Have you ever lived in a a Sears Kit Home? Let us know below!😀
@Michael-0082 жыл бұрын
These look like a lot of the houses that are on Ashland and Saint Joseph Missouri. Wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them were Kit homes. But they’re very elaborate compared to the Kit homes today it seems
@standardnerd98402 жыл бұрын
My friend & his wife owned one in NJ. It was fantastic and large. You show the same model at 1:16 The original builder added in a basement and installed steel I-beams to support the middle of the house. It was a great design.
@73beetle192 жыл бұрын
There’s several Sear’s homes in Hopewell Virginia.
@jeannebrauher35872 жыл бұрын
We live in one.
@helenchristman29502 жыл бұрын
My Daughter lives in a cape cod from sears here in PA. Built in the 40s and still in good shape.
@davehaggerty34052 жыл бұрын
My son bought one as a fixer-upper. The wood in the house had swelled over time to where none of the interior doors would close. He was going to remove the solid oak doors and replace them with modern doors. I said I would fix them. I pulled down each door, and removed from 1/4” to 3/4” from the hinge side of the door. Cut new mortises for the hinges. Stained the edge and re-hung the doors. You couldn’t even tell they were shaved down. These doors were massive. They’re now a feature of the house. It took a couple of days for 11 doors. Using a Bosch power planer.
@truthjunkie632 жыл бұрын
💙
@qua77712 жыл бұрын
You definitely did the right thing.
@LoriFoster2 жыл бұрын
Your son was lucky to have a handy dad with a plan! 🤠
@TheReapersSon2 жыл бұрын
They don't make them like they used to. Many homes in the most expensive areas of Seattle were Sears catalog kit homes. Houses that were bought for $6,000 are worth a couple million dollars now. They're still standing and while they may require some updates and maintenance, the overall stature and stability of the original structure is impressive. As you'd mentioned, solid oak beams, strong frames, heavy doors, etc. They used to do it right.
@CountArtha2 жыл бұрын
Great job, Dad!
@CLCIII2 жыл бұрын
The fact that they would sell from a very plain crackerbox home to basically a gingerbread ornate mansion was especially interesting. Thanks for another great video.
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it!
@wintermatherne25242 жыл бұрын
Modern custom homes are nowhere near as cool as these.
@mattvaitkunas83192 жыл бұрын
And the fact that the most expensive home, adjusted for inflation, cost under $90k
@lockgessner2 жыл бұрын
Matt if you account for labor, foundation, land and all the new systems that are standard it would be much closer to 300k plus
@WoofItDown2 жыл бұрын
I worked in a Sears Home - the original owners had bought and assembled the home In the late twenties - once the owners had passed away in the late seventies the family kept the home for several years and then decided to sell it in the late 1980’s - being it was located on a large plot of land on the water in Florida - it was purchased and turned into a restaurant with a tiki bar that is still open and operating today after 35 years of business !
@69Hurst4422 жыл бұрын
My grandfather bought and built a Sears house. This was around 1920, and it cost around 800$. He and his army buddies built it in 10 days. To this very day, the house still stands. It has been brought up to today’s building codes. Sears hit a home run when they started selling these home kits.
@trishtv83102 жыл бұрын
My brother has a sears kit home in Vermillion Alberta. So there you go! You found another one. It is two storey with two side solariums, a huge attic, stained glass and huge wooden doors and staris and trim.......it really is something special. I love it with all my heart.
@fredziffle52192 жыл бұрын
My grandparents had a large one. It had skinny stairs in the back near the kitchen for the help. They Had one bedroom downstairs, and many upstairs. Big sliding wood doors & stained glass. I was only about five but I remember sliding down the big front stairway bannister. My Aunt had the smaller turret room upstairs when she was a kid. She said it was cold. Their house got demolished sadly but I see it in my dreams.
@karenmariecraig56192 жыл бұрын
I lived in a town that had 4 in it. They were gorgeous. I’d love to have one.
@joaquinzannchez318410 ай бұрын
I often go to Wainwright AB. It would be nicw to stop by Vermilion and see your brother's home.
@deltas41142 жыл бұрын
I actually saw one of these houses in Northern California, the owner had a binder with all the paperwork, directions etc., it was really interesting to see this Sears kit home.
@solsticemeows2 жыл бұрын
Prove it.
@ivancedillo82 жыл бұрын
@@solsticemeows GFYM
@recoveringsoul7552 жыл бұрын
Some of these designs look really familiar, and I'm in northern California
@FLINTmitten8102 жыл бұрын
Fenton Michigan has a lot of sears kit homes.
@nathanielwilliams89852 жыл бұрын
@@solsticemeows prove you aren’t a mistake
@clintgolub17512 жыл бұрын
The origins of the “McMansion” 😂 But in all seriousness, the build quality and lack of waste on these historic homes are incredible.
@baneofbanes2 жыл бұрын
Back when waste was lost profit.
@nutterinherbutter50802 жыл бұрын
And they look really pretty too
@bigredc2222 жыл бұрын
What's the difference if a board gets trimmed to fit in a factory or on the job site, either way, the boards need to be cut to fit. There is very little profit for contractors building houses, so they don't waste any more than is necessary. What makes you think there is so much waste in new housing construction? I'm not sticking up for new houses, they are junk, and every corner that can be cut is cut, I'm just saying I've seen no evidence of them wasting materials.
