Updated!! See detailed photos here!!
A few moments ago, my sleepy husband stuck his head into the room and said, “It’s 3:11 in the morning. Why are you still up?”
“Well, I think we’ve found our eighth Magnolia,” I replied.
“Oh,” he said quietly, as he toddled back to the bedroom.
No additional information was needed.
Every month, I get a handful of emails from people who are 100% certain that they’ve found the crème de la crème of all kit homes: The Sears Magnolia.
And 98% of the time, they’re wrong.
Sears sold kit homes from 1908-1940, and in that 32-year span, they offered 370 designs. Of those 370 designs, the Magnolia was the fairest of them all (and the biggest and the most expensive).
In 1918 (the year the Magnolia first appeared), 90 designs were offered, and only 13 of those homes cost more than $2,000. Not counting the Magnolia, the most expensive house in that catalog was the Preston, at $2,812.
The other 76 models offered in 1918 were under $2,000, and the overwhelming majority of those were less than $1,200.
The price tag for the Magnolia was $4,485.
Most of the Sears Homes in that 1918 catalog had less than 1,000 square feet, and the Magnolia had almost 3,000 square feet.
For years and years, it was widely believed that only six Magnolias had been built in the country, and yet their locations were not known. In time, those six Magnolias were discovered in Benson, North Carolina, South Bend, Indiana, Irwin, Pennsylvania, Canton, Ohio and a fifth in Piedmont, Alabama. A sixth had been destroyed by fire in Nebraska. (Of those six Magnolias, the house in Benson was the “newest” discovery, found in March 2010.)
And that was that.
Six Magnolias. All accounted for.
Five alive.
One dead (and cremated).
And then in May 2011 (thanks to this blog), someone contacted me and said that there was a Sears Magnolia in Syracuse, NY.
I didn’t pay too much attention, because frankly, I’d heard it before, but fortunately, a friend and faithful reader (Heather Lukaszewski) did pay attention and she did a little research. She wrote me a nice note and said, “I think this may be the real deal.”
And that’s how we found the 7th Magnolia. The discovery made the local papers, and it was all pretty exciting. Click here to read the article from May 2011.
All of which brings me to this newest discovery of an 8th Magnolia!
Friday evening, someone contacted me and said that he lived in a house that was across the street from a Sears Magnolia. We exchanged several emails and I started to get pretty interested in this story. It had a lot more background and depth than the typical “There’s a Magnolia just down the street” stories.
Thanks to a lot of help from Rachel Shoemaker and Mark Hardin, we were able to see the house via Bing Maps, and I have to say, I think we’ve got a winner.
In fact, I’d be willing to say that I’m 90% certain that we’ve found our 8th Magnolia.
And the best part of all?
It’s in West Virginia.
I love West Virgina and I’m headed to Elkins in six weeks (with the aforementioned hubby) to visit family.
I’d sure love to stop by this sweet old kit house and check it out in person. Boy oh boy, would I love to see this fine house in the flesh.
Wow.
Just wow.
To read more about the Sears Magnolia, click here.
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The Magnolia was featured on the cover of the 1918 Sears Modern Homes catalog, and yet, those leaves in the border are not Magnolia leaves. What a fraud!
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Close-up of the Magnolia (1918)
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The Magnolia was first offered in the 1918 Modern Homes catalog (shown above). In 1919, the Magnolia hit its highest price: $10,000, more than double its price in 1918.
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In 1921, the price of the Sears Magnolia dropped to $6,489 and one year later, it would drop to $5,849. Following WW1, prices of building materials fluctated dramatically.
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In March 2011, a reader told me that there was a Sears Magnolia in Benson, NC.
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The Sears Magnolia in Canton, Ohio was almost lost due to neglect but was lovingly restored in the 1990s. Photo is copyright 2012 Janet's Hess LaMonica and may not be reproduced without written permission.
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Our 7th Magnolia, in Syracuse! And what a fine-looking kit house it is! (Photo is courtesy of Mariel Proulx and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.)
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Close-up of the columns on the Sears Magnolia in Piedmont, Alabama.
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To learn more about the Sears Magnolias among us, click here.
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To contact Rose, please leave a comment below!
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Ahhhh!!!!!! How exciting is that!!!!!!
Heck, I didn’t do anything to find this house. I wasn’t even at my computer. My poor cell phone couldn’t keep up with the messages you and Rachel were rifling off. I got dizzy and cut the poor thing off. It just laid on the table twitchin’ for hours afterwards.
@Mark Hardin
Bahahahaha! You are so funny!! That is sensory overload; it should recover. LOL
It was just Rosemary and I in the Sears room.
Everyone else has a life on Friday night I guess. I thought Rosemary was going to go in to cardiac arrest and being a 1000+ miles away I couldn’t do CPR.
It was LATE so I knew she was up all alone. I couldn’t post the location and information quick enough, I don’t type. People don’t realize the efforts put in to finding these houses, something you and I ‘specialize’ in.
And, I researched the family and we would have had a very difficult time using our usual methods. Lady luck was with us on this house! It was meant to be 🙂
Is this eighth Magnolia in WV by any chance?
I live in the Wheeling area but have never actually seen the house because of a high wall blocking the view. But viewing the home on Bing maps makes me think it might be the one.
@Andrew Yes, it’s just south of the intersection of Dement and Chapel Hill Roads on Chapel Hill.
I knew we would find one here!!!!!!!!!
Can’t wait to see it!!!!!!
I’ve always loved the Magnolia and I did not realize so few were built.
My grandmother grew up in the Maytown (#167) in Michigan.
When I lived in Augusta, GA I loved driving certain roads to admire the houses. I always thought a couple looked like the Magnolia. After reading your page here, I looked it up on Google maps.
Check it out, the address appears to be 2623 Walton Way, Augusta GA.
Hi Kelly,
Nice house but definitely not a Sears Magnolia. The Magnolia has a little gabled dormer on the front of the third floor (attic). That single feature helps differentiate between the Magnolia and 99.99% of the “look-alikes.”
Rose
Please check out 160 Union Street, North Concord, NC.
I grew up in a Magnolia in Gates, NC. My grandfather bought the home in January 1920, but the home was destroyed by fire in December 1985.
The first floor plan was reversed and the roof was an A with 2 dormers. It also had a basement