More than 10 years ago, I was sitting in the basement of my home in Alton, Illinois looking at photos of houses on eBay when I found a picture of a Sears Modern Home #106. The picture-postcard was being offered for $3.00.
There was no mention on the listing that this was a Sears House. I suspect that part of this card’s history had been long forgotten.
I bid $25.00 on the card. I really, really, REALLY wanted to win that postcard.
And I did!
The card was supposedly found at an estate sale in Ohio. That was all the information the owner could share. Unfortunately, the back of the card is completely blank.
It sure would be fun to find out where this little house is now. And what a genealogical boon that would be for the descendants of this family to have a picture of Great-grandma and Great-grandpa with great Aunt Alma in the front yard of their newly built Sears Home.
Back in the day, Sears asked their customers to take “a snapshot” of their newly built kit home and send it into to them. Some of these photos were then featured in the catalogs. I suspect that this was the reason this picture was taken.
Each month, more than 30,000 people visit this website. Have you seen this house, or these people?
If so, please leave a comment below!
To read more about Sears Homes, click here.
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I suspect this photo was taken soon after the house was built. Sears asked new homeowners to send in pictures of their newly built Sears kit home. This photo may have been a response to that request.
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Close-up of the little family. Father looks rather ill. Mother looks very well coiffed.
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Modern Home #106 as seen in the 1908 catalog.
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Floor plan for Modern Home #106.
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Close-up of the dormer with its marginal lites.
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The full image of the post card. Note the house next door.
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To learn more about Sears Homes, click here.
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Great old pic! perhaps someone will recognize the people as relatives and be able to identify the house? The sir in the photo does not look like a happy camper!
It looks like there are numbers on the siding near the front door. 202 or 203, perhaps the address and a clue to the homes location.
Check out the town of Watertown, in upstate NY. My Grandfather re-roofed many “saltbox” houses (as they were called then) within the city limits.
They looked just like this house. He roofed many soon after they were built to better withstand the snow loads we get there.
I could swear that, as a kid, I saw a few of these cute little places surrounded by huge trees and lilac bushes. Many will probably have extensions or three season porches built onto them too over the years, but the main structure of this one looks like many I remember seeing there.
Watertown also had a huge train depot for years that ran all kinds of things from the North country and Canada down to NYC and back. (Loggers, furriers, leather merchants all used that line.) So, it would have been relatively easy to get the kit delivered there.
I have photos of a original Sears house. It is still standing. And I also stink at web sites.
The house is 30 miles from Pittsburgh. It probably will be torn down in the next two years.
Let me know if you receive this and I will send you pictures.