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| 115 E. Maple St., Lombard. |
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| The Sears Rembrandt from the 1926 Modern Homes catalog. |
The Rembrandt in Lombard has a reverse floor plan from the catalog illustration. Sears would reverse a house for no charge for many designs.
The sun room was optional.
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| Close up of the original portico. |
According to Sears, the Rembrandt had a "cleverly planned" interior.
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The house was built in 1924 and the original owner was Robert Jackson Ray, an associate professor of economics at Northwestern University. He got a mortgage from Sears Roebuck for $6,000 in June 1924. Ray hired a contractor to construct the house, according to his daughter Eleanor.
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| You can read Eleanor's recollections of the house in this 1996 newsletter. |
The Ray family owned the Rembrandt until 1966.
1 comment:
Dutch Colonials were incredibly popular in the twenties and just about every kit house manufacturer or plan book publisher offered a similar design. I spent my early childhood in a Garlinghouse plan book version of this design. It was that house which kindled my interest in architecture specifically and old houses in general.
Dutch Colonials from the twenties typically have a coziness to them that is not so apparent in other Colonial Revivals, and the Rembrandt is no exception! The entry hall with french doors, sunroom adjacent to the living room and window seat in the master bedroom are just some of the features that make the design a little warmer and fuzzier than many other Colonial-inspired houses.
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