By: Shari D.

Shari D. — Sat, 18 May 2013 05:50:03 +0000

Oooops – this doesn’t make much sense – “it tells me that making $400 today has the buying power of $30.88 today!” What I was trying to say really is that back in the 20′s, if you had $30,88, it was like making $400 today. Sounds kind of out of kilter, but that’s the information I got! Sorry about any confusion!

By: hookedonhouses

hookedonhouses — Mon, 13 May 2013 18:48:02 +0000

Interesting! Thanks, Trina.

By: Trina Veber

Trina Veber — Mon, 13 May 2013 16:44:24 +0000

I enjoyed your information. I am the keeper of the records for Cape Charles Virginia where we have several kit homes. I am a Realtor which enables me to check out as much as I can to identify the homes. We have identified some copycats. I guess this help cut some costs. Folks would share their plans and then build their own. Some ordered their lumber etc from Sears because of the catalog. I always enjoy visits with our senior citizens who still remember the homes being built. I asked one sweet lady if her home was a Sears Kit Home and she replied “O no, my Daddy built it. I watched him make all the blocks for the foundation.” The blocks where made from a Sears mold. Keep up the great information.

By: Shari D.

Shari D. — Mon, 13 May 2013 08:06:58 +0000

Being a passionate and long-time seeker/follower of Craftsman and Arts and Crafts bungalows, kit homes (and especially kit home bungalows!), I have a raft of books in my bookcase, and many dozens of websites marked and stored for reference. This is a gorgeous example of one of my very favorite styles of all! Ii love it, and I am enjoying your blog in general a great deal! Thanks so much for taking the time and putting the effort into sharing this with everyone!
That being said, I have some comments based on some of the previous posts I have been reading about Sears Kit homes. One of the things that people need to keep in mind is that the cost of these homes were very relative to the current economy of the times. People didn’t make $10 an hour doing ANYTHING back then. Using an Inflation Calculator available on the Internet, it tells me that making $400 today has the buying power of $30.88 today! Consider that a weekly salary, and then put all your other obligations into similar perspective. And, with the exception of a certain short period of time where Sears actually offered short-term mortgages on their kits, these homes were bought with CASH. Out of your pocket. Or saved up over time, or financed by your local Building and Loan Association. And since $2000 in say 1925 is actually equal to $25,908, can you imagine coming up with that much cash out of your pocket to hand over for the basic materials to build your home?
Another part is that these homes did NOT include wiring, electric fixtures, plumbing fixtures, storm and screen doors and windows, heating plant of whatever type you decided your home needed (see the fine print under “Options” at the bottom of that Sears catalog page) the land to build it on, the materials for establishing the foundation, the brick or stone work if there was any to go with the house in the way of fireplaces, chimneys, which were needed with or without a fireplace in order to vent your furnace and your cook stove if it was not gas or electric (just coming into reach of the average consumer in the ’20s) and porch construction. Most of these first items were not included because even at that time, many homes were not being constructed in areas where municipal utilities such as electricity, water and sewage were supplied, and you did without them. There were also different qualities and styles (read that “PRICES”) of plumbing and lighting fixtures, and you could pick your own based on how much you wanted to spend and what you wanted them to look like. (You could, however, still purchase outhouses and kerosene lanterns if you needed them instead!)
The masonry materials, such as brick, concrete blocks, stone, and the cement and mortar needed to lay them were not included because the shipping weight was prohibitive, and would have added a great deal to the shipping cost of your home by rail, and taken up a good bit more space. Those materials were, and still are, created locally to just about every area where people build homes, and they are much cheaper and easier to acquire locally. Sears could not provide or produce them and then ship them to you cheaper. Besides, your basement walls and floor and foundation footers and such needed to be in place before the house parts arrived a few weeks after they got your order and your money, so you could start building with the wood parts for the foundation of the home above grade, The plans and instructions, and materials list, for constructing the specific size and shape of foundations and the basement and location of the basement windows if provided for were sent to you before the home parts actually arrived, so you could get those done beforehand.
The labor of course was a whole different story. If you were not capable of putting up your home yourself, maybe with the help of a few relatives and/or neighbors, which was common about half the time, using the instruction manual provided with the house, and the ones provided with the additional features you chose to add, like installing your own furnace, indoor plumbing, wiring and electrical fixtures, then you needed to hire a carpenter, or builder, and perhaps painters and plasterers, to put your home up for you, and that also added to the cost of your home, again to come out of your pocket!
So, while the under-$2000 price tag looks inviting, you have to put it into its proper economic perspective, and consider all the things that price did not cover before deciding it would be such a great price break over homes of today! Sears frequently noted with their plans, that their calculations considering all those factors, would make the completed price of the home usually about double their actual catalog list price, and they would quote you their calculation, so the potential buyer would actually have a grip on what might be the total cost of their home before they could move in the door.
And yes, you can have homes designed after these styles constructed today, with the contemporary features that we require in the 21st century. There are quite a few builders and house plan providers that are providing the plans and the homes that people have been finding out recently are so much more affordable, sensible, sustainable, useful and livable than the outrageously sized, style-less, and poorly designed “McMansions” of today. There are small developments of Bungalow neighborhoods being built in many areas of the country as we speak, in answer to the changing lifestyles and financial requirements of today’s society. I have links galore that I found through “Googling” things like “bungalow house plans” and similar search terms over the last couple of years. They can vary a great deal though, from current house plans being “dressed up” with some gables and a porch out front they call “bungalows,” and then there are true bungalow styles inside and out, with Craftsman and Arts and Crafts detailing, woodwork styles, built-ins, with room arrangements being updated to suit current living styles and cutting down on square footage, energy needs, housecleaning labor (which we can all get on board with!) and the need for space we simply do not use in the pared-down life styles that many people are choosing to live. Kit homes are harder to come by, and generally fall under the very-small-footprint category of home plans, The contemporary requirements for building regulations, building permits, rules and local and regional requirements make it much more difficult to design such things these days. Besides, who but the most experienced contractors, licensed electricians and plumbers, and other home building professionals can actually put them up anyway? You’d end up spending the same, if not more, than having a home built with the plans you can find online, or the designs you have done by an architect anyway. Unfortunately, the days of the “Jack of all trades” living in your home, or next door or in your family, are pretty much over with, and have gone the way of the shade-tree mechanic.
And don’t forget, while Sears is the provider of kit homes that always seems to come to mind when the subject comes up, they were neither the largest, the oldest, nor the longest lasting supplier of kit homes. There were actually six or seven “Big Players” in the kit home field, and were in different parts of the country, serving different areas. Some time spent at http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/index.htm and/or http://www.antiquehomestyle.com/plans will be quite educational and show you a whole world of kit homes and home plan providers you never knew existed! Don’t forget to check through ALL the links they provide, especially on the Interior link for tons of information on how the interiors of homes changed over they years. Other links are provided at the top of the page, and the site is growing larger and larger as time goes by. It is my favorite to be sure, but it’s not “mine” and I get no remuneration for recommending it to anyone. It’s just a great source of information on the whole world of home building and architectural styles from the Victorian age to the Mid-Century Modern age (in a separate section.) There is a whole new section as well on small home living, which is growing also and has great potential.

