Sears Modern Homes – the kit homes that were sold from 1908-1940 – were not (emphasis on NOT) prefab houses. Prefabricated houses are – as the word suggests – prefabricated. In other words, they’re pre-built at a central plant, broken down and then transported to the building site, where they’re re-assembled, quickly and efficiently in sections.
Sears Modern Homes were kit homes, and there is a big difference. Sears Modern Homes were 12,000 piece kits and came with a 75-page instruction book. They were made with superior quality building materials (#1 southern yellow pine framing members and cypress for everything exterior). You can read more about Sears kit homes here.
But Sears did offer prefab homes after World War II, and they were called Homart Homes. These houses were sold from 1948-1951, and they were shipped in sections. The walls came in sections of 4′ by 8′ to 8′ by 8′ and were shipped by truck. Fasteners came with these diminutive homes, and the houses were bolted together at the site. They were very modest homes with very simple lines and shallow roofs. Most were 600-850 square feet.
Sears also sold a line of hardware and home merchandise (electric fans, water heaters, tools) which bore the brand name “Homart.” In the first decades of the 1900s, Sears headquarters was located in Chicago, at the corner of Homan and Arthington Street. Homart is a combination of those two street names.
Belong is a complete Homart Homes catalog from 1949.
To see pictures of extant Homart Homes, click here.
To learn more about kit homes, click here.
Front cover of the 1949 Homart Homes catalog
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To buy Rose’s book, click here.
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I believe my parents home is a Homart Home built in 1950. Are there any pictures of these homes anywhere?