Sears always had an interesting way of ciphering. The Calumet was a four-apartment kit “house” with 12 rooms. The “20 rooms in 12” was a little misleading.
The eight mystery rooms were “bedrooms” which were really teeny-tiny closets. Inside those eight tiny closets were eight fold-away beds (Murphy beds). The “bedroom in a closet” idea was heralded as a great space-saving device and a money-saving device too. After all, there’s no need to buy rugs and pictures and chairs and night stands when you sleep in a closet.
Who needs a bedroom anyway?
I’ve only seen one Calumet and that was in Bloomington, IL and it had been greatly altered.
The typical Sears Home was a 12,000 piece kit that was bundled and shipped in one boxcar. The Calumet was probably a bit more than 12,000 pieces. It was 2,800+ square feet, but it also had four kitchens and four bathrooms and a lot of steps, railings and porches. And a lot of doors.
And all for a mere $3,073.
To learn more about Murphy Beds, click here.
"Twenty rooms in 12" promised the header on this page.
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The built-in wall beds came with the Sears Calumet. They were hidden behind nice-looking French doors! I wonder how long these primitive metal-framed beds survived in these old four-plexes?
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Only three rooms per apartment, but they are fairly spacious. And note the small windows in the "bedroom" (closet).
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Close-up on those wall beds in the dining room and living room.
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The "Cinderella" was another Sears House that promoted use of stowaway beds. Note the text at the bottom of this page: "You are saved the expense of two extra bedrooms in your house, as well as the additional expense of rugs and furniture..."
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And what exactly do you get for $3,073?
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Close-up of the Calumet as shown in the 1918 catalog.
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Sears Calumet in Bloomington, IL.
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To learn more about Sears Homes, click here.
To learn more about multi-family Sears kit apartments, click here.
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Obviously this home is Illinois has suffered years and years of hard use by numerous renters and lack of upkeep by an owner. Do I still see some original front doors??? I guess the second floor porch gave way years ago and oh, heck, let’s just rip it off and paint over the front “scar line” where the porch was attached. Gotta love the bar door coverings on those second floor doors!
A dollar in 1918 was worth 16.47 in 2012 dollars. That $3073 was the equivalent of $50612.31 today. Still a reasonable bargain even in today’s economy.