a little bit of wooden column? These are all distinctive features.

And the floor plans could be "reversed," to take advantage of better lighting on the site.

Wow. Just wow. One of the most perfect Sears Avalons, right here in Richmond. Wow.

Avalon #2 was on Semmes Avenue, near 30th Street. This house also has those three vents on the gabled end of the porch. In that this house has stucco, the porch columns were a little different, but that's a minor alteration and not significant in identifying this as an Avalon.

Avalon #3. I'm very happy that Richmond has so many Avalons that they're to be numbered for identification. This was also retains its original railings.

How cool! Pretty amazing, isn't it!

Avalon #4. Turns out, most of these Avalons face due West, so I was photographing right into the morning sun. Some of these pictures aren't the best, but one has to do what one has to do! This house was on Riverside Drive. That's my hand at the upper left, trying to behave like a sun shield.

Avalon #5. Despite its modifications and alterations, I'm fairly confident that this is a Sears Avalon. The roof has been raised, giving it a higher pitch, and creating a small indented space in front of that attic window, but if you look at the details, you can see this looks like a Sears Avalon. Unfortunately due to sidewalk construction, I was not able to get a better photo.

But there's still more. This is a Sears Montrose as seen in the 1928 catalog.

Several unusual features around the front door give this house its distinctive appearance.

Is this a Sears Montrose on Roanoke Avenue? It's pretty close. Look at the pent roof that continues around that sunporch. And look at the details around the front porch.

The Sears Maywood was one of their finer homes.

This appears to be a Sears Maywood, tucked away behind the trees.

The Sears Westly was a very popular house for Sears.

And you've got a lovely Westly in Richmond!

This was an interesting find: An older Sears House (pre-1916). This was model #190.

And such a nice example!

The Sears Strathmore has always been one of my favorites!

And here's another perfect example of it!

In addition to Sears, there were six other companies selling kit homes on a national level. One of them was Harris Brothers. They were based in Chicago and a much smaller company than Sears, so imagine my surprise at finding a HB house in Richmond! This is Harris Brothers Model J-161 (1920 catalog).

Nice match, isn't it!

One of the more popular houses offered by Harris Brothers was this house, Model N-1000.

Is this the N-1000 (shown above)? It's certainly a possibility. Although not visible in this photo, this house has the rounded front porch, as seen on the floorplan in the catalog image above.

Another national kit home company was Gordon Van Tine. They were probably almost as big as Sears. Here's a picture of the Gordon Van Tine Home #507.

And here's a perfect representation of #507. Gosh, what a fine-looking house. Photo is copyright 2010, Taber Andrew Bain and may not be used or reproduced.

Sears Hamilton, as seen in the 1908 catalog.

Dr. F. M. Malone's own "Hamilton" in Capleville, TN, shortly after it was built in 1909.

Dr. Malone spoke in glowing terms about his new Sears Home.

The Sears Hamilton was offered in the first "Modern Homes" catalogs (1908) and Dr. Malone must have snatched it up immediately. He ordered it (about an eight-week lead time) and had it finished and photographed in time for it to appear in the 1909 catalog.

One of the distinctive features of the Hamilton is this indented porch on the rear of the house.

That's the biggest kitchen I've ever seen in these original Sears Homes.

A diminutive version of the Hamilton (also known as #102) was offered by Bachmann Toys for model railroading (in the 1980s). Nice example o f Sears Modern Home #102!

The 1909 Sears Modern Homes catalog is probably the rarest of these catalogs. It's in this catalog that I found Dr. Malone's testimonial on the Sears Hamilton. These catalogs had about a six-week lead time, and most of the testimonials in this catalog speak to the quality of Sears building materials (because there were so few house sales in those early days). Dr. Malone's testimonial was one of four testimonials that actually described the building of a "Sears Modern Home." In that his house was finished by 1909, in time to appear in this catalog, it must have been ordered in late 1908 or very early 1909.

It's the most thorough and loquacious testimonial I've seen in these old catalogs.

