Well, that’s what my husband calls it. In fact, it’s Hettick, Illinois, a small town in central Illinois, about 60 miles north of St. Louis, Missouri.
When I told Hubby about the find, the West Virginia filters on his hearing translated Hettick into “Headache.”
The Silverdale is an interesting house, because it looks like every early 20th Century farmhouse on every rural route in the Midwest. In my travels, I’ve probably seen dozens of them, but discounted most of them, because it’s so hard to positively identify them.
Do you have a Silverdale in your town? Please send me a photo!
Edited to add: A reader noticed that this house in Hettick, IL is actually a better match to the GVT version (#167)! I hope to add more-better photos in a couple days!
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The Silverdale as seen in the 1921 catalog.
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The Silverdale also appeared in the 1916 catalog.
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The Headache House (well, Hettick, actually).
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Another view of the Silverdale in Hettick.
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Floorplan for the first floor.
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Second floor of the Silverdale. Note, there's no livable space over the kitchen. Back in the day, the room over the kitchen was considered uninhabitable, due to heat and smells that wafted from the kitchen below.
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There are more than a few Silverdales around.
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Mr. Egan and Wife seemed to be pretty happy with their Silverdale.
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Typical hinge found in Sears kit home. This was found in the Silverdale in Hettick.
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An old glass window (with diamond muntins) has survived the remodelings.
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To read about the Sears Homes in Carlinville, click here.
To learn more about why I was in Hettick, click here.
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That’s okay Rosemary, this blog is over two years old. I can explain that!
What people don’t realize, especially neophytes, is that not all catalogs have been available to researchers.
It hasn’t been until recently that catalogs are becoming available on line!
Some of us have spent years collecting and a lot of money on catalogs
and we do the best we can with what we have available at that time.
This blog
is over two years old and that online copy was just recently uploaded. Not very
many people have access to the very early years of Gordon Van Tine and Wardway
Homes.
The Sears 110/Silverdale and the GVT 167 are the same house, arrangement
and measurements. The only difference is that smaller window (with the diamond muntin) on
the GVT and the pedimented porch on the Sears.
I suspect that it was a pattern that both GVT and Sears borrowed. I could dig out all of the pattern books and look or Dale might know.
The Sears 110/Silverdale was offered in 1908 and the GVT 167 I can account for
1910-early 1916. Maybe Dale knows.
(I have GVT 1907 and then have a few years missing.) The first GVT pre-cut catalog was published in 1916 and it’s not offered in there or after that.
Until recently, when these catalogs started being uploaded, some researchers have only had access to reprints which really limits what you can identify.
What is available for early Gordon Van Tine and Wardway as far as reprints is pretty much nil.
There is a wonderful guidebook available for Wardway homes that Rosemary and Dale published. But, the only GVT reprint is a 1926 catalog.
Anyone could have identified this as a Silverdale given what was out there over two years ago!
Rosemary identified this using what was available at that time.
I first saw this house in February 2010, and just held onto those photographs for a couple years!
It was in an area that was surrounded by Sears Homes, so I assumed (and we know what that word really means!) that it was the Sears Silverdale.
IMHO, written history is a sacred trust, and getting the facts right is more important than worrying about someone getting insulted! Besides, that’s what family is for!!! LOL.
@Rachel Shoemaker
Dale’s pretty good about catching my boo boos, but I think he might have missed this one, too and heaven knows – it’s easy to do.
Rachel, were it not for your “aggressive collecting of catalogs,” I still wouldn’t have a copy of that 1913 GVT catalog! Thanks for sharing it. 😀
When you showed me your catalog collection the other day, I was speechless! What a treasure trove!
Folks who want to learn more or ask questions can also post in the SEARS GROUP on facebook and I will help them if I can.
I posted three more authenticated Sears 110’s aka Silverdale’s in the group last night and pointed out the likeness and differences in the two models.
But, keep in mind you can’t see what someone posts when you have them blocked 😉