A Sears Albion in Miamisburg

Onward with my search of the Montgomery County mortgage records!

A while back, myself and several other serious Sears House researchers spent many an hour going through on line records for Hamilton County (Cincinnati and vicinity).  One of the things we noticed was that there were mortgages and Mechanics Liens for Sears house kits that were recorded under Norwood Sash and Door Mfg Co., instead of the usual Sears, Roebuck Trustee names we find in other parts of the country.

The Norwood Sash and Door Mfg. Co. was owned by Sears during their kit house years, 1908 to 1942, so apparently some of the financing programs were handled a bit differently in the area serviced directly by the Norwood mill work plant.

The ads we have found in local newspapers confirm our theories, if you can believe everything you read in newspaper advertisements!

Here’s an example

Dayton Daily News July 7, 1921

 

The Sears Archives website has a timeline which states that a Modern Home Office opened in Dayton in 1921, but the first couple of years, that Office was actually operated under the Norwood Sash and Door Mfg. Co. name, not Sears, Roebuck.  Ads in the Dayton newspapers didn’t show up as Sears until 1925.

Anyways……. how does this bit of Sears history apply to the Sears Albion I located in Miamisburg?

It was financed through Norwood Sash and Door.  I think!  At least that’s what I assume since I found the mortgage holder’s address in a search on Ancestry.

Here’s the Abstract info.  The “M” means the line item is for a mortgage record,  a “D” is for a deed.  Mechanics Liens usually just say “Lien”.  I verified that this was an actual mortgage record during a recent trip to the Montgomery County’s Recorder’s Office.  The amount of the mortgage was $4300.

When the mortgage was issued on 4 Nov 1925, this house was not in the city limits, so the parcel description was just for a Township, Section, and Range.  Those are hard to identify, at least for me, so that is when I did a search for the original owner on Ancestry and found them listed at 518 Mound Ave., Miamisburg in the 1930 Census.

 

Isn’t this fun!

So……want to see the house?  I did, so off we went the other day to take pictures.

OH!  I guess you should see the catalog image first.

If you want to read about the details of this model, Andrew Mutch has done a nice write up about it on his blog.  Here a link…….Kit House Hunters Albion post

Here’s a closer look at the catalog image

And here’s the house, which was built reversed from the catalog offering.

Sears Albion, 518 Mound Ave., Miamisburg, Ohio

The house retains what appears to be the original porch pillars and railing ( I love the way they are accented with two colors of paint!), and the brackets on the side entry as seen in the catalog.

Front and other side views follow.  All the windows match the catalog floor plan, which most likely means no changes were made to the house kit plans at time of purchase.

Front view of a Sears Albion, 518 Mound Ave., Miamisburg, Ohio

Right side view of a Sears Albion at 518 Mound Ave., Miamisburg, Ohio.

It was a beautiful Spring day in Ohio when I stopped by this lovely home for pictures.  I hope to go back to Miamisburg soon for more Sears House hunting.

Thanks for following along.