March 5, 2019

The Long Running Sears Avondale

Sears said that the Avondale was "a fine example of a modern bungalow, conveniently arranged, perfectly lighted and ventilated with a great many large windows." The Avondale was a blockbuster seller for Sears Roebuck. It was offered from 1909 to 1924. 

Sears Avondale. Those darn kids left the croquet set in the front yard again.

  
The Avondale featured beamed ceilings in the living room and dining room. It had a window seat and a built-in buffet in the dining room as standard.



The Avondale was such a big seller that Sears rolled out a two-story version called the Hawthorne.

The architect of the Avondale is William Arthur Bennett.
  
There are nice examples of Avondales in Libertyville and Harvard, and there may be one hiding in your town.

Libertyville

102 Park Place, Libertyville. This is a reverse plan from the catalog illustration. Photo from Realtor site.









"The colonial columns and balustrade work are up-to-date features which are being used only in high-priced houses." Photo from Realtor site.



Today, this house is a rental. Photo from Realtor site. 


Photo from Realtor site.


The front bedroom with the bay window. Photo from Realtor site.






Harvard

605 Dewey St., Harvard. This is a Sears Avondale hidden under the trees. Photo from Realtor site.


View from the dining room to the front of the house. The living room and the dining room are almost the same size. The double doors on the right side lead to the front bedroom and are not part of the original floor plan. Photo from Realtor site.



The front bedroom. Since there are doors that lead directly to the living room, I assume that former owners were using this room as an office or kids playroom. Photo from Realtor site.


View of the full dining room. There's the bay window on the side of the house, where a window seat was originally. The built in china cabinet is on the left side. Photo from Realtor site.


Photo from Realtor site.


The bathroom has two windows in this unusual design. Photo from Realtor site.










4 comments:

Architectural Observer said...

I'm not surprised that the Avondale was a big seller as it is beautiful both inside and out. The oversized colonnade between the living and dining rooms is amazing... throw open the pocket doors to the other front room and you have "open concept" long before it was a thing! It's always good to see some original cabinets in a house; it's even more amazing that these were never painted. Thank you for introducing us the Avondale!

Seth said...

Wow, it's impressive that the kitchen in the second one seems to have survived with only a 1950s replacement sink cabinet!

Sears Homes of Chicagoland said...

Those cabinets are gorgeous, aren't they?

Toby Savoy said...

We owned an Avondale Home in Louisiana..Ours was kept original plus they opted for the stain glass on front windows. It was a great home.

Post a Comment