Sears Houses in the Concrete Jungle

A Sears Roebuck kit house included blueprints and almost all the materials a customer needed to construct the house. The biggest part of the order (and the largest expense) was the lumber because the houses were almost always of frame construction.

However, in the early years of the Sears Modern Homes department, the company decided to give customers a lower-cost option. Concrete block house kits.

Sears Modern Home No. 143 which was sold from 1909 to 1915.

At the turn of the century, the hollow concrete building block was a new technology. The first machine for making concrete blocks was patented in 1900 and the idea took off. 

Concrete structures were billed as fireproof, waterproof, and vermin-proof. Concrete was a replacement for natural stone because it was much cheaper, and the blocks could be molded to look like rusticated stone, cobblestone, or other styles.

Sears sold different concrete block machines and even had a separate catalog devoted to these machines, various attachments, molds, and concrete mixers.

The Sears Roebuck Concrete Machinery catalog.

One of the concrete block machines Sears sold was the Triumph.

Sears extolled the virtues of concrete block homes in its Modern Homes catalog. 

So it made sense for Sears to offer concrete block house kits. The company would not sell as much lumber as it did with frame houses. But for a concrete house Sears was selling the concrete block machines and other hardware, in addition to millwork, finishing lumber, roofing, pipes, gutters, windows, doors, paint, and lath, among other items.

Sears sold several concrete block homes, and I believe all of which were plans by architect Jens C. Petersen. 

The tiny No. 59, in the 1908 Modern Homes catalog. The house was only sold in 1908 and 1909, and no one has ever found one.

The same house shown in Concrete magazine (January 1908), with the name of Jens C. Petersen on the illustration. Sears licensed the plans for its early concrete homes from Petersen.

No. 64, sold from 1908 to 1913.

No. 70, sold from 1908 to 1913.

No. 52, sold from 1908 to 1914.

No. 152, sold from 1909 to 1918. There is a testimonial for one in Aurora but no one has located it.

A No. 152 IRL at 80 S 4th Ave., Beech Grove, IN. Photo from Redfin, and discovered by Matthew Hendrickson.

Photo from Redfin.

A Tale of a Sears Oakdale

The Oakdale was a very popular model for Sears Roebuck. Sears said: "The Oakdale is a bungalow home of unusual charm. It is a masterpiece of one of America's best architects."

The Oakdale from the 1928 Sears Modern Homes catalog.

The Oakdale bungalow was sold from 1923 to 1933, and then made a triumphant return from 1936-1938 with a more modern look.

In 1926, Foster Weigel, who lived on Main Street in Barrington, took out a $4,500 mortgage from Sears Roebuck for a brand new Oakdale. He built it next to his house on property he owned. Foster never lived in the Oakdale himself, but sold it to other buyers.

113 Grant St., Barrington, as it looks today. The front porch was raised and has a railing instead of a wall. Photo from Realtor site.

A side view from Google Streetview. Obviously Foster did not buy the living room fireplace, and there is a new addition on the rear.

The rear addition and new walkout deck. Photo from Realtor site.

The Oakdale has an efficient floorplan and a large living room. There are two bedrooms in the rear, and the smaller of the two is only 8'8" wide!

Photo from Realtor site.

Photo from Realtor site.

Photo from Realtor site.

Photo from Realtor site.

Both bedrooms were expanded and now have access to the rear deck. Photo from Realtor site,

Photo from Realtor site.

The Oakdale in Barrington has zoning that permits both a single family residence and also a business. Consequently, around 1995 the house was converted to an office and it remained that way until 2014.

The house in 2014 when it housed a consulting firm. Photo from Realtor site.

The living room and dining room in 2014. Photo from Realtor site.

Luckily the Oakdale was purchased in 2015 and went back to being used as the single-family house that Foster originally built in 1926. The house has come full circle!

A Delightful Sears Bellewood in Geneva

101 Woodlawn St., Geneva. Photo from Realtor site.

The Sears Bellewood from the 1932 Modern Homes catalog.

The Sears Bellewood was an English cottage sold from 1930 until 1933. 

Despite the many differences from the catalog illustration, this house in Geneva is an authenticated Bellewood. The entry vestibule has been widened, most likely to accommodate a coat closet with a tiny window. The front bedroom, which lost a window due to the larger entry, has a double window on the side wall to allow extra light. The living room window in the front is now a triple instead of a double.

Photo from Realtor site.

Finally, the second story has been built out and windows added where possible.

This is the rear of the house showing the modest addition that serves as a family room. Photo from Realtor site.

The living room with the front door to the right. Photo from Realtor site.

The living room connects to the dining room. The stairs were added more recently. Photo from Realtor site.

Photo from Realtor site.

Photo from Realtor site.

The new family room in the rear. Photo from Realtor site.

The front bedroom. Photo from Realtor site.

The rear bedroom. Photo from Realtor site.

Photo from Realtor site.

In the 1990's the attic was converted into a master suite. Photo from Realtor site.

Photo from Realtor site.

Photo from Realtor site.

Harry E. and Evelyn Johnson got a mortgage from Sears Roebuck in December 1929. Harry owned a clothing store in St. Charles.

1954 ad for Harry's store in the Chicago Tribune.

Johnson's Clothing Store went up in flames in 1958. The building was a complete loss.  

I'm unsure whether Harry reopened his store somewhere else. Today there is a small parking lot where the building stood.