Are Sears home kits still available?
Sears discontinued its Modern Homes catalog after 1940. Sales through local sales offices continued into 1942. Years later, the sales records related to home sales were destroyed during a corporate house cleaning.
How many Sears kit homes are left?
Sears sold more than 70,000 mail-order homes between 1908 and 1940. Some enthusiasts estimate that about 70 percent of Sears houses are still standing today.
Are Sears kit homes valuable?
Most of them were priced from about $725 to $2,500, although some of the larger models like the Verona sold for more than $4,000.
How did Sears kit homes work?
Buyers could request design changes as they wanted, and some even provided entire blueprints to Sears. Staff then packaged the necessary materials and shipped the loaded cartons to a buyer’s address. Once the kits arrived, buyers needed land and workers who could assemble the kits as instructed.
How much did a Sears Build Your Own home kit cost?
The prices put new-home ownership within the reach of many: The Sears Natoma, introduced in 1908, offered three rooms, but no bathroom, for $191 (about $5,500 in today’s dollars). The nine-room Hillrose kit with bath cost $3,547 in 1922 ($56,000 today).
What years did Sears Roebuck sell house kits?
From 1908 until 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold over 70,000 kit houses through their Modern Homes and Honor Bilt catalogs.
How can you tell if a house is a Sears house?
Look for stamped lumber in the basement, attic or crawlspace. Sears Modern Homes were kit homes and the framing pieces were stamped with a letter and a number. When the lumber arrived on site, that number told you how all the pieces went together.
How much did Sears Build Your Own home kits cost?
How do you tell if your home is a Sears home?
On the shipping label, look for the address, “925 Homan Ave., Chicago, Illinois,” the Sears headquarters in the early 1900s. Also look for stamps or marks, showing that the millwork was shipped from Norwood Sash and Door of Ohio, a supplier of Sears millwork.
How do I know if my house is a Sears kit house?
Do they still build Jim Walter homes?
Photo: COURTESY JIM WALTER HOMES Once the underpinning of Florida-based Walter Industries, home building subsidiary Jim Walter Homes is shuttering its doors after 62 years in business. Management made the announcement this morning.
Why did Sears stop selling houses?
Sears stopped the mortgage program in 1934 as a result of the Great Depression. The Modern Homes program itself ended in 1940, undone by loan defaults and pre-World War II shortages of building materials.
How do I know if my house is a kit house?
How to Identify Kit Homes
- Look for stamped lumber:
- Look at Plumbing Fixtures:
- Check the house’s floor plan:
- Look for Shipping Labels:
- Investigate shipping records:
- Conduct a record (deed and building permit) search:
- Consult your neighbors:
When did Sears stop selling house kits?
1940
Sears houses, sold in kits and delivered to your local railroad station, were the biggest and most ambitious product offered by the company that sold everything via a catalog. Sears, Roebuck and Company’s Modern Homes program began in 1908 and ended in 1940.
When were Sears kit homes sold?
Sears barely exists as a retailer any more, but homeowners still adore the “kit” houses it fabricated and shipped across America from 1908 to 1940.
What years did Sears sell house kits?
Where are the most Sears houses?
Because rail was the most popular form of transportation, Sears homes can mostly be found in the Northeast and Midwest, where rail lines were more frequent.
Why did Sears stop selling homes?