From the 1916 Sears Home Catalog. They shipped the entire house to you
by railroad car. Sears was like Ikea before Ikea. Friends and family
would come from all around to help the owner build it.
From 1908 to 1942, Sears sold more than 70,000 of these houses in
North America, by the company's count.
Sears Modern Homes offered more than 370 designs in a wide range of architectural styles and sizes over the line's 34-year history. Most
included the latest comforts and conveniences available to house
buyers in the early part of the twentieth century, such as central
heating, indoor plumbing, telephone, and electricity.
Primarily shipped via railroad boxcars, these kits included most of
the materials needed to build a house. Once delivered, many of these
houses were assembled by the new homeowner, relatives, friends and
neighbors, in a fashion similar to the traditional barn-raisings of
farming families.
Sears discontinued its Modern Homes catalog after 1940, though sales
through local sales offices continued into 1942. Years later, the
sales records related to home sales were destroyed during a corporate
house cleaning. As only a small percentage of these homes were
documented when built, finding these houses today often requires
detailed research to properly identify them.
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