Comments on: Sears Honor-Bilt Home: The Lynnhaven Model

By: Lisa

Lisa — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:27:15 +0000

Your home is amazing. It has so much charm and character. Nice job restoring it! How do I tell if my home is Gordon Van Tyne or Sears? I know that it is a kit home because all of the attic stairs and cellar stairs are labeled, etc.

By: Sue

Sue — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 21:53:04 +0000

I LOVE this home. It is so ME! Hm…now is that a good thong for the poor house or a bad one?
Your blog is amazing!!

Hugs,
Sue

By: Gabby Girl

Gabby Girl — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 02:37:24 +0000

I just wanted to thank you for popping around to say hi. It was such an unexpected and wonderful surprise to hear from someone in “Cyberspace”.

Hooked On Houses is fantastic and keeps me coming back for more! I’ll be seeing you soon.

By: janet

janet — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 00:31:30 +0000

Great post Julia. Anyone reading these comments that enjoys looking at these houses should get the book “Houses by Mail” by Katherine Cole Stevenson and H. Ward Jandl. The floor plans are great fun and the descriptions are certainly not commonplace; I often crib from them for my Real estate ads. They just sound so “dreamy” ie:”well proportioned rooms arrayed for gracious living”. Doesn’t that sound better than the usual “large rooms great for entertaining” that we read in today’s descriptions? OK, off my soapbox!

Janet

By: Tori

Tori — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:58:05 +0000

How cute! It’s so perfect it looks like a blown up doll house–
the good kind of doll house though, not the pink Barbie dream
house.

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 22:36:31 +0000

I love this house! Most of the “affordable” homes built today are completely void of character or charm. And they’re not built that well either. This is the type of home I’ve always dreamed of. I don’t recognize any of the Sears kit homes where we live but we do have a beautiful historic downtown area with lots of homes full of charm and character. But it takes lots of $$$ to buy one *then* you have to refurbish it. A girl can dream though…

By: Pat

Pat — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 21:38:54 +0000

I often wonder which homes are Sears or other mail order homes. I know I must pass by them now and then! This one is especially sweet.

Pat

By: JLB

JLB — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:43:58 +0000

This house it so pretty!! I love the excerptsfrom the Sears adverstisement!!…”sure to make any housewife proud” I wonder what the 2008 werbage would be?

By: hookedonhouses

hookedonhouses — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:50:39 +0000

Marie–good question. The website for this home gives very little specific information, like the names of the owners or where they live. I couldn’t find it, anyway.

I actually found the link to their home on the Antique Home website that Hairy W mentions above. She’s right–that’s an excellent site if you want more information about catalog homes. I spent hours on it!

I agree with what Jill and Arlene were saying, that homes can sometimes feel happy, sad, or angry. I’ve been in homes that were perfectly lovely, but I had the strong urge to leave. And I’ve been in others that weren’t pretty at all but were so welcoming that they made me happy just to hang out in them.

By: Hairy Weisenheimmer

Hairy Weisenheimmer — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:11:17 +0000

Love the old mail order homes! I’ve done some research on mine and believe it to be some variation of an Aladdin kit home, ( http://www.antiquehome.org/House-Plans/1916-Aladdin/Englewood.htmal ) though I still have to go to the county historical society to do some research. Its also possible that it is a Wardway or Gordon- Van Tyne home; both were popular in our area at the time ours was built and both had similar plans as Aladdin.

They just don’t make homes with that kind of unique personality and charm anymore.

BTW, for anyone that is interested, the link above for antiquehome.com is a great place to start on research for several different manufacturers of mail order homes!