@matthewmosier84392 жыл бұрын
@@bigredc222 New home construction is the field I have worked in on and off for years. I still work in a related field and almost daily work in new homes. In my experience, new home construction is terrible in the Southern U.S. It is still alright in the Midwest. The problems seem to be the use of cheap materials, the price charged for the cheap result, and the managment of the building process. In the Midwest, we would build a house and it would end up looking very high end at a generally low price. Some relatives moved into one of the houses that I had helped frame a couple of years before and they really liked it. It was a good builder I worked for and a quality home. In the South, the superintendents are rarely involved, spending most of their time busy with tasks that have little to do with actually building. I have watched as the same mistakes happen in, for instance, cabinetry, for years. The result is houses that the new home owners tell me themselves, are cheap and plauged with problems. My younger brother and his wife wanted a custom home here in the South and went to get pricing from builders. I then took a couple of hours and added up all of the materials for their plan and they ran the numbers. It was unbelivable how much could be saved if they just found a builder to sign off on work they had done by paying friends, etc.
@bigredc2222 жыл бұрын
@@matthewmosier8439 I'm an electrician, I started out wiring new houses, but I only did it for about three years then I got with a company that only did commercial work. After you've wired five or ten houses there's nothing left to learn, I like a challenge, I like learning new things. The only challenge with residential is to see how fast you could do it.
@fafalina562 жыл бұрын
The house I grew up in was a kit home, but not from Sears. It was from a company called Golden Key Homes. It was nice enough that people who had an empty lot next door and wanted to build a house ended up getting and building the same kit. It was a bit ironic that our family home was a kit house, because our father was a construction contractor who built custom homes on speculation. It was less effort and time to put up the kit house after a regular day at work than building another custom home.
@doberman1ism2 жыл бұрын
I have inherited the home that my grandfather built in 1925. It is a Sears and Roebuck Catalog Home titled The Windsor. Named after the Duke of Windsor who abdicated the throne of England for the woman he loved. The home still stands in its original architectural integrity . I have seen the numbers printed on the back of lumber on the house. I have the thank you letters that Sears & Roebuck would send from Chicago every time my grandparents made a payment on the loan that they borrowed from Sears to build the catalog home. Yes, Sears not only milled the lumber, they also provided the loans. The Windsor is a lovely gracious home that served many generations of my family including me.
@KJ-xc6qs2 жыл бұрын
These homes were beautiful and built to last, unlike today's cheap construction.
@muffassa67392 жыл бұрын
My boss lived in one. There were 4 Sears homes on her street. In Michigan there are a lot of them
@kstorm8892 жыл бұрын
I'm sorry, but many of these were balloon framed, one of the worst ways to build a house.
@SergeantExtreme2 жыл бұрын
@@kstorm889 Balloon framing is still used today even in 2022, but especially for masonry walled housing.
@brianfairchild78192 жыл бұрын
@@kstorm889 "one of the worst ways to build a house" ,but still standing straight well after hundred years. maybe you should know something before opening your mouth.
@Garethprice19792 жыл бұрын
@@brianfairchild7819 ...wow! Did you INVENT balloon framing??? Getting a little angry over a simple comment!
@SallySallySallySally2 жыл бұрын
Not only did the buyer get all the material including nails and screws, they even threw in a tree for the front yard! Their catalogs also had schoolhouses at one time.
@AshGrg20072 жыл бұрын
Wow
@chasgarza39602 жыл бұрын
A tree too? Holy wow. When did they stop loving Americans. Why did they ever give up on making the American dream a reality?😢
@AshGrg20072 жыл бұрын
@@chasgarza3960 inflation, and rise of living cost I guess. Happened on a global scale, tis why it is nigh impossible to buy a decent house for a young folk with no help from parents.
@summerwindcharters13262 ай бұрын
I'm a tour boat Capt in Stony Creek, Connecticut. On Cut-in-two Island, west side, there's a 1927 Sears summer cottage kit home. It survived the "hurricane of 1938!" A true testament of its built quality!
@keybyss982 жыл бұрын
What’s even more interesting to me is that Sears didn’t just offer single families. There’s one kit where you could literally build a whole ass *four-plex*, as well as other multi-family homes. Wish concerns about housing issues being a thing, I really wish more modular home companies would consider these again, maybe even offer mixed-use stuff as well.
@johnszabo2202 жыл бұрын
My daughter has a sears kit home. Her is from 1900.
@irenehessenauer1692 жыл бұрын
I've been in an Aladin model. Simply stunning indoors and out.
@poormanagement17222 жыл бұрын
My Great-Grandparents were immigrants from Norway. My Great-Grandfather was a master carpenter but illiterate. They bought property in NJ and ordered a ranch style Sears House Kit she liked (The American Dream) My Great-Grandmother read him the instructions and he modified the plans building a house to all her needs and wants including an attached breezeway, two car garage and basement with walk in access for his wood shop and large equipment. She had the original ad from the paper, I remember it being around under $3000.
@marthamiller-plumb10592 жыл бұрын
I live minutes away from the Sears Magnolia house in Canton, Ohio. It has been well kept and is just stunning.
@cremebrulee47592 жыл бұрын
Hi Martha. Small world. I'm from Hartville. I didn't know there was a Sears' house in Canton. I would love to see it. Where is it?
