April 30, 2019

The Only Sears Honor in Illinois

I've been doing this for several years, and it's still exciting when I find a Sears model I've never seen before in real life.

 Drum roll please!

 Here's the only Sears Honor in Illinois, in Riverside to be exact. It's not authenticated, but the floor plan matches the layout to the inch.
100 Kimbark Road, Riverside. Photo from Realtor site.


Sears Honor.
The Sears Honor was sold from 1920-1926. Sears called it a Colonial, and it certainly has an elegant pillared entrance and perfect symmetry. The house also has Tudor features. Although it lacks the traditional half timbering, it does have rolled roof edges, trellises, and flower boxes at ground level (all cottage-like features that unfortunately were removed from the Riverside house). So maybe we can call it a "Colonial-Tudor hybrid".





That gorgeous rolled edge roof is gone today.


The Honor is a large house at 28' x 38'. This house would not fit on standard lots in many older suburbs. The Honor in Riverside has a reversed floor plan.
There were originally window seats underneath the single windows. Photo from Realtor site.
There is a foyer partitioned off the living room, and somebody added a coat closet, which would be on the left side of this photo. Photo from Realtor site.
Nice-sized dining room. Sears recommended you put a china cabinet between the single windows. Photo from Realtor site.
They took out the pantry and the breakfast alcove to make a larger kitchen. That cute little corner window is also a new addition. Photo from Realtor site.


This is the first floor sunroom. Photo from Realtor site.
The house originally had a first floor powder room. Photo from Realtor site.




Photo from Realtor site.
The rear sleeping porch was enclosed at build time, and today it is a master bathroom. Photo from Realtor site.
Photo from Realtor site.
Photo from Realtor site.
This Honor was built in 1922-1923. The original owners were Edward and Sophie Schmidt. Edward was the chief draftsman for the Strom Ball Bearing Mfg. Co. in Chicago.

Edward died in 1932, but Sophie stayed in the house until 1954-ish when she sold to the Becker family.










1 comment:

Architectural Observer said...

We can definitely call it a "Colonial-Tudor hybrid"! The loss of the rolled roof is significant -- as is the addition of shutters. Both changes diminish the Tudor qualities of the house and enhance its Colonial aspects. It remains, however, a distinguished house which appears to have been well-maintained, even if not in an historically accurate manner. There are a handful of roofing companies still doing the steam-bent rolled roofing so popular in the 20's and 30's, but such attention to detail does not come cheap! Congratulations upon your discovery... I've never seen one of these outside of the catalog illustrations either!

May 2, 2019 at 8:22 PM

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