And here is "Picture #9" also known as Dr. Malone's Sears Hamilton. Likely, this is one of the first Sears Homes built. In fact, I'd be so bold as to guess it was probably one of the first 20 Sears Homes built in the country.

What the heck is that on the second floor? Is it a sliding glass door? Sure looks like it. But this came from a 1909 catalog, well before the advent of such inventions. And look at the front porch roof. Dr. Malone had a good time making it difficult to identify this house as a Sears Hamilton (from the street, anyway).

The Sears Magnolia was their biggest, fanciest and most expensive home. It was offered from 1918-1922. The picture here is from the 1921 catalog. If you look closely at the badge that shows the price, you'll see that the Magnolia was also known as #2089.

After World War One (The Great War), lumber prices went sky high. Sears catalogs had about a six-week lead time (from creation to publishing). Due to the volatility of building material costs, Sears couldn't keep up on the price info. As an alternate, they just stuck price sheets into the pages of the Sears Modern Homes catalog. See the Magnolia above? This shows the profound reduction in cost, in the Spring 1921 Sears catalog.

The Magnolia had more than 2,900 square feet (as built). The first floor was pretty busy.

Here's a close-up of the kitchen area and butler's pantry. Notice that there''s a downstairs "lavatory." Pretty upscale for 1921.

My favorite Magnolia. This one is in Benson, NC.

And this one is in Canton, Ohio.

The lumber in Sears Homes was numbered, as is shown in this graphic from the rear cover of the 1921 catalog. The mark is on one end of the lumber, and also on the face of it (typically about 6-8" from the end). "B" was for 2x4s, "C" was 2x6s, "D" was 2x8s.

Here's a real life example of the mark on the lumber.

The Magnolia was also known as Modern Home #2089. If you look closely, you'll see the number 2089 scribbled on this 2x8. This is the basement of the Benson Magnolia. When the house was being prepared for shipment out of the mill in Cairo, Illinois, the model number was written on a few of the framing members. To the right is the name of the family that originally placed the order for this house.

The Magnolia was offered with both Corinthian (as shown here) and Ionic columns. I haven't figured out if this was an option, or if it was dependent on what year the house was ordered. In the Sears Magnolia, these columns are wooden and hollow. I've found that most "Southern Colonials" (with these two-story columns) have concrete columns. If you think you've found a Magnolia, go rap on the columns and if they're made of something more solid than wood, it is NOT a Magnolia.

The entry hall of a Sears Magnolia in Irwin, PA. The details matter. Notice over the door, there's an arched fan light. Many "look-alikes" have a square transom over the door. Learn how to pay attention to these many details.

Notice these very distinctive windows on the Magnolia. Does the house you're looking at have these very same windows? If not, it's probably not a Sears Magnolia.

If it doesn't look like this, it's not a Magnolia! :)

It was a gloomy day when I photographed this Sears Hollywood in Owaneco, but this is still one of my favorite photos from that trip. This house is still solid and square and true.

The original catalog image from 1919.

This was a very spacious house. The living room alone was 406 square feet of living area. The house itself was almost 1,400 square feet. And it even had a sleeping porch on the back!

The Hollywood was offered in two different styles. The house in Owaneco is the style shown in the lower right of the catalog page. I've reversed the image (as is shown directly underneath the home's actual photo). Sears plans could be "reversed" to take advantage of optimal lighting on the lot.

According to the catalog, there are also Hollywoods in these cities!

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.

The Sears Riverside, as seen in the 1934 Sears Modern Homes catalog.

The Sears Claremont appeared in the 1928 catalog.

Not much difference between the two houses! The Claremont (1928) is on the right, and the Riverside is on the right. Why, they even have the same bushes in the front!!

The Riverside was 24' by 36'.

And so was the Claremont.

So, the Riverside/Claremont (Rivermont?) was the same model with two names (1928 and 1934). And, best of all, it was a very attractive Cape Cod.