@marthamiller-plumb10592 жыл бұрын
@@cremebrulee4759 It’s on the corner of Frazer NW and 19th St (fronts on 19th) in Canton. It’s owned by Mary Cirelli. I’ve heard that she allows tours occasionally--for local charitable organizations, but I’ve never had the pleasure. I’ve read about that house’s origin, however. Quite interesting.
@marthamiller-plumb10592 жыл бұрын
I understand that many other Sears houses exist; it’s just that people don’t realize it. Not all are nearly as amazing as the Magnolia. Sears did really keep track of where it’s housing kits went. There are 2-3 good books (by the same author) about Sears houses. Some are in the Stark County library system!
@Hamigal2 жыл бұрын
Canton gal here as well.
@marthamiller-plumb10592 жыл бұрын
@@Hamigal That’s great! Maybe you know of more Sears houses in the area. The Canton area has three Frank Lloyd Wright houses, as well, but they are also privately owned and not open to visitors.
@StevenTorrey2 жыл бұрын
Looking at the value of 1908 $2,734 to 2022 value is about $84,852. Consider the average wage was $200-400/year; a mechanical engineer earned about $5,000/year, so a price of about $2.734 was reasonable and doable. Of course, without a specific date, the values would change accordingly, but it appears the kit-hoes were within financial reach of professional people.
@karenryder63172 жыл бұрын
It seems to me that the rate of housing price inflation from then to now is greater than the cost of living inflation. IOW single family residences are less affordable now.
@user-mv9tt4st9k2 жыл бұрын
It has been noted that a typical housing loan had a repayment term of five to ten years. People seemed more inclined to buy within their means. I would love to pay off my house in five years.
@bellezanegra02062 жыл бұрын
That’s when an American dream existed
@kstorm8892 жыл бұрын
You know you can still get kit houses for cheap. The trick is you need to build them and have the lot to park it on.
@billybeemus39292 жыл бұрын
@@kstorm889 - If you consider modular homes as well, there are other inexpensive options. The trick is finding a community where the zoning laws allow you to place the home.
@yanktackle44722 жыл бұрын
I've worked on several thru the years around the St Louis area in both Missouri and illinois. Also, don't forget Sears sold a block machine too. Pour in concrete, release, make a block. Lots of those in the same area. When you see a block house, just look at the blocks, the design, you can actually count how many block machines they used to build the house, based on how many different designs of each individual block.
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
That's really interesting, I'll keep an eye out!
@RemoWilliams12272 жыл бұрын
I worked in one about 20 years ago in Central Illinois
@ShelleeGraham2 жыл бұрын
Yes indeed and it’s nice that one of the example address labels 🏷 Ken showed us had “Clayton, MO” as the location! 😎
@domestikgoddez98232 жыл бұрын
The wood for the sears houses was top notch quality... i was told you wouldn't find a knot larger than a dime in any board . not even possible today - cut down a whole forest and you're not going to get enough clear wood.to build one house. they also shipped the makings of a house out in installments, over a period of time and in the order you would need it for the build. when i heard of these catalog houses i was amazed and looked into it as much as i could find. lots of them in chicago - i lived there and saw a few even if the occupants weren't aware of what they were living in.. chicago was originally swampland and woods - the swamp was drained and guess where the trees went?
@toocutepuppies65352 жыл бұрын
I think they were still harvesting what was left of the virgin timber in America, its no wonder they had great wood!
@nataliekhanyola56692 жыл бұрын
Settler colonists ruined America's nature and landscape. It's a shame What a happened to north America, it was soo much more beautiful before settler colonists extracted, exploited and degraded the nature that natives preserved and nurtured for millenia. The same goes for Australia.
@jakekaywell59722 жыл бұрын
@@nataliekhanyola5669 Strongly disagree. We made efficient these formerly unproductive lands, ushering in an age of hope for the future.
@RS-dm4yo2 жыл бұрын
Makes total sense many of them would be in Chicago.
@toocutepuppies65352 жыл бұрын
@@nataliekhanyola5669 I recently learned that all the tallest and straightest trees in America were claimed by the King of England for ship masts. I'm guessing there may have been more timber than just those trees that made it over. I wonder how much American timber is in English (other countries too?) homes and buildings? 🤔
@thattowtruckguy4362 жыл бұрын
my grandmothers is a sears house. its no longer in the family but still stands today
@jd51792 жыл бұрын
I work as a lineman- spoke to a homeowner and told me house was built from a mail order kit- he even showed me the manuals- i was astonished to find out .
@heidibee5012 жыл бұрын
Wow! To say that l am impressed by the ingenuity of our predecessors is a vast UNDERSTATEMENT.
@adamantman32002 жыл бұрын
SEARS also offered through the catalog Tombstones, Caskets, buggies and 'Horseless Carriages'. The country was still highly rural at the time. Transportation was primitive. It could easily take the better part of a day to go 20 miles by buggy. Mail order was vital. You couldn't just drive to the local hardware. There weren't any.
@danielevans89102 жыл бұрын
I could’ve spent hours just looking through a Sears catalog. Sounds really interesting.
@adamantman32002 жыл бұрын
@@danielevans8910 I have a small paperback reprint of their FALL 1900 Catalog. It makes the mismanagement of the current SEARS look all that much more pathetic. Richard Sears and Alvy Roebuck are spinning in their graves!
