The Sears Homes of Illinois

My new book is now available at The History Press and Amazon.com. It’s a beautiful book, chocked full of photos (250 color photos) featuring the Sears Homes of Illinois. Click here to “look inside the book” at amazon.com Did I mention that it makes...

Jim Walter Homes – Where’d They Go?

In 1978, soon after my first husband and I were first married, we sat down and looked through a Jim Walter Homes catalog. The idea of building a kit home was hugely appealing to us. In the end, we decided to buy an existing home, but throughout the years, the idea of...

Poor Little Westly in Northern Illinois

In 2003, my friend Rebecca Hunter drove me to an Midwestern suburb and showed me this Sears Westly (see pictures below). She made me close my eyes as we pulled up to the house. Sitting squarely in front of it, I exclaimed that it looked like a nice little Westly. Then...