A Sears Magnolia in South Carolina?

Last week, I put 897 miles on the old Camry driving from Norfolk to Raleigh to South Carolina (and making a few stops along the way). I’d heard that there was a Sears Magnolia in western South Carolina, so I decided to check it out. Here are some photos: *  *  *...

Sears Magnolia: Not!

The Sears Magnolia was the biggest, fanciest and prettiest home that Sears offered during their 32 years in the kit home business. According to legend, there were only a few Magnolias built in the country, and heretofore, only six have been found (Benson, NC., South...

Breakfast Nooks, Part II

Judging by the traffic to this website, there’s a lot of interest in built-in breakfast nooks these days, and for good reason. They’re practical, useful, attractive, and make excellent use of a small space. As the 1933 Montgomery Ward hardware catalog...

Lost in Lynchburg!

My dear friend Rebecca is working on a new project and asked me to find this 1910s kit home in Lynchburg, Virginia. Most folks have heard of Sears Kit Homes, but in addition to Sears, there were six companies selling kit homes through mail order. Their names were...