There are several dozen Sears Homes that I have never seen “in the flesh,” but thanks to the kindness of fellow kit house aficionados, I’m “discovering” more of these rare houses. Hopefully by sharing these photos here, more and more of these rare Sears Kit Homes will be discovered.

Some years ago, the Somerville Historic Advisory Committee discovered that they had a Sears Modern Home #138 in their city. The house had been moved years ago (to prevent its being demolished) and yet even now, it’s still in delightfully original condition and even retains its original cobblestone chimney.

Many thanks to Marge Sullivan and the Somerville Historic Advisory Committee (Somerville, NJ) for sending these photos to me, and granting permission to publish them here.

Somerville has an abundance of kit homes. To see the Sears Milton in Somerville, click here!

Sears Modern Home #138 was offered only in the 1913 catalog, according to "Houses by Mail" (a field guide to Sears Homes published in 1985).

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First floor of the Sears Modern Home #138. Nice-size pantry!

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Three bedrooms AND a bathroom!

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Sears #138 in Somerville, NJ. Photo is copyright 2010, Somerville Historic Advisory Committee (Somerville, NJ) and may not be used or reproduced without written permission. This house was moved from another location (in Somerville) and during the move, the cobblestone columns and cheeks were lost, but the fireplace survived the move!

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Nice match to the #138 in Somerville!

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To read about the Sears Milton in Somerville, click here.

To learn more about how to identify Sears Homes, click here.

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