By: Trina Veber

Trina Veber — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 20:12:44 +0000

I am a Realtor in a small town on the Chesapeake Bay. I have a passion for Sears and other kit homes. We have several in our town. We have 2 on the market now. Do you have a suggestion for advertising to Sears Kit Followers. It is amazing what great condition they are in. Our area is a historical district.

Thank you,
Trina Veber

By: Tracy

Tracy — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 04:10:16 +0000

Nobody asked about the teak outdoor patio set, which I love. Where did it come from? THX.

By: Coleen

Coleen — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 01:48:58 +0000

That is a fantastic design. The interior is brilliant. I totally love it.

By: lara

lara — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 02:59:43 +0000

Sears stopped selling the ready-cut homes around 1941. However, some of the other kit home manufacturers stayed around longer than that. The house in this post is the Sears Vallonia model and a lot of houses look like it.

By: Candie K

Candie K — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:00:36 +0000

I have a good friend who lives in one of these in Tulsa, OK. Built in the early 1920′s, it was a model home. I’ll have to send her this link!
It has beautiful built-ins in the dining area; the doors have colored, original, hand blown glass.
Thanks for this!

By: hookedonhouses

hookedonhouses — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 12:10:51 +0000

Nice to hear from a new reader, Sheila! Welcome to our little club!

Comments on: Croatan Cottage: A Beautifully Restored Sears Roebuck Kit House in North Carolina

By: Shari D.

By: hookedonhouses

By: Trina Veber

By: Shari D.

By: Trina Veber

By: Tracy

By: Coleen

By: lara

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By: hookedonhouses