Carlinville has 152 searshomes in a 12block area of the standardaddition. Similar to elgin, il you can find a very large still remaining remnant of sears home in carlinville, il. The book sears homes of illinois is not only giving you considerably more new information but also for being your friend when you experience bored. Sold under the sears modern homes brand, the kits soon became a huge hit. Oclcs webjunction has pulled together information and resources to assist library staff as they consider how to handle coronavirus. Illinois sears stores have all the latest home appliances for the kitchen and laundry room. Sears homes in carlinville, illinois, are a tourist attraction and a big part of the citys history. A sears honor built home office was located on river street from 1929 to 1934 and was managed by f. A dazzling collection of sears homes in northern illinois. Try to make relationship using the book sears homes of illinois. This southwestern chicago suburb has more than 210 sears homes. In its catalogs, sears summed up the reasons for the starlights popularity.
It is believed that more sears kitbuilt homes exist in illinois than anywhere else because of the proximity of the sears headquarters in chicago and the factory in cairo, il to the rest of the state. Lets travel back through time to see some sears starlights. See more ideas about sears catalog homes, vintage house plans and kit homes. Montgomery ward didnt sell near as many homes as sears, and discontinued that part of their business toward the end of 1931. For sears, i recommend, the sears homes of illinois all color photos. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. Sears homes of illinois and millions of other books are available for amazon. Sears homes of illinois by rosemary thornton nook book. You never sense lose out for everything in the event you read some books. She is passionate about finding and documenting sears kit homes, and is a dogged researcher of everything related to the history of how this phenomenon developed in our country. Sears modern homes were catalog and kit houses sold primarily through mail order by sears, roebuck and co. Blume about how easy it was to assemble precut homes. It is estimated that there may be as many as 2,000 searss homes in illinois.
Read this book and over 1 million others with a kindle unlimited membership. Sears reported that more than 70,000 of these homes were sold in north america between 1908 and 1940. She has focused her latest work on the state of illinois. Elgin illinois ornamental concrete block in residential architecture, hunter, rebecca, elgin. Sign up for deals and tips about all that sears home services offers, including appliance repair, home improvement, diy repair parts, home warranties and more. Elmer and his brother, oscar, built dozens of sears homes in des plaines, as well as in libertyville, park ridge, and other suburbs. Each kit contained 10,000 30,000 pieces and the framing members were marked to facilitate construction. Sears houses in ohio one womans quest to locate houses. This picture came from an original set of sears honor bilt blueprints. Many of those houses are still around, and their owners are saddened by. After some research i learned from the blog sears that elgin, illinois is home to the largest collection of sears homes. Available from the gail borden public library, elgin il.
If your appliance fails due to reasons related to the original repair, we will replace any parts that fail due to defects in materials, workmanship, and perform any additional labor free of charge. Rose has traveled to 24 states to give 200 lectures on sears homes, from. Ephemera can help identify a house as a sears home. Its a beautiful book, chocked full of photos 250 color photos featuring the sears homes of illinois. The book of modern homes and building plans first appeared in 1908 for the first time, sears sold complete houses, including the plans and instructions for construction of 22 different styles, announcing that the featured homes were complete, ready for occupancy. Sears kit homes were shipped via boxcar and came with a 75page instruction book. These were good houses, built to exacting standards and with quality lumber, millwork and materials, according to illinoisbased author rosemary thornton in her book, finding the houses that sears built. Sears, roebuck started out selling house plans in 1908, and montgomery ward followed a year later, in 1909. Currently im reading the book, sears homes of illinois. For wardway, theres the mailorder homes of montgomery ward. More than 100 years of stories, product and brand histories, photographs, catalog images and.
For this weeks listing of the week, we decided to find seven charming sears catalog homes you can actually buy. A compilation of testimonials published in sears modern homes catalogs 19081940 gbpl 270 n. Reliable information about the coronavirus covid19 is available from the world health organization current situation, international travel. We have no relationship with advertisers, products, or services discussed at this website. Shes the coauthor of californias kit homes 2004 and. When i started the sears kit homes group on facebook in 2009 thanks to rachel for remembering. Elgin has more than 200 homes still standing and in downstate carlinville, an entire 156home subdivision were. Theres no doubt that this bungalow is a sears vallonia. Roses newest book the sears homes of illinois was published in december 2010. Whether youre looking for a new refrigerator, range, washing machine or dryer, we carry the top brands with the newest features and technology. This group features houses in the chicago area ordered from mailorder catalogssears roebuck. In the early 1900s, sears sold thousands of homes around the u. Sears prefab homes still standing in region, across the.
