Friday, August 12, 2022
No Result
View All Result
SUBSCRIBE
The Chimney Rock Chronicle
78 °f
Broadway
72 ° Fri
69 ° Sat
69 ° Sun
62 ° Mon
63 ° Tue
  • Home
    • Pickup Locations & Sponsors
  • Columns
    • All
    • Book Notes
    • Eating Well in the Real World
    • Fishing with Mike
    • From the Potting Shed
    • Fulks Run Follies
    • Headlines from Plains Museum
    • Local Business
    • Local Legends
    • Musings from the Woodpile
    • Personal & Professional Development
    • Randy's Ramblings
    • Reflections from a Fuller Life
    • Sarah's Recipes
    • The Gospel Vault
    • The View From Here
    • The Wandering Wilkins
    • When This You See
    The Captivating History of Caplinger School in Criders, Virginia

    Zoorama: An Animal Exhibition in the Shenandoah Valley

    Meet the Directors

    Meet the Directors

    Randy’s Ramblings – February 2022

    Randy’s Ramblings

    The View From Here

    The View From Here

    Band Notes

    Band Notes

    Sarah’s Recipes

    Pizza!

    Photograph of Ronnie Fulk

    Fulks Run Follies

    HEADLINES From Plains District Memorial Museum

    Headlines from the Plains District Memorial Museum

    The Wandering Wilkins

    The Wandering Wilkins

    Bass Fishing with Mike – December 2021

    Hot Summer Fishing Tips

    Book Notes:  Classic Southern Novels

    Book Notes:  Classic Southern Novels

    Gospel Vault

    Gospel Vault

    From the Potting Shed – December 2021

    From The Potting Shed

    Randy image

    Randy’s Ramblings

    Pat McNally, Columnist

    The View From Here

    Trending Tags

    • Entertainment
      • All
      • Festivals
      • Kids Activites
      • Music
      • Off Broadway Players
      • Sports
      • Upcoming Events
      Rounding the bases

      Rounding the bases

      Cub Scout Troop 1 Bridge Ceremony

      Cub Scout Troop 1 Bridge Ceremony

      Band Notes

      Band Notes

      Community Service is Alive and Well in Fulks Run

      Community Service is Alive and Well in Fulks Run

      The Bergton Fair

      The Bergton Fair

      Moyers Scholarship Awarded

      Moyers Scholarship Awarded

      How I got involved with the Nantucket Basket

      Hunting for the Goldeneye

      Spotlight on the Off Broadway Players

      Spotlight on the Off Broadway Players

      Bass Fishing with Mike – December 2021

      Hot Summer Fishing Tips

      • Off Broadway Players
    • News
    • Lifestyle
      • All
      • Artisan Craft
      • Church
      • food
      • Health
      • Inspirational
      • Travel
      John Coffman

      Where Do You Find all this Wood?

      The Gargantuan Praying Moose

      The Gargantuan Praying Moose

      Photograph of Ken West, Jr.

      Understanding the Holy Spirit Pt-1

      Mattress Shopping

      My Trip to the Ark Encounter

      Sarah’s Recipes

      Pizza!

      Community Service is Alive and Well in Fulks Run

      Community Service is Alive and Well in Fulks Run

      Photograph of George Bowers

      Beaten For Jesus

      The Wandering Wilkins

      The Wandering Wilkins

      The Blessings of Friends

      The Blessings of Friends

      Photograph of Ken West, Jr.

      The Secret of Immortality

      Trending Tags

      • Golden Globes
      • Mr. Robot
      • MotoGP 2017
      • Climate Change
      • Flat Earth
    • Advertising
    • Home
      • Pickup Locations & Sponsors
    • Columns
      • All
      • Book Notes
      • Eating Well in the Real World
      • Fishing with Mike
      • From the Potting Shed
      • Fulks Run Follies
      • Headlines from Plains Museum
      • Local Business
      • Local Legends
      • Musings from the Woodpile
      • Personal & Professional Development
      • Randy's Ramblings
      • Reflections from a Fuller Life
      • Sarah's Recipes
      • The Gospel Vault
      • The View From Here
      • The Wandering Wilkins
      • When This You See
      The Captivating History of Caplinger School in Criders, Virginia

      Zoorama: An Animal Exhibition in the Shenandoah Valley

      Meet the Directors

      Meet the Directors

      Randy’s Ramblings – February 2022

      Randy’s Ramblings

      The View From Here

      The View From Here

      Band Notes

      Band Notes

      Sarah’s Recipes

      Pizza!

      Photograph of Ronnie Fulk

      Fulks Run Follies

      HEADLINES From Plains District Memorial Museum

      Headlines from the Plains District Memorial Museum

      The Wandering Wilkins

      The Wandering Wilkins

      Bass Fishing with Mike – December 2021

      Hot Summer Fishing Tips

      Book Notes:  Classic Southern Novels

      Book Notes:  Classic Southern Novels

      Gospel Vault

      Gospel Vault

      From the Potting Shed – December 2021

      From The Potting Shed

      Randy image

      Randy’s Ramblings

      Pat McNally, Columnist

      The View From Here

      Trending Tags

      • Entertainment
        • All
        • Festivals
        • Kids Activites
        • Music
        • Off Broadway Players
        • Sports
        • Upcoming Events
        Rounding the bases

        Rounding the bases

        Cub Scout Troop 1 Bridge Ceremony

        Cub Scout Troop 1 Bridge Ceremony

        Band Notes

        Band Notes

        Community Service is Alive and Well in Fulks Run

        Community Service is Alive and Well in Fulks Run

        The Bergton Fair

        The Bergton Fair

        Moyers Scholarship Awarded

        Moyers Scholarship Awarded

        How I got involved with the Nantucket Basket

        Hunting for the Goldeneye

        Spotlight on the Off Broadway Players

        Spotlight on the Off Broadway Players

        Bass Fishing with Mike – December 2021

        Hot Summer Fishing Tips

        • Off Broadway Players
      • News
      • Lifestyle
        • All
        • Artisan Craft
        • Church
        • food
        • Health
        • Inspirational
        • Travel
        John Coffman

        Where Do You Find all this Wood?

