The Notebook House | Sears Modern Homes

The Sears Maggy in Canton, Ohio: Looking Better Than Ever!

June 7th, 2012 Sears Homes 3 comments

In 2002, I was invited to participate in filming one of the first episodes of History Detectives (PBS). In 2002, I traveled to Ohio for the show, and on the first day of filming, we visited this Sears Magnolia in Canton. I took several photos while we were there, and more recently, I scanned the old 35mm slides and posted them here.

More recently, my dear friend Janet Hess LaMonica traveled to Canton (her hometown) and managed to get some wonderful new photos for me!

I’m happy to say, the Maggy in Canton is looking absolutely beautiful!

To learn more about the Magnolia, click here.

Is the house featured in “The Notebook” a Sears Magnolia? Absolooterly NOT. Read about that here.

To read an old interview with a 94-year-old man who helped build a Sears Magnolia 90+ years ago, click here.

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Sears Magnolia, as seen in the 1921 catalog.

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The Magnolia was a spacious house!

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The Sears Magnolia up close and personal.

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This Sears Magnolia was Sears grandest and most spacious kit homes. There are Sears Magnolias in Benson, NC, Irwin, PA, South Bend, IN, Piedmont, AL and Syracuse, NY. There was a Magnolia in Nebraska but it burned down years ago. (Photo is copyright 2012 Janet Hess LaMonica and can not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

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What a pretty match!

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Of every link I’ve ever posted, this is my favorite Sears Magnolia story.

To learn more, click here.

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The South Bend Maggy - And the Kindness of Strangers!

May 17th, 2012 Sears Homes 6 comments

Last week, I wrote about the Sears Magnolia in South Bend, Indiana, and posted some old, not-so-clear snapshots of the house. I also posted the photos at a couple internet sites, asking if someone might be so kind as to snap a few new photos for me.

Incredibly, wonderfully, two kind souls responded, providing beautiful, professional-quality photos of this very rare Sears House in South Bend.

So now, thanks to the kindness of not one, but two dear souls, I have updated (and beautiful) photos! That’s the GOOD news!

The sad news is, our Maggy in South Bend is in some pain. I’d love to know if this house is for sale, or what’s happened. It appears to be in a state of decline. We’ve already lost one Magnolia in Nebraska that was torn down years ago, and we almost lost the Maggy in Canton, Ohio in the 1970s, when it fell into such a state of disrepair that the roof collapsed into the second floor. It was the vision of two people, and a heroic restoration and a devotion to historic preservation that saved that house.

Let’s hope and pray that our Maggy in South Bend is preserved and restored. After all, it’s one of only six remaining (known) Magnolias in the country!

And thank you to James Layne and Garrett Baumann who took time out of their busy day to run over to the house and take several *beautiful* photos.

To learn more about how to identify Sears Homes, click here.

The Sears Magnolia - as seen in the 1921 catalog.

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Close-up on the floor plan for the first floor.

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And here it is - the Sears Magnolia in South Bend, Indiana. Oh, what a house - and what a wonderful photo!! Many thanks to James Layne who sent me a plethora of wonderful, high resolution photos! (Photo is copyright 2012 James Layne and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

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Close-up of the porch

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Thanks to the high resolution, clear photos that James sent, I was able to zoom in on some details - such as the front porch!

Thanks to the high resolution, clear photos that James sent, I was able to zoom in on details - such as the front porch! (Photo is copyright 2012 James Layne and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

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In fact, Mr. Layne's photos were such a high resolution that I was able to zoom way, way in and get nice, detailed images of the entryway (shown above). (Photo is copyright 2012 James Layne and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

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And this photo, taken by Garrett Baumann, really shows the majesty of the Magnolia, and its setting on a spacious lot. (Photo is copyright 2012 Garrett Baumann and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

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The original wooden railing is long gone, and has been replaced with wrought iron, which also appears to be fading a bit.