Finding the customized house that sears built, part v. You can spend your own spend time to read your book. Sears homes in illinois is a new book by rosemary thornton who has documented sears and wards kitbuilt homes in the past. Rose thornton is the author of several books, including. Sears homes were popular in the railroad community of aurora, which boasts 6 authenticated properties, making aurora one of the largest concentrations of sears homes in the country. The sears starlight was a big seller for sears for decades. Between 1908 and 1940, sears sold about 70,000 kit homes in 48 states through their mailorder modern homes program, with 370 designs that you might not readily recognize as a kit. Sears reports that they sold more than 70,000 sears homes in north america between 1908 and 1940. Carlinville has 152 homes in a 9block area, while elgin has more than 210 within the town limits. The resulting dwellings were as durable as they were enchanting, swiftly becoming icons of the american. Sears sold 70,000 homes from their catalog, are you living. A drive through carlinville,illinois, which has the largest collection of sears homes in the country, provesthis point conclusively. It is believed that more sears kitbuilt homes exist in illinois than anywhere else because of the proximity of the sears headquarters in chicago and the factory in. Sears stayed in the home selling business until 1942.
Sears home services provides quality repair services to help extend the life of your appliances. While this represents only a small fraction of all the homes sears ever sold, it is an invaluable resource for those interested in sears homes. This article series provides detailed photographic and historic clues to assist in the. Most of the designs were practical, attractive and affordable. Sears is fading, but memories of its mailorder homes. Many decades later, those same markings can help identify a home as a sears kit home. Sears began to see a profit with the printing of their first publication, book of modern homes and building plans. To find sears homes, youll also need to learn to think out of thebox. By the end of the 1918, 156 of the mail order homes had been placed within a. Look in the attic and basement for any paperwork original blueprints, letters, etc. Gallagher, who lived in a sears house at 125 s western.
Rose thornton is the author of several books, including the houses that sears built 2002, finding the houses that sears built 2004 and the ugly womans guide to internet dating 2009. Over 0 entries tell us that sears sold homes in at least 43 states. Feb 16, 2020 i grew up in downers grove, illinois and we have a great deal of these houses see more ideas about kit homes, downers grove and house styles. Shes the coauthor of californias kit homes 2004 and montgomery wards mailorder homes 2010, and has contributed chapters to three books on architecture. Sears catalog kit houses how to identify a sears catalog. The lumber shipped from sears 40 acre lumber yard in cairo, il. Sears has opened the doors to its vast archival collection and invited the public to peek inside. Entire illinois neighborhood built from sears homes youtube. The starlight bungalow is one of our most popular designs. This newest revision of the houses that sears built features pictures of sears homes in illinois, indiana, missouri, kentucky, ohio, wisconsin, maryland, washington, dc and virginia. The largest numbers of homes were sold in illinois, ohio, new york, pennsylvania and indiana. In fact, elgin, illinois has the largest known collection of sears homes in the country. Families across the nation set about assembling the kits, using the thick instruction manual to puzzle out how twelve thousand pieces of house might fit together. But the name lives on in houses sears sold by catalog some 90 years ago.
To learn more about the houses in elgin, visit the gail borden public library in elgin, and check out the elgin illinois sears house research project by rebecca hunter. The sears homes of illinois has more than 200 color photos of the most popular designs that sears offered and can be very helpful in identifying sears homes. More than 370 different home designs in a wide range of architectural styles and sizes were offered over the programs 34year history. Being a resident of illinois and a lover of architecture sears homes have intrigued me. The 1920s version is also one of the easiest sears houses to recognize, and you probably have one in your town. Rose is the author of several books, including the houses that sears built 2002, finding the houses that sears built 2004, the ugly womans guide to internet dating 2009 and the sears homes of illinois 2010. But that may change as folks become more aware of these architectural treasures. Grove boasts one of the largest collections of sears homes within illinois with nearly. Numerous and frequentlyupdated resource results are available from this search. Throughout the 1920s, the sears modern homes catalogs featured letters by elmer m. The majority of sears homes were built in the northeast and midwest, with the largest grouping being in the city of elgin, il, where one community has more than 200 verified sears homes. On the other side, you can see the dining room bumpout with the two spaced windows.
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