The pieces would then fit together in a logical fashion so buyers could either build the houses themselves or hire contractors. The materials arrived into town by train and was taken to the plot of land by horse-drawn wagons. The home was then erected by the family, friends and neighbors.Īll of the materials and blueprints needed to build a house would arrive by mail. These days, homes, including the kit houses, are being torn down and replaced by McMansionsįamilies would pick out their homes from the catalog.
SEARS KIT HOMES FREE
Feel free to let me know of any you're aware of, in the comments. There were no doubt other plan-book companies that offered a similar model. Standard Homes Burlington, floor plans, 1946 ( source) Standard Homes Burlington, 1946 ( source) As shown here, it is clearly smaller than the Lewiston/Colchester, but they had about four different floor plans, so there may well have been one that was larger: Standard Homes also offered several floor plans of a model similar to the Sears Colchester: the Burlington. Standard Homes Holbrooke floor plans, 1946 ( source) Standard Homes plan book company, Holbrooke, 1946 ( source). I show it here, as offered in the 1946 catalog, though I'm sure that it was offered earlier, as well (if you'd like to look through other years of Standard Homes blueprint catalogs, there are several linked here, on ): It looks to have had at least six different floor plans. The Standard Homes plan-book company (not a kit-home company - they only sold blueprints) had a model called the Holbrooke. I only have access to the 1930, and then the 1937 catalogs for Bennett, so I don't know when they began offering these two, but they were not in the 1930 catalog:įloor plan for the Bennett Chelmsford, 1937 ( source)īennett Homes Dryden floor plan, 1937 ( source) The 1937 Bennett Homes catalog (a kit-house company out of Tonawanda, New York, in upper NY state) offered two models similar to the Lewiston: The Chelmsford and the Dryden. With the side entry door that leads into the kitchen. Jackson Street, showing the same view of the left side, The Lewiston as it was shown in the 1940 Modern Homes catalog.Ģ61 N. I like the look of the 1940 catalog listing, because it provides a little 3-D type of floor plan, that helps visualize the interior layout. The cover of the 1930 Sears Honor Bilt Modern Homes catalog. so much so, that there are also many "lookalikes" offered by other companies.
The Lewiston was featured on the cover of the 1930 catalog, and we've found it to be an immensely popular model. The brick (no half-timber) version of the Colchester, advertised in an early page of the 1930 catalog.
But, in actuality, the Colchester was introduced in the 1929 brick supplement catalog (see it here, on the website), and also featured in the 1930 catalog, in a section of the catalog focusing on brick-veneer homes.
The Lewiston was offered by Sears from 1929 through 1940, and a brick, or brick and half-timber version, the Colchester, was offered in 19- according to Houses by Mail.
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