Sears, Roebuck Catalog of Houses, 1926: Small Houses of the Twenties - An Unabridged Reprint

I inherited my house from my dad. I researched it in a local kit house builder’s catalog (ie Pacific), but couldn’t find it. I remembered dad’s mother was a Sears and how this house reminded him of the Peoria house he grew up in as a kid. So, I got this catalog and found the floor plan!

Growing-up in Alabama in the early 1940's, living on Main Street and being told 'we live in a Sears & Roebuck house' was always fascinating to me. One year while helping my father do some electrical work in the attic, he pointed out to me a 'brand' on one of the roof beans with a 'model number' written clearly for anybody to see. Yes, I grew-up in a Sears & Roebuck House that cost less than $3,000.00. Years later I continued my research by contacting Sears & Roebuck asking about our home and received a packet of information on our exact home. It was thrilling to see "my home" in the recent book and to read the descriptions of the rooms, light fixtures, etc. It turned-out there were two other Sears & Roebuck homes in our small hometown of less than 3,000 people. When my father sold the house following the death of his wife (my mother), the lady who purchased it did so because it was a Sears & Roebuck House and restored it to its full glory. What a joyous find!

My wife loved it. Wish the prices still applied. This would be neat if you could still buy a house this way.

Great look into the past.

This is a reprint of a Sears catalog, so you get just what customers got nearly a hundred years ago. It is interesting to see how people lived. They considered dining rooms as essential, but closet space was not prized. Most of the homes are fairly small. I am amazed at how small kitchens and bedrooms were in these houses. The old houses that I grew up in were big farmhouses with very large rooms. The idea of a "master" bedroom that is only 9 x 10 is amazing to me. There are a lot of bungalow plans, along with other fairly small houses. Most of them have just one bathroom, which is generally upstairs in two story houses. A few of the plans had no bathroom. I could imagine myself living in some of these houses--after I took two bedrooms and made them into one decent sized room. However, I've seen other old house plan books that had more interesting plans than this one. Also, be aware that the plans in this book are quite small. I read it on my iPad, so I was able to zoom in on them. If you're reading the print book, you might need a strong magnifying glass.

Awesome addition to my library!

I am writing a book and am using the Sears Catalog to find details for the house. It is really fascinating to look through the book and see how people lived in the twenties. Some of the smaller houses didn't have bathrooms. The prices were so cheap, too, and they were well built. Even if I hadn't needed this catalog for my research, I would still enjoy looking at the drawings and plans and imagining life in the 1920's.

I'm in real estate in a community that built many of the Sears homes. Loved looking at the plans and the costs!! For those of you who love houses this is a gem!!

I learned a lot from this book by just looking at the drawings and building plans. I once lived in a mail order house and it was by far the best apartment I rented. It had stained glass windows, a fireplace, hardwood floors, radiator heating and a chandelier. This house probably cost less than $4000 to build in 1920 but to me it was like Jay Gatsby's house in "The Great Gatsby".

A reprodução de algumas páginas, sobretudo as com imagens, são de qualidade baixa, sem definição e com pouca tinta.

As shown online, very happy came to my house by post.

good

love this book Had a copy years ago but lost it in a flood Glad I found another copy