Some Sears House Finds

Happy 4th of July! 

It's time to post a little display of some of the Sears houses that we've been looking at recently. Some are older finds, some are brand new to the list!

Sears No. 108-- Earliest Version

Our researcher buddy, Matthew, recently treated us to two very rare finds. Here is the first, a first-version Sears No. 108, in Bedford, Ohio:

Earliest-version Sears No. 108, 311 W. Glendale Street, Bedford, Ohio

The very early No. 108 in an early ad for Sears paints.

This model is very rare... this is only the second example that we know of, of this earliest version with the front corner bumpout. This model was offered beginning in 1908, but, by 1912, the floorplan had changed, to eliminate that corner bumpout, and then the model was discontinued after the 1913 catalog (and the model number was assigned to a different house). You can see more about the No. 108, in this January 3, 2020 blog post of mine.

Possible Sears No. 177

Matthew also found this house, that is quite possibly a Sears model No. 177. We don't usually post about houses that are only added to our "Possibles" list, but... this is the first example we have ever seen of this model, so I think we're all pretty excited about the possibility that it is an example of this rare model. Matthew noted that the fireplace is not located where the floor plan indicates (should be on a side wall of the living room, but it is on an interior wall), and the upstairs floor plan doesn't follow perfectly. This model was only offered from 1911-1917, according to Houses By Mail, and was never offered "cut-and-fitted" (having pre-cut, labeled framing lumber), and we've noticed that those early, non-pre-cut models are sometimes more altered (such as my family's 1911 Sears No. 110).  

Possible Sears No. 177, 19 Elsmere Avenue, Delmar, New York (a section of Bethlehem, New York).

Sears No. 177 in the 1914 Sears Modern Homes catalog, not pre-cut

Streetview capture of catalog view, possible Sears No. 177, 19 Elsmere Avenue, Delmar, NY

Isn't this an inviting front porch? And, look at these lovely floors in the interior photos, and the wide, Craftsman style window trim.

Front porch of Possible Sears No. 177, 19 Elsmere Avenue, Delmar, New York (a section of Bethlehem, New York)

Sunny living room, Possible Sears No. 177, 19 Elsmere Avenue, Delmar, New York (a section of Bethlehem, New York)

Fireplace, not where expected, according to the catalog. Possible Sears No. 177, 19 Elsmere Avenue, Delmar, New York (a section of Bethlehem, New York)

Such lovely, original hardwood floors! Possible Sears No. 177, 19 Elsmere Avenue, Delmar, New York (a section of Bethlehem, New York)

We don't always get a rear view of our houses, so I'm happy to document this.

Floor plan of the Sears No. 177, 1914 Sears Modern Homes Catalog

Write-up about the Sears No. 177 in the 1914 Sears Modern Homes catalog

Sears Modern Home No. 123

A reader of our Sears Modern Homes Facebook Page, recently shared photos of her Sears No. 123, in Man, West Virginia. This is another very old, very early model, that was offered in the first catalogs in 1908, and had its last offering in the 1914 Sears Modern Homes catalog. It was never offered as a pre-cut model.

Probable Sears Modern Home No. 123, Man, West Virginia

Probable Sears Modern Home No. 123, Man, West Virginia

For an excellent read on this old model, see Cindy Catanzaro's blog post from April of 2023, showing a Sears No. 123 in Springfield, Ohio, and the story of coming across a likely example of the No. 123 in Sharonville, Ohio:

Read Cindy's blog post, here -- lots of good information and photos on this model

Sears Puritan in Bellevue, PA

A while back (2017, to be precise), researcher Karen DeJeet (who lives in a Sears Hamilton bungalow in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) came across this nice - looking Sears Puritan model, modified to add a front porch. For some reason, I came across its later (2020) real estate listing, so we enjoyed seeing some interior photos, showing some elements we see Sears offering, in their catalogs:

Sears Puritan, with added front porch, 193 Grant Avenue, Bellevue, Pennsylvania (a section of Pittsburgh).

The real estate listing from 2020 includes this photo, showing a Sears Colonial style staircase newel, staircase spindles offered by Sears, and Sears Colonial style fireplace surround, as well as beautiful, original hardwood floors:

Living room inside the Sears Puritan at 193 Grant Avenue, Bellevue, PA, showing Sears Colonial fireplace surround, Sears Colonial staircase newel and spindles. You can see more in this real estate listing.

Sears Colonial design fireplace surround, 1930 Sears Building materials catalog

Sears Colonial newel and spindles, 1929 Sears Building Materials catalog

Sears Puritan (without side sunroom), 1923 Sears Modern Homes catalog

Floor plan, Sears Puritan (without side sunroom), 1923 Sears Modern Homes catalog

Sears Vallonia, Troy, New York

Andrew Mutch recently came across this 2019 real estate listing for a Sears Vallonia, in Troy, New York, and added it to our national database of Sears Houses in the U.S.. Despite having an enclosed front porch, and vinyl or aluminum siding now, the interior views show us some very nice, original hardwood flooring and Craftsman window and door trim, and original, solid wood doors.

Sears Vallonia model, 9 Roosevelt Avenue, Troy, New York

When we see the rear view of a Sears Vallonia, this is the look we expect, with this back window, and bumped-out section covering most (but not all) of the rear of the house.

You can see more examples of the Vallonia model that Andrew has blogged about, in these posts on his blog, Kit House Hunters. In this 2018 blog post of mine, you'll see a bit about the evolution of the design and the floor plans of the Sears Vallonia model.

Sears Avondale in South Carolina

Researcher Nigel Tate recently made a trip to South Carolina, and took advantage of the opportunity to look around a bit for Sears houses. He found one! It's a Sears Avondale, somewhere in Bishopville, South Carolina.

Sears Avondale, 524 US-15, Bishopville, South Carolina

Sears Avondale, 524 US-15, Bishopville, South Carolina

To see a catalog image and floor plan for the Avondale model, see this 2023 blog post by Cindy Catanzaro, at Sears Houses In Ohio, where she shows exterior and interior photos of a beauty of a Sears Avondale in Hamilton, Ohio.

Bennett Homes

We've mentioned this before: researcher Sarah Mullane is the most knowledgeable person anywhere, on Ray H. Bennett kit homes (not Sears houses, but a lumber company that also sold kit-houses, based out of North Tonawanda, New York). Here are two models she recently found:

Bennett Homes Amherst model, 696 Crescent Avenue, Buffalo, New York

Bennett Homes Amherst model

Probable Bennett Homes Drexel model, 93 Briarcliff Rd, Cheektowaga, New York, now slightly modified above the bumped-out front of the house (the living room is there). This may have been a modification done to avert leaking from ice build up on the flat roof of the original design.

Bennett Homes Drexel model, catalog image with floor plan

That's it for today's selection! You'll notice that I didn't have any of my own finds to show here... true! I have not, myself, found a Sears house in a bit. So, I'm happy to be able to highlight the finds of my fellow researchers! I'll sign off with more of the lovely Sears Fullerton that I showed the porch of, at the top of today's blog post. This one was originally found by Andrew Mutch, and I ran across it in the real estate listings again, this past week.

Sears Fullerton, 330 Harvard Avenue, Terrace Park, Ohio

Sears Fullerton, 330 Harvard Avenue, Terrace Park, Ohio

Beautiful original wood floors and original Craftsman trim around doors and windows.
See the real estate listing for more beautiful photos (this house went under contract within 3 days of hitting the real estate listings).

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