In 2002, I visited my friend Rebecca Hunter in Elgin, Illinois (southwest of Chicago) and she drove me out to Palantine to visit what she described as, “A very unusual Sears Westly.”

Of course, I was captivated and could hardly wait to see the thing.

She told me to close my eyes as we got close, so I did as she asked. When I felt the car come to a stop, she said, “Okay, you can open them.”

Sitting squarely in front of this old Westly, I remarked that it looked like a fine Westly. Yes, it had had some “improvements’ that weren’t historically sensitive, but it wasn’t too onerous.

Then Rebecca giggled a bit and moved the car forward a few feet, so I could get “the rest of the story.”

I gasped. I may have even hyperventilated just a wee bit.

Someone had built an entire neighborhood behind this once-beautiful Westly.

Why anyone would do this? Why would anyone WANT to do this? And how in the world did they get zoning approval?

And as an added note, for those who may be visiting this site for the first time, Sears did not sell “condo kits.”  🙂

To learn more about Rebecca’s newest book (which I highly recommend), click here.

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I see you every day but you never write!  🙂  Please leave a comment below.

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