Laura Dean Bennett
Staff Writer
In the early 20th century, Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Montgomery Ward sold tens of thousands of kit houses through their mail-order catalogs.
The “kit” homes gave many Americans an opportunity to have their first home.
In 1906, Sears manager Frank W. Kushel had the responsibility for the catalog company’s building-materials department. Sales were down, and there was excess inventory languishing in warehouses.
Kushel suggested to the boss, Richard Sears, that they sell home assembly kits by mail order – and the rest is history.
The first Sears home kit catalog featured 44 home plans ranging in price from $360 to $2,890. Later, prices were raised.
Mass production of Sears homes allowed them to pass along the savings to their customers.
There were already companies selling kit homes before Sears and Montgomery Ward came on the market, but these two soon dominated the market.
By the company’s count, from 1908 to 1942, Sears sold more than 70,000 houses in North America.
They were purchased by customers all over the country – on the East Coast, in the Midwest, Florida, as far west as California and as far north as Alaska and Canada.
Many kit homes were built in West Virginia.
They’ve been discovered in many cities and towns around the state, including Huntington, Charleston, Elkins, Beckley, Lewisburg and Ronceverte.
There are even several still standing and in good condition here in Pocahontas County.
Local lore in Marlinton suggests that the house on 10th Avenue, which houses the Mosesso Agency is possibly a Sears or Montgomery Ward kit home. And there are thought to be others located nearby.
Cathy Mosesso said that her family always loved the house.
“It’s just a beautiful old house with a lot of character,” Mosesso said, smiling.
Although the Mosessos don’t know for sure that the house was a kit house, it’s design and interior appointments are reminiscent of the designs and illustrations found in the Sears and the Montgomery Ward home kit catalogs.
Claire Mosesso Rose did a little research in the home, searching the underside of the claw-foot tub and the cast-iron fireplace inset for any engraved identifiers.
“We’ve heard that the house was perhaps a Sears kit house,” Rose said.
“We’d love to find out more about the house’s history, whether it’s a kit house or not.”
Sears sent the blueprints along with the kit and assured customers that a “man of average abilities” could complete one of their homes in 90 days.
Customers were notified of the date that their kit would arrive at the train station.
The kit came complete with all necessary material to build the home. It included about 50,000 pounds of lumber, nails, shingles, windows, doors, pipes and fittings which had to be hauled by horse-drawn wagon or truck to the home site.
In the tradition of barn-raisings, many kits were assembled by the homeowner, their relatives, friends and neighbors.
The “bungalow” plans, which were less expensive, were the most frequently purchased. They featured two or three bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and some combination of living room, dining room and/or a small dining “nook.”
But larger, pricier models were available.
“The Magnolia,” a three-story Georgian-style home, was one of Sears’ most expensive. It featured a two-story columned portico, a porte-cochere, and all the latest in modern conveniences.
For instance, the kitchen not only had a built-in “ice box” (predecessor to a refrigerator) with an “ice box door” where the ice man could deliver the 25-or 50-pound block of ice directly into the ice box without coming into the house.
It was also known as the “Jealous Husband’s Door.”
There was a walk-in pantry in the kitchen and a second set of stairs off the kitchen leading to a servant’s room.
Upstairs were four bedrooms, a family bathroom, a sleeping porch, a deck off of the upstairs landing and a servant’s bathroom (it was not uncommon at turn of the century for a middle-class family of means to employ a live-in servant girl).
Besides a spacious living room and dining room, there was a sunroom and a den.
Between Sears and Montgomery Ward, there were hundreds of house plans to choose from, in a range of styles, most costing between $500 and $6,000.
Sears even offered financing.
Their mortgage loans were typically for five-to-fifteen-year terms at 6% to 7% interest.
Sales peaked in 1929, and the program was, at first, a success.
Unfortunately, during the Depression, many purchasers defaulted and Sears was forced to absorb $11 million in bad debt.
Sears’ mortgage program became a public relations nightmare as many of the families Sears foreclosed on refused to ever do business with the company again.
By 1934, Sears had stopped offering mortgages. It even halted sales of their kit houses for a while but began selling them again when customers had recovered from the Depression.
