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Architecture/Sears and Roebuck house kits

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Expert: Rikki Nyman - 9/25/2009


Question
Hi. Is it true that Sears and Roebuck sold instruction kits for building a house? If so, any idea how many they sold and which part of the country utilized them the most? Thanks

Answer
Catherine --

Sears sold kit homes and included plans and instructions with each home that were to be returned when the project was completed. Sears also sold materials and plans as well as worked with home builders to manufacture individually designed homes. I am not personally aware of instruction kits per se, however, you might send an email to Rosemary Thornton at http://www.searshomes.org/ She's spent years researching Sears homes and is really the best authority on them.

Best regards,
Rikki Nyman
www.antiquehomestyle.com

Architecture

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Rikki Nyman

Expertise

Residential architectural questions concerning houses designed between 1900 and 1950, where the question pertains specifically to styles, designs, plans, building materials, color schemes, paint colors, interior finishes and so on. I am NOT qualified to answer engineering questions or issues involving construction methods, plumbing, electrical and the like. For example, I can describe what an appropriate color scheme would be for a vintage 1920s kitchen, or sources for plans for Storybook Style houses. I can not tell someone how to replace the electrical wiring in their old home.

Experience

I have been researching old houses and writing about them for more than five years. (See www.antiquehomestyle.com, which is my site.)

Organizations
Oregon Historical Society Architectural History Center, Portland Oregon

Publications
www.antiquehomestyle.com

Education/Credentials
B.S. History, Minor in Architectural Design

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