@MikeBrown-ii3pt2 жыл бұрын
They went so far as to offer complete cars and farm tractors through the mail order catalogs.
@Tea_Noire2 жыл бұрын
@@adamantman3200 Sears really could've been Amazon before Amazon became a thing. They already had the system with their catalouges in place! All they had to do was move everything online. It's such a waste of opportunity and sad to see a company that was integral to the development of America as we know it today. A huge part of our history, gone. Such a shame.
@adamantman32002 жыл бұрын
All it takes is one inept CEO making a series of major mistakes and the whole thing snowballs. RADIO SHACK is a perfect example. The company would have turned 100 in 2021. @@Tea_Noire
@rick0e2952 жыл бұрын
I once lived across the street from a Walton model and know of three identical modest two bedroom with center porch with single column on each end of porch in our community. Didn't know that UPSCALE models were also offered. Some shown look very much like other homes in older sections. So amazing that SEARS was such a giant and no longer exists. They once owned WLS radio which still broadcasts in Chicago. WLS stood for Worlds Largest Store. As usual a very fine 🙂 post
@Maine3072 жыл бұрын
in 09- I did the kit program.. Homes Depot, Lowes and local Saw Mill yards do it all the time here.. I am proud of my home!
@EliAngwin2 жыл бұрын
My parents house growing up in NY had a large portion of it was Sears addition- this was a fairly large farm house- built in mid to late 1800’s. I compare every house that I am invited in to that house, the woodwork inside was impressive and was a great example of what great craftsmanship was.
@adrianghandtchi15622 жыл бұрын
I have so many Sears house kit advertisements on my Pinterest mood board. These are so cool!
@4knanapapa2 жыл бұрын
The first house my wife and I bought in 1977 was a Sears kit home, we didn't know at the time but after living there a few years we recieved a letter from the origional owner stating it was a Sears kit home he had bought and built back in the 30's and wondered what it was like now, we had done alot of work to it updating it for our needs. We moved out in 1984, unfortunately sometime in the last 10 years it was demolished and all thats left is a empty lot.
@4knanapapa2 жыл бұрын
Went back to the catalog, our home was the brentwood.
@charlielaudico35232 жыл бұрын
I bought a sears home in 1984 in a small rural town in Genesee county new York,I purchased it from the original builder! I miss that home,solid home in any weather!
@vickiephilpitt76972 жыл бұрын
In 2005 a friend and I vacationed in Colorado near Pueblo and of the several buildings on sight, one we were told was a Montgomery Wards house. We were told it was the original homestead and over a hundred years at the time. It was in excellent condition had 2 stories but not one I would consider that "flowed" smoothly. (guess all the open, flowing home patterns came much later). I thought Montgomery Wards was the only house kits offered as only today did I learn about Sears.
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
That is really fascinating! I'm glad that we could share with you the history of another Kit Home manufacturer! -Ken
@thejeepdoctor2 жыл бұрын
The house across the street from my grandparents house in Lincoln Nebraska was a sears kit house. My grandparents talked about watching it being built. Two story with finished attic.
@denisek2922 жыл бұрын
Never knew Sears was involved in producing such quality kit homes, until now. Absolutely love the cute bungalows!
@dtread95432 жыл бұрын
My grandparents had one of these houses for over 60 years in NJ. Lots of great memories, it was a beautiful little house.
@fredziffle52192 жыл бұрын
My grandparents had a big one with a turret & wrap around porch. Next door was a one story that looked like the spanish style one shown here. Theyve both been demolished for a gas station ! My grandparents had lots of woodwork.
@professorr.54272 жыл бұрын
That's tragic.
@AshGrg20072 жыл бұрын
Sears gas station with a lifetime supply of pickles.
@aylaeh2 жыл бұрын
There are two Sears kit houses at the Indiana State Park called prophetstown. There's also one replica. My grandparents lived in a Sears house. My great-grandparents paid about $3,000 for it in the 1930s. I was in that house many many times. It's a neat house. It is out in the country near Flora, Indiana. There is also a town in Illinois that is made primarily of Sears kit houses. I cannot recall the name of the city but there are several KZbin shows that have been done about it.
@WyattRyeSway2 жыл бұрын
I just saw a Sears home a few weeks ago. I didn’t even know that was a thing at the time. Just driving through a very rural area with a very elderly family friend who told us the house she was pointing at was a “Sears Catalog House”. I guess it was the envy of all the neighbors at the time. Small but nice by today’s standards (or that areas standards) but still standing. The elderly lady could not remember what needed to be done to put it up or how long it took. Said it was shipped by train but could not remember how they got it back to the farm. I was thinking she was a bit loopy. I knew Sears was a catalog but thought they sold clothes, tools, appliances….that sort of thing. Was shocked she seemed to be right when I looked it up.
@richardmerriam70443 ай бұрын
My Grandparents (Mother's parents) built a '4 square' kit home about 1900. Beautiful home with some interesting features. Great quality!
@twmcmahan2 жыл бұрын
We need someone to start making these again. Some of the Sears kit homes are really nice.
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
That would be amazing!
@subduedsuperdude2 жыл бұрын
Southerlands still does this.
@janeanf1232 жыл бұрын
I heard Amazon is.
@cindybogart60622 жыл бұрын
I so agree with you!!