The original wooden railing on the top of the porch roof is long gone, and has been replaced with wrought iron, which also appears to be fading a bit. (Photo is copyright 2012 James Layne and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

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Our poor Maggy is in some pain. The original half-round galvanized gutters are looking a little tired. And you can see that someone started to paint the eaves - but then stopped. The good news is, it'll be easy to remove that aluminum siding, and those plastic "accoutrements" atop the windows. (Photo is copyright 2012 James Layne and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

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The porch ceiling needs a little attention, too. In fact, it needs a lot of attention. Sears Homes were made with #1 Southern Yellow Pine (for framing members) harvested out of first-growth virgin forests. We'll never see wood like that again in this country. The exteriors were 100% cypress, which was known as "The Wood Eternal." Sears Homes were made with superior quality wood, but left unattended and unmaintained, they will eventually deteriorate and decay. Hopefully, this Magnolia will be preserved. (Photo is copyright 2012 James Layne and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

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The Magnolia has these very distinctive windows, with the small lites above the main sashes. It's details such as this that really distinguish the Sears Magnolia from look-alikes. Every day, several people land at my website after googling the terms "house with the blue shutters" (from the movie, "The Notebook" because someone somewhere started a rumor that the house featured in that movie is a Sears Magnolia. That house looks nothing like the Sears Magnolia. The key to proper identification really is in the details. (Photo is copyright 2012 Garrett Baumann and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

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Just look at those beautiful Ionic columns!!

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Thereve been times when people send me house photos that look like this. (And yes, there is a house back here.)

I really appreciate a good photo, because there've been many times when people send me "house photos" that look like this. (And yes, there is a house back there, hidden behind all that greenery!)

Thank you again to both James Layne and Garrett Baumann for running out to an old house on West North Shore Drive and performing a “random act of kindness” for a total stranger. I am profoundly grateful. And I’m confident that the 1,000+ daily readers of my blog are grateful, too!

We love our Magnolias!

To read the first blog on the South Bend Magnolia, click here.

To learn more about the Sears Magnolia, click here.

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There’s a Reason They Were Called Sears MODERN Homes

September 17th, 2011 Sears Homes 2 comments

In 1908, a little ad appeared on page 594 of the Sears general merchandise catalog. It read, “Let us be your architect, without cost to you.” Interested buyers were invited to write in and request the free catalog, “Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans.” The first houses ranged in price from $500 to $5000.

The mail-order homes were shipped by boxcar and came in 12,000 piece kits. Sears promised that a “man of average abilities” could have one assembled and ready for occupancy in 90 days. That was probably a little optimistic, but if you requested a Sears mortgage on your Sears kit home, there was a requirement that thee house be occupied within four months of purchase!

By the early 1910s, the specialty catalogs featuring these kit homes had a new title: “Sears Modern Homes.” And they really were modern homes.

In 1917, American Carpenter and Builder Magazine reported that “watertight roof, walls and floor are an essential feature of a modern city house.”

Remember Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” books? She described life on the plains in soddies and tiny cabins in the 1870s ad 1880s.

The Midwesterners who built Sears kit homes in the early 1900s could have been raised in housing that would be considered extremely primitive by today’s standards.

Below is a picture of a soddie. These were very primitive and dark and dank; undoubtedly a fairly miserable way to spend the day, nine months out of the year. One look at these soddies (below) and you’ll fast understand why a pretty little Sears bungalow would be classified as a “Modern Home.”

To learn more about these Modern Homes, click here.

Soddies were made of sod that had been cut into squares and stacked up. They were easy to heat, and they kept *most* of the rain off your head. Kinda.

Close-up of Soddie Life.

Living ain't easy in one of these.

Cover of the first Sears kit home catalog. Notice the art deco lamps!

In the 1908 catalog, Modern Home #106 was offered for $1145, which was an outstanding value. In today's dollars, that'd probably be about $15,000. There's no bathroom, but it's still a lot better than a soddie!

Incredibly, I found this photo on eBay years ago. It's a Modern Home #106 with the fam seated in front of it! You can see why this house would be such a vast improvement over a soddie. It's really a stark contrast to a house made of dirt.

