# Do you live in or know anyone that lives in a Sears Catalog Home? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 10, 2013, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980 "2013-12-10T15:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/21 "2013-12-11T21:52:52Z")
They’re all over the Twin Cities, as there was a huge housing boom among the relatively affluent in the 20’s. I lived in a Craftsman bungalow for almost 20 years. Beautiful place. There are also some in the SF Bay Area, but the big booms there were more in the 30’s and 40’s when Standard Oil was moving in, so people built little 1- and 2-bedroom stucco houses. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/22 "2013-12-11T21:54:09Z")
Oh, I see what you mean. For the record, it’s not a Sears craftsman home, either. They stopped selling the houses in the 1940s. ---
**Author:** ![Capt\_Kirk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@Capt\_Kirk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt_Kirk)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2013, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/23 "2013-12-11T22:38:37Z")
Last year I supervised the remodel on a 1929 for my buddy Jack. There are a ton of them here in the Houston Heights. I also lived in one c1920 while I lived in Dallas. **Capt** ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/24 "2013-12-12T03:08:14Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > Oh, I see what you mean. > > For the record, it’s not a Sears craftsman home, either. They stopped selling the houses in the 1940s. Hmmmm. Were there other catalog homes in the 50’s? I’m questioning my information now. I don’t know jack about Mid-century architecture, so i hope i can learn something here. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/25 "2013-12-12T04:19:25Z")
Aladdin Company was going in the 50s. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/26 "2013-12-12T04:43:09Z")
> [@Lukeinva](#): > > Recently On This Old House they are airing shows of pre-fab houses that are constructed in a huge warehouse and shipped to New Jersey where people are rebuilding after hurricane Sandy. These pre-fab homes are something and it is not shabby at all. It was two weeks from start to finish. Habitat for Humanity did some semi-prefabbing after Hurricane Katrina. As for nobody building small houses, anyone heard of the “Tiny House” phenomenon? They range from less than 100 to more than 1,000 ft2. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2013, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/27 "2013-12-12T05:19:10Z")
We almost bought one six years ago. It was spectacularly gorgeous. The guy selling it was going though a divorce, had it priced really high and wasn’t willing to budge. We figured he didn’t really want to sell it and was just going through the motions. ---
**Author:** ![48Willys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/db5fbb/32.png) [@48Willys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/48Willys)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/28 "2013-12-13T09:24:52Z")
My grandpa bought and built one for his family in the 20s or 30s. One of the houses I grew up in was made by Sears, it also had a full, hand dug, basement. It was on a farm. One of my good friends grew up in one. It was a two story one. All of these were in the Willamette Valley in Western Oregon. I like them, they are well made and ours was very warm in the winter. If I were to find one while house hunting, I would count it as a plus. If I could find one that needed a new yard, I would buy it and relocate it on to my property. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/29 "2013-12-13T11:44:46Z")
My Mom bought a [Crescent](http://www.searshomes.org/index.php/2013/01/28/the-crescent-for-folks-who-like-a-touch-of-individuality/) my freshman year of college, so it was permanent / summer address for a while. The attic had one big room (we called it the dormitory) and 2 smaller bedrooms. After my Mom passed away a sister bought it as vacation home. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2013, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/30 "2013-12-13T16:53:49Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Habitat for Humanity did some semi-prefabbing after Hurricane Katrina. > > As for nobody building small houses, anyone heard of the “Tiny House” phenomenon? They range from less than 100 to more than 1,000 ft2. Yeah, it’s interesting stuff, but not really mainstream at this point. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/31 "2013-12-14T01:54:11Z")
One of my relatives owned a Sears catalog home. He loved it. I thought it was kind of crappy, but then I don’t like old houses. I believe he told me they tended to be along railroad lines, for obvious reasons. Lots of 'em in my area. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/32 "2013-12-14T17:48:13Z")
I do! You wouldn’t be able to tell if there weren’t a few numbers stamped on some wood in the basement. ---
**Author:** ![Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@Fluffy\_PickleSniffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fluffy_PickleSniffer)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/33 "2013-12-14T19:20:24Z")
I live in a kit house from the 50’s. Didn’t know it until we went to remodel and the house was stripped down to bare boards, then we saw the numbers and letters and the contractors working on the house said there were several “Sears kit houses” in the neighborhood. But when I tried to look up and see what model I had, none of the Sears houses from any decade matched. Aladdin had several models that looked close to mine though and the attic stairs match up with the Aladdin style. So I’ve always wondered if this was an Aladdin house. We’ve never found anything stamped on it anywhere to prove beyond doubt though. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/34 "2013-12-14T19:27:53Z")
There are lots of Sears houses in the older part of town where I work. I’ve been in quite a few of them. They’ve held up pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2013, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980/35 "2013-12-14T20:20:07Z")
[A documentary about kit homes, and what can go wrong in the assembly thereof.](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6cPnkOO5Xo) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-live-in-or-know-anyone-that-lives-in-a-sears-catalog-home/675980.md?page=1)