In May 2012, I gave a talk on the Sears Homes in Raleigh. Click here to read more about that.
To my astonishment and delight, I found an impressive number of kit homes in this part of North Carolina, including Sears, Harris Brothers, Lewis Homes, Montgomery Ward, Gordon Van Tine and more!
Kit homes are historically significant for too many reasons to go into here, but in short, these homes were ordered from a mail-order catalog and were shipped in about 12,000 pieces, arriving via boxcar at the local train station. The kits came with 75-page instruction books and a promise that “a man of average abilities” could have one put together and ready for occupancy in 90 days!
Here are a few examples of the many pretties I found during my travels to Raleigh.
If you know of the location of a Sears Home, please leave a comment below.
Continue reading (Part II) here.
Read about what I found in Chapel Hill by clicking here!
Listen to Rose’s inteview on WUNC (with Frank Stasio) here.
Not surprisingly, the Mordecai Historic District has several kit homes, including an Aladdin Plaza! This image is from the 1919 Aladdin catalog.
This Aladdin Plaza sits high on a hill in Mordecai (Raleigh)
Another favorite house (of mine) and a popular house for Sears: The Crescent.
Sears Crescent (also in the Mordecai area)
Sears Whitehall, as seen in the 1925 Sears Modern Homes catalog.
Sears Whitehall, also located in the Mordecai area of Raleigh
Mordecai has several Sears Homes, including this Sears Sunbeam. Note how the rear roof is much shorter than the front side of the roof. Also note how the large shed dormer comes off the ridge of the roof.
This Sears Sunbeam is a lovely example and in original condition. The tin roof is a very nice touch.
The Sears Sunbeam was offered in two versions: One had the open sleeping porch and one had a glassed-in porch. Above is a catalog picture of the house with the enclosed porch, which is more similar to the house in Mordecai.
Sears Argyle, from the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog. Note the big bold columns on the homes front, and the faux beams around the eaves. Also note how the porch overhangs on one side, extending beyond the home's exterior wall.
The Sears Argyle, near the downtown area.Classic and beautiful!
This is the Harris Brothers Ardmore, and it's not hard to spot this house with that unusual second floor poking up out of that roofline! (Vintage catalog image supplied by Dan Becker.)
Here it is: THe Harris Brothers' kit home, the Ardmore. I recently learned that the owner knows all about the home's unique origins!
Aladdin Sheffield, as seen in the 1919 Aladdin catalog. This is an interesting house with its dramatic oversized eaves and hooded dormers.
Aladdin Sheffield in Raleigh. This house is in wonderfully original condition.
Wardway (Montgomery Ward) Mt. Vernon, a very popular house
Wardway Mt. Vernon - in the flesh!
And one of my favorite Sears Homes, The Kilborne.
I wonder if they'd sell me this house for $2,499?
Sears Alhambra from 1923 Modern Homes catalog
Sears Alhambra in Raleigh!
The Sears Winona, as featured in the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog. The house in Raleigh (see below) is just a spot-on match, a rarity in a house of this age!
Sears Winona in downtown area (Raleigh, NC)
Sears Westly from the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog
It may not look like a Westly to you at first glance but you'll have to trust me on this. It is! The small porch on the dormer has been enclosed to create more space in an upstairs bedroom. This is a common modification, as these Westlys often leak around that porch area upstairs.
From this angle, you can see a bit of that truncated roof on the rear, identifying it as the Sears Westly. Well, it's one of many key identifying features.
Most likely, this really is the tip of the iceberg. In fact, this is about half of the photos I took whilst in Raleigh.
Please share this link with others, and/or contact a local historical organization in Raleigh and urge them to do something to preserve this amazing piece of Raleigh’s history.
To learn more about how to identify kit homes, click here.
To buy Rose’s book (and get it inscribed!), click here.
To contact Rose, leave a comment below.
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PS. And I found several kit homes in Hillsboro, too. I’ll try to post those on another blog entry later.
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Rose, thank you so much for this wonderful post. What beautiful homes! I am a “local historian” and did not realize that my own sister’s house is a kit home! It is the fourth house pictured above! I have been working on it for four and a half years, to get it to its “original condition” as you describe! It is aptly called the “Sunbeam” because it has a sunroom in the front and another in the back. I can’t wait to tell my sister she lives in a Sunbeam!
Rose, thanks so much for compiling these photos of kit homes from Raleigh. How fascinating! Several of them are here in the Mordecai neighborhood. It would be great to have you speak to our neighborhood organization. Feel free to contact me. Also, I’d love some help on identifying my 1930’s Four Square! Thanks.
