November 23, 2015

Sears Normandy in Melrose Park

1100 N. 13th Ave., Melrose Park.



Sears Normandy.
Undated photo of the Normandy in Melrose Park. It once had diamond muntin windows. Photo courtesy of  the book Melrose Park by F. Marbella.




The majority of the houses in Melrose Park were constructed in the 1950's, but the village does have its share of kit houses.

I believe this Sears Normandy was built about 1934 by Angelo and Frances Pinnella. 

The Normandy was sold only from 1933-1935. The Normandy in Melrose Park differs from the catalog illustration in some respects: there is a fireplace in the living room, there is a bay window in the dining room, the weather vane is missing, and there is a dormer in a front bedroom. Sears gave homeowners the option to build out a third bedroom above the living room (see floor plan below). I don't know whether the Pinnellas added this bedroom when the house was first built or sometime afterwards.

Scan from Antique Home.


The house was owned by the Pinnella family until 2007. The current homeowners are only the second owners since the house was built.







4 comments:

SearsHouseSeeker said...

I'm a sucker for a Normandy, as you would imagine. Thanks for showing us this one :)
Judith
Sears-House-Seeker.blogspot.com

Cindy Catanzaro said...

I always forget Sears offered a few Tri-levels in the 1930's. Seems like a very modern design for that time. Guess that's why they were called Sears "Modern" Homes.

Sears Homes of Chicagoland said...

Yes it was modern, Cindy! The split-level houses like the Normandy that Sears began selling in 1933 were some of the earliest incarnations of that design ever seen in the United States.

Unknown said...

Hi! I'm the owner of the Melrose Park Normandy shown above. It's great that my house made it to this website! My husband and I loooove Sears homes and we've spent the last 8 years carefully and lovingly restoring ours to its original grandeur. We will be putting it on the market in the Spring of 2016 (and it breaks our hearts...) because we are relocating/retiring/downsizing. So if anyone is interested, let me know. Merry Christmas everyone! Cassandra Barone Moya at cassandramoya@gmail.com

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