The family seated in front of their "Modern Home." I'm sure they were very proud of their beautiful little house.

To learn more about Sears Homes, click here.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

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The Sears Magnolia in Irwin, Pennsylvania!

August 2nd, 2011 Sears Homes 6 comments

Two weeks ago, I drove six hours out of my way (enroute to Elkins, WV) to visit a Sears Magnolia in Irwin, Pennsylvania.

Irwin, it turns out, is not a thriving metropolis but a small town just off the beaten path. However, it does have an Americus, an Alhambra (on the main drag) and a Lewiston. And best of all, it has a Sears Magnolia dressed up in brick.

The Magnolia was the creme de la creme of the Sears kit homes. It was bigger and grander and fancier than any of the other 370 models that Sears offered. You can learn a whole lot more about the Magnolia by clicking here and here.

In short, The Magnolia was Sears’ finest home. And it was also one of the rarest.

For years, we’d heard that there were six Magnolias built in the country. There was one in Nebraska (which burned down many years ago), and one in North Carolina, Alabama, Indiana and Ohio. (Click on the links to read more about those particular houses).

And then in February, I was told about a purported Sears Magnolia in Blacksburg, South Carolina. I put 897 miles on my car that weekend, driving down to Blacksburg to see that house in the flesh. It was close - real close - but it was not a Sears Magnolia. You can read more about that here.

In May, I learned about the seventh Magnolia in Syracuse, New York! So how many Sears Magnolias are there? Perhaps billions and billions and billions.

How delightful is that!?!

And what about our Magnolia in Irwin? Unfortunately, I was not able to get inside despite a lot of serious door-knocking. However, it appears that our wonderful Maggy has been turned into an apartment building.

First, the original catalog image from the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog.

Sears Magnolia as seen in the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog. The Sears Magnolia was offered from 1918-1922.

Unfortunately, there were many obstacles to a good picture, such as a utility pole and stop sign. This Magnolia looks quite different from the traditional Magnolia, plus the third-floor dormer has a full-size door with coach lights flanking it! The Magnolia typically has a gabled dormer, whereas the Irwin house has a hipped dormer. That's one of about a dozen minor differences between this house (above) and the Sears catalog page (below).

Another view of the Magnolia in Irwin

From the rear, it surely looks like this old house has been turned into several apartments. I hope someone from Irwin will tell me that I'm wrong!

Sears Magnolia in Irwin, PA. (Photo courtesy of Bob Keeling)

This is another view from another time. This photo was sent to me several years ago by Bob Keeling, who then owned the house. As I recall, he was in the process of selling the house at that time. (Photo courtesy of Bob Keeling)

And here's a picture of the Sears Magnolia in Syracuse! (Photo is courtesy of Mariel Proulx and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Details on the Sears Magnolia's front porch. Notice the many differences between this porch (shown in this catalog page) and the house in Irwin!

Close-up of the house itself (1921 catalog)

A beautiful Sears Magnolia in Canton, Ohio

Sears Magnolia in Benson, NC.

The Magnolia in Alabama is also not a spot-on match to the original catalog image. Most obvious is that attic dormer, which is much simpler than the Magnolia dormer. Yet this house in Piedmont Alabama is a Sears Magnolia.

To learn more about the Sears Magnolia, click here.

To learn about Wardway Homes (sold by Montgomery Ward), click here!

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

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Holy Moly, There IS a 7th Magnolia (and It’s In Syracuse) - UPDATED

May 5th, 2011 Sears Homes 13 comments

We have confirmation on our seventh Magnolia. Absolute, incontrovertible proof.

Earlier this month, I contacted the owner, and learned that she has documentation, showing that this house did indeed come from Sears and Roebuck. Between that, and the visual confirmation, we have a WINNER!

Let’s back up a bit. What is a Magnolia? The Magnolia was the creme de la creme of the Sears kit homes. It was bigger and grander and fancier than any of the other 370 models that Sears offered. You can learn a whole lot more about the Magnolia by clicking here and here.