@cindybogart60622 жыл бұрын
@@janeanf123 I think they sell tiny houses.
@debmacie16122 жыл бұрын
Yes, I stayed I a home in Asheville NC that was I finally a Sears home. It was just lovely. I love the idea and think we should follow that idea more often now.
@moosepasshippie2 жыл бұрын
There was a Sears distribution warehouse within a mile from my house. Sears stopped using it as a distribution warehouse in the 70s and closed the small outlet store in the 90s. It was so large it had its own railroad spur. I never noticed the correlation of the warehouse and all the Sears homes in my neighborhood until now. I built one of my houses from a kit. Not a Sears kit. It had all the framing, roofing, siding, sheetrock, trim, handrails for stairs, insulation, and doors. We had to supply the foundation, electrical, plumbing, mechanical and indoor paint. It was very fast and easy framing it.
@FilosophicalPharmer2 жыл бұрын
This video BLEW MY MIND! Was aware homes were available for purchase through Sears but had NO IDEA there was such variety! From a small but "rich" Southern Town built on cotton with RR tracks right through downtown. Looks like these 1920's and 30's mill executives just ordered their houses from Sears! Your video feels like a tour of downtown 90 years after the town was in its heyday. Thanks!! 👍🏼
@leviwarren62222 жыл бұрын
I worked as a warranty tech for Tuff Shed for a few years and these homes remind me of the prefab sheds we built there. The walls and trusses are prefabbed and everything is loaded onto a truck and zipped together in a few hours. We also offered "cabin shells" which was basically just a prefabbed house.
@Michael-0082 жыл бұрын
I had no idea that this concept even existed at that time, so very cool!
@theblacksheep52262 жыл бұрын
Interstate 57 runs through the old Sears house plant site just north of Cairo IL. Three rail yards once at site. The road it was on now dead ends on both sides at I 57. One called Sears Road and the other Roebuck Rd.
@chuckandmax73132 жыл бұрын
I love looking through Sears model home floor plans, there were a lot of them in California. You did a great job with this video Ken, I really enjoyed your editing and you probably put a lot more work into it than your standard videos, so thank you, and I look forward to what you come up with next. Hopefully you will become so popular that you make a fortune on KZbin and can travel to other states and give us tours. Your friends ChuckandMax
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much for your kind words, I really hope that we will be able to hit the road soon and bring you more houses from more cities. At this rate, we should be able to start traveling further by spring time of next year! -Ken
@Lucinda_Jackson2 жыл бұрын
@@ThisHouse Road Trip!!!! How exciting!!
@chuckandmax73132 жыл бұрын
@@ThisHouse that’s wonderful, I can’t wait
@elizabethhannah68362 жыл бұрын
Illinois has some great houses, and would be awfully close to home 😉
@lauraleech51882 жыл бұрын
My grandparents ordered a sears kit house,110 years ago, Glenavon Saskatchewan , came by rail, and my cousin still lives in the house. Looks like the woodland pic.
@stephenshepard51852 жыл бұрын
My wife and I owned one in Lansing Michigan that was built in 1929, but we sold it back in 2006. While remodeling the the downstairs we found the Sears labels on the backs of baseboards. I did a little research and found what looked identical to our house in an old Sears Homes catalog. I thought that they were well constructed for being so relatively inexpensive, ours was smaller but had real 5/4 hardwood floors with the same material used as a subfloor running diagonally, a full brick fireplace and chimney. We had plaster and lath inside as well as these reverse plaster mold trim in the downstairs as crown molding. Looking around Lansing it appears that several were built in the area. Common features that stand out in some of the Sears homes are an asymmetrical roof line in the front over a round top front door. Loved that house and wished I hadn't sold it but unfortunately it was to small for our growing family so we moved.
@lenovovo2 жыл бұрын
Hey remember the Jim Walter Homes too. They were some good homes back in the day also. They were very affordable and they came with options
@doloresmcclain25552 жыл бұрын
I love these kids I wish they still had them
@chad7352 жыл бұрын
I had a 1920s Sears catalog at one times. They had EVERYTHING in them.
@kelteckin2 жыл бұрын
Yep I love these things there's quite a few in historic districts in Mississippi along the railroad boom towns
@Vikingwerk2 жыл бұрын
I lived in a Sears kit house a few years as a kid. It was built in 1920. Really neat house, had beautiful woodwork, wainscoting, chair rail, plate rail at the top of the dining room walls, hardwood floors and solid doors everywhere. It had never been modernized, so it had a coal furnace in the basement with a huge heat vent in the living room, and cast iron floor vents to let heat up to the second floor. Sadly, it burned down a few years after we moved away.
@stenbak882 жыл бұрын
It really shows how inflated our prices are now
@FordFalcon542 жыл бұрын
So i had a friend who lived in a Sears catalog home back in the day. It was like a mid to late 1910s home can't remember. Really really cool especially once you knew it was a catalog home. My first home I built was a kit home kind of ironic. It's not like every piece came in the kit but all the framing was precut assembled/sorted in packages with blueprints and instructions for each wall. BMC sucks and I wasn't impressed stuff was cut wrong alot. My garage studs was cut over 8 inches short twice. Eventually said screw it and pieced together a top plate that was 4 thick....the electrician wanted to kill me when he started trying to drill through that top plate.
