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A two-year-old blog on Richmond kit homes has generated 2,000+ views in 48 hours. That’s a lot for one blog.
And then on Friday, I discovered an advertisement in a 1921 newspaper featuring a potential *neighborhood* of Sears Homes near the Botanical Gardens.
Yesterday, two “Richmonders” joined our “Sears Home” group on Facebook, and with all the new information, I think it might be interesting to return to Richmond and do a more thorough survey of kit homes, and perhaps follow-up with a lecture on the topic.
It’s now apparent to me that I missed a LOT of the early 20th Century neighborhoods in Richmond. Perhaps there’s a Magnolia hiding somewhere in Richmond.
There certainly should be! 😀
And if you’d like to work with me in putting together a lecture for this fine old southern city, please contact me by leaving a comment below.
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Thanks to the original blog on the Richmond homes, Molly Todd found me and my Facebook group "Sears Homes." When she shared a photo of her house in Richmond, we were delighted to discover it was a Gordon Van Tine "Sussex" (1926 catalog).
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How did I miss this one? Judging from what I've subsequently learned, I apparently "toured" less than 25% of Richmond's early 20th Century neighborhoods. Photo is copyright 2014 Molly Todd and may not be used or reproduced without written permission.
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A neighborhood of Sears Homes? Be still my heart. (RT Dispatch, June 1921.)
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My favorite find in Richmond was the Avalons. Yes, plural. (From the 1928 catalog.)
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It doesn't get any better than this. Even the railings are perfect.
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Another perfect Avalon.
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I found FIVE of these little pretties! Five!!
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Another fine-looking house is the Sears Strathmore (1936).
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Wow, wow, wow. Looking just perfect!
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And a very early Sears House, "Model 190" (1912 catalog).
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Do these owners know they have a Sears House? Probably not.
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Part of what makes the houses in Richmond so interesting is that there are so many different companies represented. This is a model from "Harris Brothers" (Chicago area). It's HB J161, from the 1916 catalog.
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And here's the J161 - alive and well and looking good. Look at the detail on the columns.
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To contact Rose, please leave a comment below!
To read the blog on the Sauer Home, click here.
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Just found your wonderful site after searching the web for info on a recent Sears home purchase my husband and I made.
Thanks to you we discovered it was an Oakdale home.
Can you please tell me where I can get additional info about the home? Thanks!
I’m the president of the Forest Hill neighborhood association and we’d love for you to do a presentation at one of our meetings.
Please shoot me an email!
Hi Shannon,
Thanks for the reply! I’m about 100 miles from Richmond and looking forward to returning sometime soon, but honestly, I’d love to do this in a venue that has the potential to draw from the whole city.
In Staunton, we had about 150 people show up for the talk, and in Raleigh, I think we had more than 200.
I’d love to find a place in Richmond that’d hold a similar number, and then work to get the thing promoted in a way that draws from the entire Richmond area.
Tell me more.
😀
I’d be interested to know if you found all of these homes in a specific area.
They all seem to be kept up and doing well so I have to wonder if this is an area that strives to preserve their older homes.
At any rate, this is exciting news to hear 2000+ views were generated by a blog posting written 2 years ago.
Hi Rose,
I am the managing editor or R•Home magazine in Richmond and would LOVE to talk to you about a potential lecture in Richmond.
Please email me so we can chat!
Jessica Haddad
I believe I’ve read that you’ve explored Petersburg before for kit homes and didn’t come up with much, but I’ve seen a few possibilities (including my house) based on different homes you’ve shown on this blog.
Last summer, you included a random catalog picture of a Sterling “Lawnsette”, mentioning that you thought you’d spotted one in Anderson, SC.
It excited me as I’ve always thought there was a chance my home is from a kit (or plans replicating a kit design) and this was it!
I did a lot more on-line digging and found the floor plan with dimensions and it matches with some alterations to locations of doors, windows and closets, but the room measurements are exactly the same. So I am still puzzling over this.