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| 106 Railroad Street, Michigamme, MI. Photo courtesy of Larry Johnston. |
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| Sears Model No. 215 from the 1914 catalog. |
Our original article featured many great historic photos. Sears Homes of Chicagoland reader Larry Johnston just noticed that the house is currently for sale for $115,000. Check out these photos from today!
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| Same newel post from the 1914 Sears merchandise catalog. |
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| Same colonnade from the 1908 Sears merchandise catalog. |
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| Same window from the 1916 Sears Modern Homes catalog. |
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| Sears called this a "parlor mantel". |
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| Same door hardware from the 1914 Sears merchandise catalog. |
The listing reads:
"1913 Sears & Roebuck Victorian Home in peaceful village in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. If you are looking for an opportunity to live in a beautiful piece of history, this is it.
"This home features a front entry with stained glass window, oak staircase and landing with built-in oak bench and large beveled mirror. The downstairs has leaded glass windows throughout, tiled fireplace in living room and oak columns and carving separating entry and living room, bay window in the dining room, butlers pantry, new oak kitchen cabinetry, and office area with stained glass window. The upstairs has another stained glass window at the end of the hall, leaded glass window in master, plus three decent size bedrooms, one has a balcony. The only bathroom has new wiring and plumbing.
"There are two enclosed porches, one on the side and one on the front. The open wrap-around porch is newly built and returns the house to its original look. The house sits on a rock wall basement.
"The house is on a lot and a half with a separate workshop. The yard contains many roses, peonies, ornamental bushes, apple trees, an herb garden and garden area. This home is totally livable but is in need of restoration and some TLC. The owners LOVE this home and are only selling because of a job change."
I had originally narrowed down the date of construction to 1909-1913. So the 1913 build date the owner states seems on target.
The foundation is rock, which is not visible in the photos. Sears did not provide the materials for the foundation; the customer had to source them locally. So they did not require that the foundation be laid in a particular way. The customer could use poured concrete, cement blocks, brick, rock, or some combination of these. There was an iron ore mine in Michigamme at the turn of the century, which generated a lot of rock waste. I would imagine that many houses in the area have rock foundations because it was cheap and easy to acquire.
2 comments:
I have a beautiful modern 52 sears home in palatine Illinois
And just remember - this was before all of the Sears Catalog Houses were pre-cut! Of course some individual elements, like stair parts and collonades and other individual elements were already made, but every other piece of wood required the usual preparation by the builders.
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