RosemaryThornton

Sears offered 370 designs of homes and sold 75,000 of these houses (from 1908 - 1940) in "all 48 states." I know there are several Sears Homes in Texas but there could be hundreds. It's hard to know for sure. "Houses by Mail" is a good resource and I wore out two copies of my own, but I gotta recommend *my* book - of course, which is "Finding The Houses That Sears Built; A Guide to Their 65 Most Popular Houses."

Sears had 370 designs, but I've found that 65 of those designs - their most popular houses - represent at least 90% of their sales. In other words, master those 65 designs and you're going to find the majority of the Sears Homes in your community. And - *and* - of those 370 designs, I've only seen about 150 of them "in the flesh."

It's altogether possible dozens and dozens of their designs were never sold.

I suspect there was another kit home company in the Texas area - a regional company - that sold kit homes. Almost every large city had their own "regional kit home company" but finding info about these local companies can be quite challenging.

Another facet to this is: Was there a Sears-related industry in or around Houston? Sears had a firm "down south" in the 1910s and 1920s that was dedicated to manufacturing stoves for Sears Roebuck. This firm employed hundreds of people and all the company did was build and ship stoves to Sears, Roebuck. Period.

If Houston had a Sears-related business such as that, it's possible the city ended up with several Sears Homes - just because of the relationship.

The other interesting thing: Sears sold "homart homes" from 1947 - 1951. These were true prefab houses - shipped in sections to the building site. If a Sears employee bought a Sears "Homart Home" they were given a 10% employee discount. I wonder if Sears did the same thing for their kit homes? I suspect they may have, in which case, if you had a big Sears store in Houston in the late 1920s or very early 30s, you may have some Sears Homes through that venue.

Rose

author, The Houses That Sears Built

www.searshomes.org

I'd love to come to the area!! In the meantime, if you'd like to send me some photos, I'd be happy to tell you if they're Sears Homes. You can send them via email to thorntonrose@hotmail.com.

I'd be surprised if Houston did NOT have Sears Homes. Certainly a few and maybe bunches.

Rose

There are SOME Sears Homes in Texas, but I have no idea how many. According to Rebecca Hunter's new book (Putting Sears Homes on the Map, published 2004), there are at least 25 Sears Homes in Texas.

I've recently published a new book entitled "Finding the Houses That Sears Built" which is a field guide to Sears 60 most popular models. I found that these 60 models represent about 90% of their sales.

So...finding the Sears Homes in Texas need not be THAT difficult. Here's the main thing: Start in neighborhoods that were developed in the 1920s. Look for communities within 1-2 miles of railroad tracks. And keep in mind, we're talking about railroad tracks that were in place in the 1920s.

Most Sears Homes will be found in working class or middle class neighborhoods. Sometimes, neighborhoods get "locked up" by one developer, so you need not look THERE.

I've found Sears Homes from Virginia to California. So someone invite me to Texas to look around. I'd love to see what you've got.

Rose Thornton

author, The Houses That Sears Built

rosethornton@cox.net