        The Gargantuan Praying Moose

        The Gargantuan Praying Moose

        Photograph of Ken West, Jr.

        Understanding the Holy Spirit Pt-1

        Mattress Shopping

        My Trip to the Ark Encounter

        Sarah’s Recipes

        Pizza!

        Community Service is Alive and Well in Fulks Run

        Community Service is Alive and Well in Fulks Run

        Photograph of George Bowers

        Beaten For Jesus

        The Wandering Wilkins

        The Wandering Wilkins

        The Blessings of Friends

        The Blessings of Friends

        Photograph of Ken West, Jr.

        The Secret of Immortality

        Trending Tags

        • Golden Globes
        • Mr. Robot
        • MotoGP 2017
        • Climate Change
        • Flat Earth
      • Advertising
      No Result
      View All Result
      The Chimney Rock Chronicle
      Subscribe
      Thank you to our Sponsors! Thank you to our Sponsors! Thank you to our Sponsors!
      Home Community

      The House That Sears Built

      Tammy Cullers

      by Tammy Cullers
      August 8, 2022
      in Community, Editors, Tammy Cullers
      0
      0
      SHARES
      0
      VIEWS
      Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

      Linda Gilbert has always loved old houses. When she lived in Georgia, she and her husband were able to give new life to a 1945 cottage in Athens. At the same time, they were restoring a 1905 house in an historic neighborhood in nearby Abbeville South Carolina– just an hour and a half away from Athens, but in a whole different state.

      When her husband passed away, Linda decided to move to the Shenandoah Valley where her nephew, Dr. Bob Harris, was planning to set up a dental practice. But instead of looking for an old house to fix
      up, Linda decided to build a new house that was modeled after a place she saw in a 1929 Sears & Roebuck catalogue. After studying the plans for the Sears Mitchell house, Linda decided to add a few extras, adding more space to the floor plan. T

      he result: a lovely mix of modern and vintage that pays tribute to the Sears houses of yesteryear. Linda has a library full of information on house kits of the past, and she is a wealth of information. I spent a lovely morning sitting with her in her breakfast nook, discussing old houses.  While Sears wasn’t the only company to offer kit houses, it was one of the most popular places to buy a do-it-yourself house.

      Linda also shared information on the Aladdin Company (who advertised the “original Knocked Down Houses”), the Gordon-Van Tine Company, and Montgomery Ward’s mail-order homes. The kit houses were referred to as “the houses that came on the train.” Because literally, that’s how they were delivered. The house kit usually came in two boxcars, and those boxcars contained everything a builder would need to construct an entire house – framing boards cut to size, nails, and even paint.

      Although much of the house was pre-measured and pre-cut, buyers did have a lot of choice as well. They could, of course, choose the model, but they also chose door and window styles, the kind of wood, exterior cladding, and paint colors. While each company offered a catalogue full of house styles, most of the homes were
      copies of styles popular in the US from 1900 – 1980. Types of Sears houses ranged from the modestly priced Hudson -$474.00 – to the more elaborate Carlton (only offered for one year– 1918) which cost the buyer $5,118 – about $100,000 today.

      Several factors contributed to the phasing out of the mail order home. Stricter building codes, the growing popularity of mobile homes, and the construction of subdivisions gave folks affordable alternatives to kit homes. This “modern” housing came without the trouble of having to pay freight costs and hire a carpenter. Sears sent out its final catalogue in 1940. From 1908 and 1940, Sears sold over 70,000 homes in 370 different styles.

      Although no one eagerly waits at the depot for the first sight of their new home, there are folks
      such as Linda who appreciate the home styles of days gone by. Her lovely home stands as a tribute to the hard work and ingenuity of designers and architects of days gone by.


      Tags: Sear's HouseTammy Cullers
      Tammy Cullers

      Tammy Cullers

      Next Post
      Bare’s Auto and Small  Engine Repair

      Bare’s Auto and Small Engine Repair

      News & Story Ideas

      Let us know what's important & interesting too you!
      Article Type(Required)
      Your Name(Required)
      • About Us
      • Advertising
      • Contact
      • Pick Up Locations & Sponsors

      © 2021 The Chimney Rock Chronicle - Website & E-Commerce by Bare Web Design, Broadway Va.

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • Non-Profit
      • For Sale
      • Employment
      • National
      • Entertainment
      • Festivals
      • Kids Activites
      • Music
      • Sports
      • Church
      • Lifestyle
      • Travel
      • Tech
      • Health
      • Food

      © 2021 The Chimney Rock Chronicle - Website & E-Commerce by Bare Web Design, Broadway Va.