@OKconnectmelove2 жыл бұрын
Happy Thanksgiving. What a great opportunity for Americans at that time. Makes me wonder how many diy fails there were and what the customer did. 😂🤷♀️ These homes are really very lovely. Thanks for another informative video.
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
LOL if it was anything like assembling a piece of furniture from Ikea, I'm sure there were some laughable moments! Happy Thanksgiving, Ken
@karenryder63172 жыл бұрын
I can't imagine the average person could do it by himself. Wouldn't a local builder be needed?
@chrishastings26652 жыл бұрын
My parents still live in one in it's unmolested form other then the windows my grandparents built. And until a few years ago the matching garage. We did save some of it and incorporated it into the new garage we built.
@GLDENGLOVES2 жыл бұрын
There are a cpl sears homes in Coffee county Tennessee..the road is called Sears and Roebuck road
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
That's awesome!!
@charlesbolton84712 жыл бұрын
That’s interesting. I’ve lived in Tullahoma since 2016. I know where that road is, but I never had any idea there were Sears Kit houses on the road.
@Kalaninumberone2 жыл бұрын
I owned one of these in South Minneapolis. The craftsmanship was incredible.
@Mrshoujo2 жыл бұрын
My grandparents bought and assembled a Kit Home in the 1950s. My grandfather used everything except the doors. He got an Amish craftsman to make those. Still solid after all these years! Sadly we no longer own their house.
@mikebarry15142 жыл бұрын
Very interesting and loved the historical information ! Happy Thanksgiving to all who worked on this show.
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
We're so glad you enjoyed it! Happy Thanksgiving!
@tomernest20043 ай бұрын
I was a carpenter in New England for over 45 year and I worked on two or three Sears kit build houses over the years. I've got to say they were pretty well-built. 60 to 70 years old and still in really good shape.
@rckoala88382 жыл бұрын
I found out that my home is a Sears house when I was having a garage sale and a woman ran up and exclaimed, "Your house is in this book!" My house is the Wilmore, and the book is "Houses By Mail", a history of the Sears homes with reproductions of the catalogue entries, including the floor plans. (Very useful when the house painters needed to know the dimensions of a room!) Another sourcebook by a Sears house enthusiast is "The Houses That Sears Built" by Rosemary Thornton.
@truthjunkie632 жыл бұрын
💙
@jenb7769 Жыл бұрын
I own a Sears kit home built in 1913 in Minnesota. Craftsman Mission Oak gorgeous home. It’s the sturdiest and smartest home I’ve ever seen!
@countessratzass54082 жыл бұрын
I live in a 1927 Built Rite Bungalow, a Sears competitor, in Midtown Memphis.
@positiveenergythreads3282 жыл бұрын
Mine is a Sears Kit - the vallonia built in 1912. In 1934, they added a second story, which was, as the story goes, also a Sears kit. The construction materials are at the top end like we just don’t see in use today. The wood’s quality you can’t get anymore. I’m in Galesburg Illinois where there are a lot of kit houses. This is a railroad town so easy to unload and transport only a short distance to the build site. The house history left to me by the original family, said that they rented the RR car and offtrack holding. This allowed the storage of the materials as the house was being built. I’ve often wished I knew how to get a knowledgeable expert to come in and walk Galesburg with me. I think it’s a treasure trove.
@amberp88352 жыл бұрын
My aunt lives in a Sears catalog house.
@handimanjay66422 жыл бұрын
I did some electrical work in a Sears home. All lighting had low voltage switching that was routed to a central relay board in the attic. Some of the heating was done with ceiling heating panels that were wired for 220 volts. We had to demolish the original central heating system out of the attic. It was huge, made with steel plates and cast iron and was installed at Constrution. We had to cut the end wall out of the back of the attic to throw the heavy pieces out into the yard. The trim package was high end with wide hardwood trim. It was a 1920’s package that the same family kept. Beautiful inside and out.
@sarahcrowe97302 жыл бұрын
In Oregon near Jacksonvillle there is a Sears Kit House located. Interesting the history you presented. Thank you
@tammyguessbeckham22122 жыл бұрын
I live in Ripley Tennessee. The house next door is a Sears house. It was as built by the original owner of my house. He built it for his mother. My house was built in 1896 and the house next door was built in 1905,
@HipsterYoda2 жыл бұрын
We really should bring this back with responsibly built kit homes that use materials that are safe for the environment, look great and don't take much to build
@zachsheffee84582 жыл бұрын
Nothing last as long as good old-fashioned lead paint!
@HipsterYoda2 жыл бұрын
@@zachsheffee8458 including humans as lead paint can be cancerous and accumulates in your body over time....the longer it lasts the more unhealthy you get haha
@garywanamaker2253 Жыл бұрын
grew up with one in Congers, NY. it was a great house. built in 1930. we lived right near train station.
@MrJoeybabe252 жыл бұрын
I'll bet the reaction within the Sears company was "are you crazy". But selling homes through the mail was very doable and profitable.
