The Sears Martha Washington—"A Vision of Hospitality"

313 Park Ave, Wilmette.

The Sears Martha Washington.

 
The Sears Modern Homes catalog called the Martha Washington model "a vision of hospitality and brightness". It is a comfortable three-bedroom Colonial with loads of windows.

There are many Dutch Colonials that are similar to the Martha Washington. You need to check the side of the house to make a positive identification.

Yup, our Martha Washington is the real deal. The window near the roof is original and unique to Sears Roebuck. It also has the two bumpouts on the side. The window placement is identical to that shown in the catalog and the roof line also matches exactly,

The bumpouts on the side were for a window seat in the living room and a place for the buffet in the dining room. Notice that the staircase is on the side of the house. Many of the houses that look like the Martha Washington have a center staircase.

Sears must have sold hundreds of Martha Washingtons because it was unusual for them to show an illustrated cross-section of a house's interior. Here you can see the bumpouts. The model had an interior fireplace.

Axel F. Blomgren and his wife, Anna built this Martha Washington in Wilmette between 1922 and 1924. Axel was a cabinet maker for a department store (Sears?). They moved to Chicago in 1931 and sold the house to the Van Winkle family.