Hi – thank you so much for posting these wonderful photos from our neighborhood. Like Matthew and Dana, I live in Mordecai neighborhood in Raleigh. i was walking our dogs through the neighborhood earlier today and was noticing many houses that I recognized from this site. Please come back to Raleigh and document more of these houses. I think this is fascinating! thank you!
We once owned and have the original blue prints for a 1920’s Argyle no. 2018 home. Do the blue prints have any value? The Argyle home is exactly what it looks like today and the inside is identical.
There is a Sears home across from 2704 Barmettler st Raleigh NC – where I used to live – there has been some exterior and interior remodeling – the old owner – since deceased – had the documents which I saw – not sure where they are now
How would I know if an old house I’m viewing is in fact a kit home?
The best thing to do is to send me a photo! 🙂 The next best thing is to read the blog on “How to identify Sears kit homes.”
https://searshomes.org/index.php/2011/05/21/is-that-really-a-sears-kit-home-nine-easy-ways-to-tell/
Rose- We leave at 2247 The Circle. Our home was identified as a kit home in the article in this morning’s paper. Any info that you could provide me would be greatly appreciated. I unfortunately will be out of town this weekend and will not be able to attend your talk at the Rialto. Thank you.
Rose – Thank you. The Aladdin Shadowlawn sure looks like our house inside and out. We live about 2 blocks from the Rialto if you want to stop by for a look next weekend.
I googled kit homes and found your wonderful information. I just moved to Columbia and I am living in a kit home in Columbia.
My house mate owns the house. She has done some research and knows it was built (is that the correct term) in the early twenties.
It is beautiful. It has the original wood floors, door frames and windows. The front porch is my favorite part. I can imagine families having a Sunday afternoon visit on the porch sipping lemonade.
Is there a way to research the name of its design?
Send me a photo! 🙂 Or better yet, join our Facebook group “Sears Homes” and post a photo there! 🙂
I have always heard there is a small Sears House on Harding Street in Raleigh.
Beautiful example of a Sears kit home with the original ad and floor plans framed in his living room.
Original owner’s son occupies the home located at 1212 West Cornwallis Road in Durham, NC. Minutes from Duke’s Campus off of NC751.
My husband and I returned to Greensboro, NC back in May 2005 after he retired from the US Navy.
My Mom and Step-Dad, Paula and Talmadge Apple, had kept the house Talmadge grew up in for rental property after Pawpaw Apple died.
We rented the house for a few years and then decided to buy it. It is a kit home built back in 1937.
We believe it was ordered out of a Sears catalog. I have some of the paperwork that my parents had kept.
I love the character of the house and have tried to keep everything intact.
I plan to read the info you have provided on how to identify Sears kit homes. I love the history of the home and enjoy sharing it with friends and family.
So I have always suspected our house over by the NC fairgrounds is a kit home.
When I was stripping the exterior windows a few years ago I found they were all numbered, in order, around the entire house.
I don’t think it’s a Sears home, but I couldn’t find any other info about other companies selling them… until now.
In fact, almost every home in my street looks like some home that I’m sure was pirated from Sears.
@Jenni Becker
Forgot to add… were there any local North Carolina kit home companies? Like I said, I suspect my house is a kit home but the only “proof” I’ve come across is the exterior window mouldings being numbered with grease pencil (discovered after I stripped them).
I’ve added pics of my house and other neighborhood homes to https://www.pinterest.com/jennimbecker/westover-neighborhood-in-raleigh/
It is interesting to see the the difference in the floor plan of the pictured Alhambra.
Look closely, the fireplace chimney is placed where the stairs should be.
I would like to see the interior.
One of the things I like most about the Alhambra is the double stairs.
The Sears Sunbeam amazed me. I don’t see a lot of roof design like that. It is a beautiful piece.
There was a gorgeous Alahambra in Fargo, ND.
Within the past 10-15 years it changed hands and the new owner got rid of all the beautiful curved trim.
The ‘bumps’ were cut off and the ‘dips’ filled in making just straight rectangular things sticking out of the roof and a flat level wall around the balcony. 🙁
My husband and I have just recently listed our Alhambra for sale in Raleigh NC. Our real estate agent feels “that adding that it is a Sears Kit Home to the listing description could cause negative connotations with both agents and buyers.” This made us so sad, how could anyone not understand that being a Sears kit home is a wonderful thing and that it adds so much character to an already striking home. Fingers crossed that someone recognizes what it is and buys it because they love it as much as we always have.