@TwoBs2 жыл бұрын
I recently found out (well, a year ago) that my childhood home that I spent 12 years in from 1987-1999 came from Sears. After searching around online with my mom going through numerous floor plans, it was called “The Marion”. It was built in 1935, I believe. My great-grandparents had owned it. Had the original hardwood flooring and doors when I lived in it. Absolutely beautiful home that was in the family until 2002 when it ultimately met its demise (burnt down when my uncle was living in it). They definitely made those homes to last (except when going up against fire). They were pretty sturdy. I’d give anything to have that house back. As much as I would love to see this concept resurface, let’s be real … the quality would be cheap. Extremely cheap. Modular homes and trailers are the modern replacement, just minus the long lasting quality (although I will say that some new modular homes, like the new double wides, are made better than some of the houses I’ve seen built from the ground up using cheap materials - thicker walls, better hardwood flooring and carpet, using decent quality materials instead of the cheap plastic look meant to imitate, etc.. I almost wanted to buy one for a while lol). If anyone out there is living in a Sears home of the past, know I envy you. Cherish the history in that home.
@judybicknell86102 жыл бұрын
Very interesting history, thank you!
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
Glad you enjoyed it
@judybicknell86102 жыл бұрын
@@ThisHouse I don't want to sound cliche but "fun facts" it truly is. I had no idea Sears Roebuck made house kits so to speak.
@aniquinstark43472 жыл бұрын
My grandparents built a Sears catalog house in the 60's. It's very humble with small rooms and low ceilings but the construction was done well enough that it's essentially untouched to this day. Still has wood paneling about 8 electrical outlets in the entire house.
@margaretorden75682 жыл бұрын
Thank you Ken for the video. It is really interesting. I was born in NZ but have lived in Uk since early 1970’s. My father was a carpenter and built small houses in NZ. I believe kit homes in UK are very few and far between and I was interested to learn how popular this form of building was in the States.
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
That is really interesting, thank you for sharing! I'm glad that you enjoyed this video. -Ken
@benniebarrow3482 жыл бұрын
I remember reading about this years ago ……absolutely amazing .
@noxirs70592 жыл бұрын
Sears Kit homes should make a comeback
@orchidsnlyme15642 жыл бұрын
There is a stunning Sears home in Corrales NM. It's held up really well over time!!! The owners used to give tours but of course now they don't.
@TalenGryphon2 жыл бұрын
A childhood friend of mine grew up in a Sears house of the same variety as that first image (With the steep roof over the front door). Seattle is rife with Sears kit homes (Often decorated in Victorian trim because such went out of style over a decade later on the West Coast). Fun fact: A number of different Sears homes were designed by Frank Lloyd Wright! If kit home designs were still sold today they would be billed as "Award-winning designs from world famous architects!"
@djijspeakerguy4628 Жыл бұрын
I may have seen that exact house. Is it on the street just north of the base of Capitol Hill, south of SR520? There are a few near there. Also saw many Dutch colonial style (noted for symmetrical layout with central staircase, usually wide but not deep, second story built into roof) houses that looked like the Sears versions, on and near 23rd avenue on Capitol Hill. Also are a ton of four square homes and craftsman bungalows on Capitol Hill and Queen Anne Hill, and likely a few are kit homes from Sears or another company including Aladdin, Gordon Van-Tine, and Wardway (Montgomery Ward.) There are probably, in all, a thousand or so different models of kit homes. Apparently, that particular model the Bellwood was mentioned in a novel at some point! Side note: I’m actually using the old Sears catalogs for something: I’m building a town in Minecraft and these old catalogs are my source for the home floor plans!
@TalenGryphon Жыл бұрын
@@djijspeakerguy4628 Nah. Those were actually 2 separate thoughts. His house was in Everett, near the 41st St exit. (That's all the more specific I'll get. For all I know his parents might STILL live there). But these "Seattle Foursquares" as I call them are all over the Northwest. Tacoma, Everett, Bellingham, Olympia, Portland... they all have them. A bit of interesting info tho, the house had corbelled (sp?) ceilings on the 1st floor. Meaning the walls were curved where they meet the ceiling (Gave the house really cool acoustic properties when we played music). It's cool that these plan homes are living on in your Minecraft village. I'd like to see cool houses being built IRL again
@getintothewildwithjeffruma87772 жыл бұрын
There is a Sears home about five miles from where I live. It is one of the most beautiful homes around and sits on the top of the hill with acres of land all around it. I rehab house and have even built a spec home in the past. Being able to buy one of these kits to day would me the process very easy. Great video.
@JohnSmith-zw8vp2 жыл бұрын
I'm guessing there's no chance this could possibly work today because there's a lot more codes and other legal loopholes/red tape you'd have to go through just to build even a regular house!
@sa32702 жыл бұрын
It might be possible, but they wouldn't be able to use the old designs without adjustments.
@atheinasophiajade10442 жыл бұрын
I havr been in a small but amazingly ornate house in Willard MO. It was the coolest. The metal hinges and brackets were engraved. With just stunning baseboards and crown molding to die for. Small but a Taj Maha.
@mrs.g.98162 жыл бұрын
I don't think anyone today (except for people trained in carpentry and home-building) could build a house from a kit, even if the instructions were clear and concise. All the houses I saw in this video were so nice. Some looked rather large and ornate, so I was amazed they were from kits. My brother-in-law is an excellent carpenter and contractor. About 45 years ago, he built a beautiful home for himself and my sister, from his own blueprints. It's still in excellent shape and still looking beautiful!
@donmcatee452 жыл бұрын
Ah, Sears the pre internet Amazon, I always wonder how they dropped the ball with the birth of the internet. They already had it all.