Sears finally discontinued its Modern Homes catalog in 1940, although some Sears stores continued to offer Sears home kits into 1942.
As was the case with Sears, Montgomery Ward was an established catalog company before they ventured into kit-home sales.
The mail order company was started in 1872 by traveling salesman Aaron Montgomery Ward, capitalizing on America’s rapidly expanding rail system that made cross-country mail delivery possible.
By 1895, the United States Postal Service described Montgomery Ward as its biggest patron, and by the turn of the 20th century, they had become the largest U.S. retailer.
In 1902, when Rural Free Delivery was enacted, Montgomery Ward could deliver orders directly to homes and businesses outside urban areas.
Montgomery Ward’s first kit-house catalogue, “The Book of Building Plans” was distributed in 1909. It featured plans for 24 Wardway homes and several outbuildings.
Like the kits from Sears, almost all materials necessary for building the Montgomery Ward homes – about 25 tons of materials with more than 30,000 parts – were pre-cut and shipped together in a railroad boxcar.
Asphalt shingles, kitchen and bathroom fixtures and cabinets, plumbing, electrical fixtures, and heating systems could be ordered at additional cost.
Besides original designs and materials supplied by Montgomery Ward, Wardway homes also used many designs and materials from their partner, the Gordon-Van Tine company.
To keep pace with Sears, Montgomery Ward began to offer mortgages in 1926.
This plan proved successful at first, with the company claiming its highest ever kit house sales data in 1929.
But, as was the case with Sears’ mortgage business, the Montgomery Ward mortgage program would prove to be the Wardway brand’s undoing when the Depression caused many customers to default on their mortgage payments.
Not all kit-built homes are Sears or Montgomery Ward (Wardway) homes, because there were many other companies in the catalog/ kit home market including Aladdin, Bennett, Gordon-Van Tine, Harris Brothers, Lewis, Pacific Ready Cut Homes and the Sterling Company.
How to identify a Sears home
Consult your neighbors. Neighbors might know of other kits houses in the neighborhood. Kit homes were often built in groups.
Look for homes built between 1908 and 1942 as that’s the time when Sears Modern Homes kits were sold.
Check public records for the property for the years between 1911 and 1933. Kit home mortgage records would include the Sears, Roebuck name and deed records for the property where the home was constructed may also include the company name.
Some homeowners may be able to find original paperwork – blueprints, correspondence from Sears and bills of lading.
Shipping labels associated with Sears’ kit homes were often affixed on the back of millwork, baseboard molding or door and window trim.
Millwork might be identified as “Norwood Sash and Door Company” of Cincinnati, Ohio. (a subsidiary of Sears).
Stamped lumber can sometimes be found in unfinished spaces like a basement or attic, where framing was stamped with a letter and a number. Stamps are normally located on or near the ends of pieces of framing timber. However, these stamps were not used on lumber shipped before 1916, when Sears first started offering pre-cut lumber.
Look for Sears home kit catalogs. They may sometimes be found with historical societies, in libraries and online. Compare house designs to original catalog images and blueprints.
When plumbing, electrical and heating were added to the standard kit house, sometimes the fixtures were stamped with the initials or logo of the company. Also look for the Sears logo (a “SR” or an “R”) be on kitchen sinks, bathtubs, doorknobs, hinges, and miscellaneous hardware.
Additionally, Goodwall sheet plaster was an early drywall-like product offered by Sears and may be an indication of a Sears Modern Home.
How to Identify a Montgomery Ward (Wardway) Home
If you can find a Wardway or Gordon-Van Tine home catalog online, look for your home’s design.
Check your door hardware against both companies’ offerings.
Match your lighting fixtures against Montgomery Ward catalog offerings – lighting in Wardway homes was often selected from the catalogue.
Check the home’s mortgage records. The name Montgomery Ward, or the Wards’ agent’s name who approved the loan, may appear.
Look through the attic, basement and under the basement stairs for blue grease pencil marks.
Check any visible drywall for the name “Superb.” If you have the original fireplace clean-out plate, look for an identifying stamp in the metal.