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Sears Mail order Homes
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:16 pm
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:16 pm
We recently had a thread discussing the impending doom of Sears.
Some users were fascinated by the fact Sears once sold mail order homes.
Here's an NPR article on it
The Sears Modern Homes catalog debuted in 1908, and it offered all the material and blueprints needed to build a house. The pieces that arrived in the mail were meant to fit together sort of like Legos, so buyers could build the houses themselves or hire contractors.
"You would order everything from your light fixtures, to your lamp, [the wall covering], kitchen cabinets, the whole thing, whether you get a garage or not. And then it just shipped to you," preservationist Eric Dobson told NPR's Allison Keyes in 2014.
Sears Homes of ChicagoLand
The homes originally cost between a few hundred dollars and a few thousand. The Martha Washington model, for example, originally sold for $2,688 to $3,727 (or the equivalent of $35,713 to $49,518 today), but in 2016 one sold for more than $1 million.
Some users were fascinated by the fact Sears once sold mail order homes.
Here's an NPR article on it
The Sears Modern Homes catalog debuted in 1908, and it offered all the material and blueprints needed to build a house. The pieces that arrived in the mail were meant to fit together sort of like Legos, so buyers could build the houses themselves or hire contractors.
"You would order everything from your light fixtures, to your lamp, [the wall covering], kitchen cabinets, the whole thing, whether you get a garage or not. And then it just shipped to you," preservationist Eric Dobson told NPR's Allison Keyes in 2014.
Sears Homes of ChicagoLand
The homes originally cost between a few hundred dollars and a few thousand. The Martha Washington model, for example, originally sold for $2,688 to $3,727 (or the equivalent of $35,713 to $49,518 today), but in 2016 one sold for more than $1 million.
This post was edited on 10/22/18 at 4:18 pm
13
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:19 pm to Tigeralum2008
There was a whole extremely minor plot point on this on Boardwalk Empire.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:21 pm to Tigeralum2008
There are three of them on highway 308 near Napoleonville. Cant miss them as they are basically identical.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:22 pm to Tigeralum2008
i stayed at a friend's house in colorado that is a sears home.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:30 pm to CAD703X
They came in boxcars, not the freaking mail.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:37 pm to Tigeralum2008
Our realtor in Atlanta told us that all of the houses in our small neighborhood had originally been sold out of the Sears catalog. They were small 3/1 post WWII era homes and there seemed to be be 3-4 different models. They weren't nearly as nice as the styles in the pics. Most are being torn down to build larger homes.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:39 pm to atxfan
Whole bunch of them an Los Angeles going for astronomical prices.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:44 pm to Tigeralum2008
My great grandparents ordered the farm house from Sears. I want to say it was built in 1897.. grandparents still live at the farm today in the Sears home. I had no idea you used to be able to buy a house from a catalog, until they showed me their house in the catalog
Posted on 10/22/18 at 4:47 pm to ClampClampington
quote:
My great grandparents ordered the farm house from Sears. I want to say it was built in 1897.. grandparents still live at the farm today in the Sears home. I had no idea you used to be able to buy a house from a catalog, until they showed me their house in the catalog
I'd love to know how the finances were handled in 1897. Assuming Western Union wire transfer but that seems like one hell of a administrative clusterfrick for Sears
Posted on 10/22/18 at 5:53 pm to Tigeralum2008
I own a sears mail order home built in Minneapolis in 1918. While it’s a cool old house, I’ve been here for 4 years and keep finding shite wrong with it. My next house I buy in a few years will definitely not be 100 years old.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 5:58 pm to Tigeralum2008
There's a lumber company out there doing a kind of a stripped down version of that now. They pre-cut and label all your framing lumber based on your blue prints and you get an instruction book to just nail it together.
Eta: Found it. It's BMC. LINK
Eta: Found it. It's BMC. LINK
This post was edited on 10/22/18 at 6:02 pm
Posted on 10/22/18 at 6:00 pm to Tigeralum2008
On Gen. Pershing St. in NOLA, there are three in a row.
I know this, as I lived in one.
I'll let you kids figure out where they are.
I know this, as I lived in one.
I'll let you kids figure out where they are.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 6:47 pm to DoctorTechnical
There are several in Lake Charles. Seen the phots, but am fimilar with only one
Posted on 10/22/18 at 6:51 pm to Tigeralum2008
The "Magnolia" is spectacular. Even today.
No doubt, if I ever can build a house for my own it will be a timeless Colonial style.
No doubt, if I ever can build a house for my own it will be a timeless Colonial style.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 6:57 pm to East Coast Band
Pretty sure there is a Magnolia in a town about 30 minutes from me. Looks just like it anyway. Even has the dealio on the side for carriages/cars like in the ad.
Beautiful home.
Beautiful home.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 8:17 pm to Tigeralum2008
There’s a magnolia one on Lake Washington here in the delta. It’s been abandoned for years and is rotting away.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 8:18 pm to Tigeralum2008
Also it’s unreal you could buy a fricking mansion for 5k
Posted on 10/22/18 at 8:26 pm to Tigeralum2008
In college I lived on a little single street neighborhood in Hammond. Most of the houses were Sears homes.
Posted on 10/22/18 at 8:27 pm to bayoudude
quote:
There are three of them on highway 308 near Napoleonville. Cant miss them as they are basically identical.
Are those really Sears homes?
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