Small Houses of the Twenties: The Sears, Roebuck 1926 House Catalog

by Sears, Roebuck and Co.

Book Overview

For almost 20 years, Sears, Roebuck and Company purveyed the materials for complete prefabricated houses, providing thousands of Americans with attractive and comfortable low-cost dwellings. Many of these homes are still a common feature in cities and towns across America.
The present volume, a meticulous reproduction of a rare Sears, Roebuck catalog of 1926, provides a thorough, accurate record of the company's "Honor Bilt Modern Homes." Over...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0486267091
• ISBN13: 9780486267098
• Release Date: June 1991
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 9.3" x 12.1"

Customer Reviews

Essential for any Sears home-owner

As a recent purchaser of a Sears Honor Bilt home, this book has been very interesting and useful. It initially helped me to prove to myself that my house was a kit home, and has further assisted in returning the home to its orginal condition. If you live in a part of the ocuntry with some remaing 1910-1940 houses, you may be surprised how many of them are Sears homes. After spending many hours lookig through this book, I now notice Sears houses a lot more as I am out and about. Whether you are a potential Sears home owner or just soeone who appreciates the beauty and quality of older homes that seems to be missing from those we build today, this is a great book.

Very interesting

If you are interested in homes that were built between 70 and 80 years ago, then you need this book. Imagine yourself as a young married person from the twenty's looking to build your first house -- the first place you might look is the Sears catalog. All you would need to do is buy the lot and lay the foundation. Sears sends everything else! The designs of these houses makes you wonder "why do people need such huge houses today?" This book is a must for anyone who loves old houses.

Good for research, history lessons or Sims lovers

Includes detailed floor plans, original advertising, prices & financing info and very 1920s style descriptions from the cataolgue. Sitting down with the book is like sitting down with the actual catalogue. There's no extraneous commentary, aside from a publisher's note. I especially recommend it to fellow early 20th century history buffs. Sim-lovers like me might appreciate the excellent conscise plans to follow (bubble machine room not included). It makes me wish *I* could order one of these "Honor Built Houses." There's even an order form. One fun thing to take note of is how many floor plans do *not* include a bathroom. Although they do offer outhouses ;)

A good companion book to "Houses by Mail"

You won't find any houses in this book that are not already included in "Houses by Mail", but this Dover reprint of an original 1926 Sears Catalogue of Houses is an interesting read. It gives more complete information about the old houses and their blueprints, and also has a detailed listing of hardware, with excellent photos, which goes a long way in helping identify Sears Homes. It's a big book - about 8 x 11, and the information is much easier to read than the half-sized "Houses by Mail." Personally, I own a couple copies of this book and frequently recommend it at my lectures. Rose author, The Houses That Sears Built

An interesting study of early 20th century architecture.

For the architect, artist or historian, this unabridged reprint of the actual 1926 Catalog of Houses from Sears and Roebuck is a very absorbing read. The student of architecture will note the simplicity of the home in 1926. The absence of a "family room", and a limited number of small bedrooms in most designs, will cause one to imagine that families must have spent considerable time together in the common areas of the home. There seemed to be no need for a separate room, where other activites could be carried on, while mother and father talked with their guests in the living room. There are also fewer rooms designated for specific tasks, such as an office, den, laundry room or even bathrooms in some cases. For the artist or illustrator, it provides an excellent source of information dealing with home sizes and historically correct drawings. When dealing with the illustration of period homes, this is an excellent choice for reference material. Included with each home is a full floor plan, from which one can deterimine if the size is appropriate for the family who will live in it, and a beautiful rendering of the exterior. Historians will appreciate the detailed quality of this reprinted catalog. There are many details which reflect the lifestyle in the early 20th century including lighting, heating and even the kitchen sink! You can now drive down the streets of the old part of town, knowing what was originally included in these homes of yesteryear - and maybe find one that was ordered from this very catalog. An excellent read, this reprint makes it fun to become immersed in the earlier part of this century. Becoming aware of the things that were important to families at that time, one can be more in touch with how our parents and grandparents might have lived.