And here is the Clareside (Rivermont?) in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. Notice the chimney on the end wall. Is there a fireplace in that 9x10 bedroom? I doubt it. Most likely, the wall was removed between the living room and bedroom, creating a more spacious living room. (Photo is copyright 2012 Cindy Goebel Catanzaro and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Another view of the Claremont and Riverside. (Photo is copyright 2012 Cindy Goebel Catanzaro and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

This photo really shows that asymmetrical gable kissing the ground on one side. Very distinctive feature. (Photo is copyright 2012 Cindy Goebel Catanzaro and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Sears Modern Home #303 appeared only one year - in the 1910 Sears Modern Homes catalog.

As you can see from the catalog page, this was quite a house! In the small print (just under the price), it's estimated that the house can be built for about $6,700 (which includes all construction costs).

"A Mansion of Colonial style of architecture" and it has a Superba front door!

This 2,500-square foot house has very spacious rooms on the first floor.

This house has a front and rear staircase, five bedrooms and a trunk room.

The exterior has many distinctive features.

These small window sashes on the tower (third floor) are pretty distinctive.

And this tower has a railing on top!

Sears Marina, as shown in the 1920 catalog.

There was also a "Marina" with a shed dormer (1919 catalog).

Despite its being such a modest little house, it had a beamed ceiling in the dining room, and crown moldings in the spacious living room.

That large dormer on the front housed the tiny bathroom. Also upstairs were two very "cozy" bedrooms. A narrow dormer on the back provided the headroom for the staircase.

The photos shown here give a false impression of spaciousness.

I doubt that many Marina owners had a baby grand in the living room.

That chandelier is hanging a bit low! Looks more like a high-intensity heat lamp to keep the food warm. Notice the beamed ceiling. Also noticed the radiator in the background. Sears offered the Hercules Steam Heating Outfit as an extra for any kit home, but it was THE most expensive heating system available. Steam Heat is a very comfortable heat, but it's pricey to install (and today, it's pricey to maintain).

Did the Marina really have subway-tiled wainscoting - as is shown here? I seriously doubt it. That was a feature typically found in upscale homes. Notice the wood floors, too. Most Sears Homes had tongue-and-groove maple floors in the kitchens. Aside from all that, this kitchen was a scant 9' by 11'. Pretty small.

An old photo of a Sears Marina in an unnamed city (1923 catalog).

My favorite Marina! This pink Marina is in Alton, Illinois. It still retains its original siding, which is remarkable. The porch on the rear has been enclosed.

Four little Marinas in a row in Atlantic City, NJ. Three have the gabled dormer and one has the shed dormer. I'd love to get a contemporary photo of these houses! Thanks to Mark Hardin for finding their specific address: Pennrose Avenue!

This Marina is a fine match to the original catalog image. It's in West Chicago.

Two Marinas sitting side by side in Wardensville, WV. Wardensville is a tiny town just outside of Moorefield, WV.

Thanks to Donna Bakke for supplying me this photo of a Marina in Mt. Healthy, Ohio. (Photo is copyright 2012 Donna Bakke and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

I've got family members living in Champaign/Urbana and I've gone past this little Marina in Urbana too many times to count, and yet I always forget to snap a photo! (Photo is copyright 2012 Rebecca Hunter and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Although substantially remodeled (and added onto), there's no mistaking that this is a Sears Marina. This little house is in West Virginia (near Lewisburg).

Sears Modern Home #123 (1908 catalog).

Same house as shown in the 1910 catalog. Look at the difference in price.

As you can see from the floor plan, this was a very spacious house.

The front bedroom was 21 x 14, which was unusually large for a house of this vintage. And there was a rear staircase off the back bedroom, which is also a pretty interesting feature.

Close-up of #123 from the 1910 catalog.

The House That Cindy Found, in Springfield. It's a perfect match to the house shown in the catalog picture (except for the TV antenna). (Photo is copyright 2012 Cindy Catanzaro and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Another view of #123. The small sash window on the front is a remnant of the large window that was originally placed where the large plate glass window is now, by the porch swing. (Photo is copyright 2012 Cindy Catanzaro and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)