In short, The Magnolia was Sears’ finest home. And it was also one of the rarest.

For years, we’d heard that there were six Magnolias built in the country. There was one in Nebraska (which burned down many years ago), and one in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Alabama, Indiana and Ohio. (Click on the links to read more about those particular houses).

And then in February, I got wind of a purported Sears Magnolia in Blacksburg, South Carolina. I put 897 miles on my car that weekend, driving down to Blacksburg to see that house in the flesh. It was close - real close - but it was not a Sears Magnolia. You can read more about that here.

So when I got another note Wednesday morning (May 4, 2011) that there was a Sears Magnolia in Syracuse, I was skeptical. Actually, I was many miles past skeptical. It was 2:00 a.m., and I couldn’t sleep so I went to Google and “drove” via Google Maps. And then I saw it.

“Holy cow,” I muttered under my breath in the quiet stillness of my pre-dawn bedroom. “I think that’s a Magnolia!”

By 8:30 a.m., an old-house lover and architectural angel (Mariel Proulx) responded to a desperate note I’d posted online, and jumped in her car and drove to Syracuse to photograph a 90-year-old house for a perfect stranger. She snapped a dozen photos for me.

After seeing the photos, I was 99% convinced this was the real deal. And then last night, two more architectural angels (Scott Bailey and Jerry Ashley) offered to drive to Syracuse and get more photos for me!

When I heard from the homeowner, that cinched the deal! How delightful is that!?!

Enjoy the photos. And please leave a comment below. And thanks so much to both Ted Johnson and Heather Lukaszewski for contacting me and letting me know that there was a good reason to take a closer look at that quiet tree-lined street in Syracuse, New York. And thanks to Mariel Proulx for dropping everything and driving to the next city (in the rain) to get me a dozen good quality photos of my Sears Magnolia! And thanks to Scott and Jerry for driving out there today to get even more photos!

First, the original catalog image from the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog.

Sears Magnolia as seen in the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog. The Sears Magnolia was offered from 1918-1922.

The glorious Magnolia in all its splendor. (Photo is courtesy of Scott Bailey and Jerry Ashley and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Close up of the bracketing under the eaves. Note those awesome Corinthian columns! (Photo is courtesy of Scott Bailey and Jerry Ashley and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Isn't it spectacular! What a house! (Photo is courtesy of Scott Bailey and Jerry Ashley and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Good gracious, that's a good looking house! (Photo is courtesy of Mariel Proulx and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Incredibly, this 90-year-old house looks much like it did when built! In all my travels, this is surely the MOST perfect Magnolia of them all! (Photo is courtesy of Scott Bailey and Jerry Ashley and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

And our Maggy is SO photogenic! Beautiful from every single angle! (Photo is courtesy of Scott Bailey and Jerry Ashley and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

Details on the Sears Magnolia's front porch. Note how the pilasters (flat half-columns flanking the front door) are tapered, and broader at the bottom than they are at the top.

Those tapered columns are also evident here. The details around the entry way are very nice. (Photo is courtesy of Mariel Proulx and may not be used or reproduced without written permission. )

Close-up of the house itself (1921 catalog)

The second floor windows are not a perfect match to the catalog page, but that's a relatively unimportant detail. More than 30% of Sears Homes were customized when built, and moving windows to and fro was one of the more common alterations. (Photo is courtesy of Mariel Proulx and may not be used or reproduced without written permission. )

Long view down the side. From this angle, you can see that the dormer is also a perfect match to the catalog image, even down to the short pilasters on the dormer's corners! (Photo is courtesy of Mariel Proulx and may not be used or reproduced without written permission. )

Wow. Just WOW! (Photo is courtesy of Scott Bailey and Jerry Ashley and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)

A beautiful Sears Magnolia in Canton, Ohio

Sears Magnolia in Benson, NC.

Sears Magnolia in Irwin, PA. (Photo courtesy of Bob Keeling) Done in brick, this Sears Magnolia also is not a spot-on match to the catalog page.

