The Sears Magnolia gets all the press, but before the Magnolia, Sears offered another “Magnificent Mansion”: The Sears Milton.
To my delight and astonishment, we have one in Stanley, Virginia. Read all about that one here.
According to the 1916 Sears catalog, the Sears Milton was also built in Fayette, Ohio (and other cities as well).
This little snippet appeared in the Spring 1916 "Sears Modern Homes" catalog, which tells us that the Miltons in these cities were built pre-1916.
The 1912 Sears Modern Homes catalog does not have The Milton, but it does appear in the 1916 catalog. Its final appearance was in the 1919 catalog, so it wasn’t offered for too many years.
In 1916, the price was $1,619 and by 1919, it had jumped to $2,491, an eye-opening 54% increase. The Milton was not offered as a pre-cut house.
As mentioned above, this was a big fancy house, and it shouldn’t be hard to find and identify. The Milton was built in New York City, Fayette, Ohio, Norfolk, Nebraska and “other cities” (such as Stanley, Virginia).
Each month, more than 30,000 readers visit this website. I’m hoping and praying a few of them have connections in Somerville, NJ, Fayette, OH, Norfolk NE, and New York City. It sure would be fun to find the Miltons in these towns.
And it’d be ever better to get a few photos of this old kit house.
To learn more about how to identify kit homes, click here.
Do you know where this house is in Fayette? If so, I really *need* a photo! 🙂 To contact me, please leave a comment below!
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The Sears Milton as seen in the 1916 catalog.
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Floorplan for the Sears Milton
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Sears Milton in Stanley, Virginia
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To learn more about Sears Homes, click here.
Are you able to get a picture of the Miltons in these other cities? If so, please leave a comment!
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The home at 415 West Main St. Fayette, came from Sears and was brought in by train in 1921.
The home’s last owner LeRoy Stone (my father) recently sold the house due to health reasons.
East of the Milton (one block east) is another Sears Home.
@Sharon Ruger
What is the address of the Milton in Fayette?
I found a Gordon Van Tine No 126 five houses from the corner of College and W Main. At approx 738 W Main St Fayette, OH according to google view address.
@Rachel Shoemaker
Rachel, an article ran recently in the local paper and yet we still do NOT have an address for this house in Fayette. It is quite a puzzle. 🙁
@Rachel Shoemaker
Correction on that GVT 126, it is 407 W Main and 411 W Main *might* be a Sears Vallonia, hard to see it via Google maps.
Has anyone figured out the Fayette house mystery? I once drove around the whole village of Fayette to make a list of all the historic houses (for real estate purposes). I don’t recall seeing this house, but that doesn’t mean I couldn’t have missed it or forgotten about it. Maybe it was out in the countryside, not in the village.
Unfortunately, I didn’t photograph the houses so I can’t browse my records to investigate. I can say that Fayette (like many small Midwestern villages) has lost a fair amount of old houses due to a decreasing population and neglect over the decades. I hope this one wasn’t one of them!
Has anyone looked for the Milton in Fayette County Ohio?