Sears Homes in Detroit?

**cman710** · April-12-13, 01:52 PM

From 1908-1940, Sears, Roebuck, and Co. sold homes through their mail order Modern Homes program. The parts for the homes were pre-fabricated and then shipped to a purchaser, who then assembled the home himself or presumably paid someone else to do so. Sears sold between 75,000 and 100,000 of these homes across the country, depending on the source you consult, and there were about 450 different designs available.

The homes ranged from the fancy Honor Bilt homes to simple bungalows, which did not always have indoor plumbing.

An Honor Bilt Home from 1922

Picture Credit: http://www.searshomes.org.

But other homes were more modest Bungalows:

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See the Sears Archive site for more information.

Does anyone know of any of these homes still surviving in Detroit or possibly one of the inner-ring suburbs? I have to think that there is one surviving somewhere!

**Bham1982** · April-12-13, 01:56 PM

Arent there some in Royal Oak or thereabouts?

**poobert** · April-12-13, 02:03 PM

Yes. A very reliable source tells me that 4141 Yorkshire in EEV is a Sears home. It stands to reason, since it doesn't resemble any of the other houses at all [[which are mostly 1920s - 1940s Tudors, brick/stone bugalows, and Colonials). It's the white house.

https://maps.google.com/maps?safe=of...ed=0CDQQ8gEwAA

It, along with the rest of its block, is lovingly maintained. It's just a few blocks from my house.

**Eber Brock Ward** · April-12-13, 02:07 PM

cman, consider contacting this lady:

http://www.searshomes.org/index.php/about-rose/

she has written books and been on tv a lot with respect to sears homes. i wouldn't doubt that she's cataloged what is where.

**cman710** · April-12-13, 02:15 PM

Thanks! I came across that site but have not seen any material from her regarding Detroit. It would be worth contacting her, as I am sure it has come up in her research. Given how much Detroit grew during this period, I would be very surprised if there are not several examples of Sears homes in the area.

**leapfrog** · April-12-13, 03:13 PM

Originally Posted by Bham1982

Arent there some in Royal Oak or thereabouts?

Ferndale has several as well. I live in one of them.

**Krawlspace** · April-12-13, 04:08 PM

This one is a Sears house. I lived a few doors down.

**ThosWolfe** · April-12-13, 04:19 PM

Not sure if it was Sears or Montgomery Wards but my parents' house in NW Detroit was a catalog house. Could see the #s on the basement rafters for assembling by #. Looked alot like that Winona in pics above. Added onto and porch enclosed later.
There's several similar to it on that block and nearby streets. Grand River 5 Points area circa 1918 when it was still Redford Twp.
So sad. The house is still good, and neighborhood not abandoned like many. 3 months on the market, my mother was fortunate to sell it earlier this year for $11,000. Bought for $19,000 in 1965.....

**p69rrh51** · April-12-13, 04:24 PM

There are probably thousands of Sears, Aladdin and other kits homes built in the Detroit area.

A Sears Kit house at 849 Notre Dame City of Grosse Pointe, MI.

**scottn55** · April-12-13, 06:46 PM

Ann Arbor has a TON of Sears homes.

**DetroitPlanner** · April-12-13, 07:30 PM

Originally Posted by scottn55

Ann Arbor has a TON of Sears homes.

They won't admit it though. They say they are Jacobson's homes!

**Lowell** · April-12-13, 09:41 PM

When and why did Sears stop selling them?

**Richard** · April-12-13, 10:04 PM

Originally Posted by Lowell

When and why did Sears stop selling them?

1942 The war effort curb , after the war the suburb was born but sears built the early ones before in NJ? Nobody had time to assemble anymore.

Used to be you received the first shipment , floor joists and flooring then wrote a letter to sears informing them you were ready for the next phase so it was very time consuming. Plus it all came by rail and you had to pick it up at the yard.

Sears also continued to sell houses to corporate customers in the years after 1940. For example, there are 61 Sears houses in Hellertown, PA that were built in the early 1940's for workers at Bethlehem Steel.

Not from sears but you can still buy a kit house that is expandable starting from 300 sqft up to 3000. One room at a time.

**old guy** · April-12-13, 10:34 PM

There's a small town [[8,000-10,000 pop.) near where I live that has one of the Sears homes on its main street. It's the first one pictured on this thread, the massive Honor built. I have some old catalogs of these homes and when I saw this one, I checked it out and verified it.
It's hard to imagine how it came to be, as a mail order home. It's still in very good shape.

**Gistok** · April-12-13, 11:58 PM

Good God... did any of you read up about Cairo Illinois... the hometown of the Sears Mill that assembled the parts for the Sears home. It makes Detroit look good!

**old guy** · April-13-13, 12:49 AM

Gistok, if you're talking about Cairo, I had a cabin in the woods back in the 60's north of there, closer to Carbondale. Actually they do pronounce it Ca ro. Went there once. Scary bad.
Sorry to threadjack.

**p69rrh51** · April-13-13, 04:07 AM

17125 New York built in 1925 Detroit, MI.

**p69rrh51** · April-13-13, 04:10 AM

26690 Huntington built in 1941 Hill Historic District Huntington Woods, MI.

**Designerguy24** · April-13-13, 07:50 AM

I live in one from 1910 in Mount Clemens.

**Lowell** · April-13-13, 08:54 AM

Ditto on the comments about Cairo [Kay'-row to the locals]. The main street could rival Chene Street below the Poletown Plant - http://goo.gl/maps/D7EOf.

Just south of town is a little run-down park with the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, a great vista to sit on the rocks and ponder the history of America. Logistically speaking Cairo would have been an ideal location for packaging and dispatching the large materials for Sears houses.

**astongraham** · April-13-13, 09:53 AM

though prefabbed, they look better than the homes being built today. Obviously of better quality because they are still standing and in better shape that the ones around them

**DetroitPlanner** · April-13-13, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by Lowell

When and why did Sears stop selling them?

Levittowns were the principle downfall of the kit homes. They could build em faster and cheaper using the same principals of Henry Ford. They put up whole subdivisions in an assembly line fashion. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown

**Hermod** · April-13-13, 12:57 PM

Lots of the retirement/tax-dodge communities up in the North Carolina mountains sell you the land and a log home kit to assemble [[or have assembled)..

**JBMcB** · April-13-13, 01:00 PM

There are quite a few in the older subs in Eastpointe around 9 Mile and Gratiot. My grandmother-in-law lived in one over there. Still had the construction numbers on the timbers in the basement [[insert beam A42 into support B2)

**Lowell** · April-13-13, 01:19 PM

I image the growth of the pre-built housing ala mobile homes and techniques to transport them fully built or in halves to sites also diminished demand for assembly kits. Why get a box of tinker toys and instructions when you can get the whole toy assembled, unless you are into the joy of DIY.