@jandkhilbert4 ай бұрын
Because of management. The powers that be did not want them to succeed- my opinion
@donmcatee454 ай бұрын
@@jandkhilbert absolutely right.
@bostonblackie95032 жыл бұрын
$4000 was a really lot of money for a home in those days. Bearing in mind you had to provide the land and labour. However, this is starting to come back in places, such as Home Depot, have small home kits. For a number of years now and on going people have a problem finding the down payment for a house. Companies building small homes and container homes are becoming more popular and now you can see a model of these kits at hardware stores.
@JustWasted3HoursHere2 жыл бұрын
Back before there were car dealerships every two blocks (or any to speak of at all!) many people also bought their Ford Model Ts through Sears, Roebuck and Company. Those cars, when needing service, were often either repaired at the local blacksmith shop or, by necessity, the owner him or herself! (This is one reason that the early cars were dead-simple, mechanically. To make them simple for even an average person to be able to maintain and repair.)
@darringifft90102 жыл бұрын
I’m from Front Royal Va. and we still have quite a few of these homes in town and they are beautiful.
@haileybalmer97222 жыл бұрын
If my house isn't a Sears kit, it looks a lot like one. It was pretty clearly built as a starter home next to the family farmhouse. There are a couple of houses on this block that look suspiciously like Sears Kit homes. For what it's worth, mine seems to be holding up pretty well compared to stuff built in the 1990's by actual contractors. Make of that what you will.
@user-mv9tt4st9k2 жыл бұрын
The materials used to built TOC homes were fairly good, even by today's standards. There is a reason they hold up and are worth preserving.
@Gardner_for_Earth2 жыл бұрын
I work with a small construction company in Alaska and build kit homes. We do a very detailed job. Not just precut studs but every component of the house is precut. All the windows, doors, top/bottom plates with layout stenciled on. It's cool to see how they did it back in the day.
@ralphjackson82952 жыл бұрын
I bought one of these homes. It was an 1917 American four square. I loved that house. The wood work was amazing. It took two years to get it back to its original condition with upgraded plumbing, electric and plaster work. When we broke into the ceiling and walls, we found the old gas lines for liteing.
@jaush692 жыл бұрын
My friends house is a Sears house from the 30s. It’s fascinating they sold anything from a toaster to a home or even a Tommy gun from the Sears catalog.
@baneofbanes2 жыл бұрын
Yah. Sears was basically a combination of Amazon, Cabellas, Home Depot, and Walmart.
@NxlrN2 жыл бұрын
My family grew up in one. Had a few additions over the years but was mostly 90-100 years old. It had to be taken down because it was a fire hazard. But when we tried to bulldoze it. The whole building moved as one piece instead of the wall being pushed down. Was a very solid building.
@CMarie4042 жыл бұрын
I live in a Sears kit home from the 30s. 1.5 stories. It has a good lay out, lots of functional usable space. There are PDF versions of the catalogues, which are fun to look through.
@KristinSoliday2 ай бұрын
The older part of my home is a kit, but I have yet to determine the manufacturer. Built in 1931, it has some hand hewn beams in parts of the basement but others on the main floor stamped "Cottage Number Three". The walls and ceilings are traditional mortar/ lathe/ plaster. None of the original trimwork remains but the floors are intact. I found a single crystal doorknob in the yard one day while clearing some brush :) The man who built the house was a carpenter and painter who ended up having 7 daughters. Imagine stacking 7 daughters in a single room in an ~800 sq. ft. house today! He also built a couple of small barns on the property, and one appeared to have been his sanctuary- there was a lock on the inside of the entry door and pipework for a wood stove lol. I'd love to see videos of some of the other kit house manufacturers if you can find enough backstory, Ken! Love your videos, keep up the amazing work! Cheers!
@AdhamOhm Жыл бұрын
My dad showed me pictures of the old Sears store that used to be in our city until the 1960s (after which it moved to a new-- at the time-- mall in the suburbs). It was a three story building that had a railroad spur and depot in the back. Until the 40s this was where the store got most of its deliveries, including parts for peoples' kit homes.
@5Detective2 жыл бұрын
Have any more info on the house at 1:35? It's gorgeous.
@ThisHouse2 жыл бұрын
That is the Albert H. Sears House in Plano, IL. It was thought to have been replicated as a Sears Kit Home, but I am unable to verify any other existing examples of it. -Ken
@5Detective2 жыл бұрын
@@ThisHouse Thanks! I'll do a little reading on it. I really love the style.
@phosphorescentfungi2 жыл бұрын
In the late 1800s and into the early 1900s the George Franklin Barber Co. was the premier architectural mail-order firm of pre-designed pre-built Victorian Era style homes. Barbar had catalogs of designs from which to choose, and variations, changes, additions, etc. in the architectural style were accommodated to suit the buyer's tastes. The house you so like is more than likely a Barber design---a variation of design #18.
@doberman1ism6 ай бұрын
Sears Ancestral home in Willoughby,Ohio. My Italian, immigrant grandfather built this home in 1925. My mother grew up here. I grew up here and I versus my son here.
@1369buddy2 жыл бұрын
My grandfather's house was a kit from Sears built in 1927, true 2x4s I owned it for15 years
@alextownsend66622 жыл бұрын
My great aunt and her husband built a Sears home in Wayne, NJ maybe around 1940? The house still stands today.