The Magnolia in Alabama is also not a spot-on match to the original catalog image. Most obvious is that attic dormer, which is much simpler than the Magnolia dormer. Yet this house in Piedmont Alabama is a Sears Magnolia.

To learn more about the Sears Magnolia, click here.

To buy Rose’s book, click here.

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North Carolina’s Prettiest House: The Sears Magnolia

January 18th, 2011 Sears Homes 2 comments

Thanks to a FOSH (Friend of Sears Homes), I found the 5th known Sears Magnolia in the country. In March 2010, “Joy” sent me a link last week to a news story on a Sears Home in Benson, NC (just outside of Raleigh). When I clicked on the link, I had no idea the show would be featuring a Sears Magnolia - the Creme de la creme of Sears Homes!

As soon as possible, I left my house in Norfolk, Virginia to make the drive to Benson. Soon, I was parked in front of the Sears Magnolia, staring at her with majestic glee.

The happy owners of the Magnolia allowed me to tour the inside of the house, where I found proof that it was indeed a Sears Magnolia (as if there were any doubt). Click on this link to read more about that.

This was the second Magnolia that I’ve been inside. The first was in Canton, Ohio. In 2002, PBS’s History Detectives did a segment on Sears Homes, and invited me to be part of the program. After hours of filming, I took a nap inside the house, and that was one of the happiest naps of my life!

There are also Sears Magnolias in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and Alabama.

Below is the Sears Magnolia in North Carolina.

maggy_benson_nc

Original catalog image from 1922 Sears Modern Homes catalog

Right after WW1 (The Great War) ended, prices went sky high. Sears couldnt keep up with the volatility in the cost of building materials, so they started inserting price sheets into their catalog. This shows the profound reduction in cost, in the late 1920s.

Right after WW1 ended, (also known as "The Great War"), prices went sky high. Sears couldn't keep up with the volatility in the cost of building materials, so they started inserting price sheets into their catalog. This shows the profound reduction in cost, in the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog. Post-war hyperinflation is not uncommon.

The “Notebook” House (Nicholas Sparks) vs. The Sears Magnolia

September 28th, 2010 Sears Homes No comments

There’s a rumor circulating on the web that the house featured in the movie, “The Notebook,” is a Sears Magnolia. This is not correct. I repeat, this is NOT correct. For those who are interested in a comparison, look at the house featured in the movie (click here) and compare it to the original catalog picture shown below.

These houses (the real Sears Magnolia and the not-a-sears-house shown in that link above) are radically different - IN THE DETAILS - and that’s where you must look. Just because they’re both a two-story white house with a hip roof and big columns, that’s not enough.

A good place to start comparing houses is the roofline. The porch roof over the real Magnolia is a very low hip roof. The porch roof over The Notebook House is a massive gabled roof with a half-round window within its gable. Also, the proportions are wrong. The Sears Magnolia is 2,940 square feet. The Notebook house is probably double that.

These details really do matter.

There are so many delightful things about being so deeply immersed in this avocation of Sears Homes, but trying to teach people how to pay attention to architectural details before deciding that a similar looking house is a Sears House is pretty unfun. There are about 70,000 Sears homes in the country. Judging from my mail, about 3.4 million people THINK they have a Sears House!

The real Sears Magnolia (catalog), and a picture of the Magnolia in Benson, North Carolina (below).

To learn more about how to identify a Sears Home, click here.

maggy_benson_nc

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Archive

The Sears Maggy in Canton, Ohio: Looking Better Than Ever!

The South Bend Maggy - And the Kindness of Strangers!

There’s a Reason They Were Called Sears MODERN Homes

The Sears Magnolia in Irwin, Pennsylvania!

Holy Moly, There IS a 7th Magnolia (and It’s In Syracuse) - UPDATED

North Carolina’s Prettiest House: The Sears Magnolia

The “Notebook” House (Nicholas Sparks) vs. The Sears Magnolia

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