'I Live in a 1900s Sears Catalog Home--Here's What It's Like To Own a House That Arrived in a Box'

[Diamond_Dog]

https://shorturl.at/Dwkxr

In the early 20th century, the massive Sears catalog (often 500 to 1,000-plus pages, a hard-copy equivalent of what Amazon.com is today) made it possible for people to get just about everything they needed within its pages. From 1908 to 1942, Sears sold approximately 75,000 mail-order home kits.

The Sears catalog homes were called "modern" at the time because they included the latest in home conveniences—like indoor plumbing and electricity. But they were also a feasible and affordable way for a middle-class family to live in quality housing.

Shoppers perusing "Sears Modern Homes and Building Plans" could pick a home from the catalog and write a check for a few thousand dollars. A few weeks later, all of the housing parts would arrive by railway train—often including 10,000 pre-cut pieces of lumber, screws, nails, paint, and even doorknobs and drawer pulls. It was truly a home in a box (which would then have to be built, of course, usually by a contractor for an extra fee).

Today, these Sears catalog homes are something of a historic phenomenon. Not only have they beautifully stood the test of time in most cases, but the people who live in them form an unofficial niche housing club. Realtor.com® decided to reach out to some of these catalog home inhabitants to get the scoop on what it's really like to live in a home that originally was ordered from Sears.

More article and photos at link.

[CrispyQ]

1. What a great article!

A Santa house & a tornado house. They didn't show the floorplan of the Osborne but that's the one I think I'd like.

TY for sharing!

[Diamond_Dog]

3. YW, CrispyQ!

Can you imagine the excitement of seeing your house components arriving at the train station?

I was surprised at the quality of these homes. They sure weren’t cheaply made.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Thanks for this fascinating article, complete with photos and plans, my dear Diamond_Dog!

Those homes were really solidly built and they have lasted so well! Plus, they're beautiful!

Damned clever of the folks at Sears who thought up this great idea: a home in a box.

[Diamond_Dog]

4. YW Peggy! Glad you enjoyed this.

They were quite nice and the quality was exceptional! What a great idea.

[mopinko]

5. they shd bring them back.

i assume the designs r in the public domain now? not sure how that works for stuff like this.
but w housing so unaffordable for so many, i honestly think it cd make a big difference. town i grew up in had a ton of sears houses.
the hood i live in now was all built by 1 company. they managed to add so much variety on cookie cutter designs.

[Diamond_Dog]

6. It's interesting to think of this happening today.

I wonder if it would be cheaper to build a house this way today, in this economy, or more expensive? Might be feasible only for a very small house? I have no idea.

Imagine seeing your new home arriving at the train station in a huge crate!

[mopinko]

13. it wd absolutely b cheaper.

when u do it that way, u do away w a lot of waste. u dont cut 2x4’s to 8 or 10 ft, u cut them to the exact size at the mill. u dont pack tiles into random size boxes, u pack them to the exact number u need. etc, etc.
u dont need an engineer to draw blueprints for each home.

these houses were engineered so that anyone cd put them together. community groups cd put them together. habitat for humanity cd bang them out in a day or 2.
fema cd use them, instead of putting ppl in stinky trailers that outgas formaldehyde.

they werent all tiny homes. but most of them used the same components, just in different arrangements. the hood i live in was built by 1 group of developers. they’re all built on a basic design. the 2 & 3 flats r pretty much all the same, but the single families have a lot of variation. it doesnt look like levittown, at all.

[sdfernando]

7. I rented a house back in the 90s

that was a Sears kit house. Over the years the front wrap around porch was closed in to expand the living room. I liked the house but was disappointed in the faux fireplace.

Did you know that in the early 1900s and again in the 1950s Sears sold cars out of their catalog?

https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a23786730/sears-failed-selling-cars-twice/

[Diamond_Dog]

10. Wow! I had no idea you could buy a car from the Sears catalog, too!

TY for posting, sdfernando! That was interesting!

How cool you lived in a Sears house!

[Tom Dyer]

8. Man - what a great read!

[Diamond_Dog]

11. Thanks, and YW Tom Dyer!

[bluedigger]

9. A friend owned owned one in New Jersey.

Other than bumping my head in the stairwells, it was pretty sweet.

[Diamond_Dog]

12. Ha ha

You must be tall???

I bump my head going down to the cellar in my own house and I’m only 5’5”

[bluedigger]

16. I am, and those Sears houses were built small

I want to say they were 5/6 scale compared to "normal" standards but I'm probably mistaken.

[Deep State Witch]

14. My Great-Uncle and Aunt Had One

In Harwick, PA, outside of Pittsburgh. My cousin lived in it until he passed last year. (Fortunately, AFTER voting for Kamala!)

[Diamond_Dog]

15. Did they order it from Sears or did they buy it after it was already built by someone else?

[Deep State Witch]

17. Ordered it from Sears. Probably sometime in the 30's.

Probably sometime in the 30's.