Cindy Catanzaro has been researching Sears Houses since 2006, after discovering she was living in one! As a volunteer for The Westcott Center for Architecture & Design, she leads walking tours and gives presentations to local interest groups. She is a leading contributor to the National Database for Sears Catalog Homes, which currently lists addresses of more than 3500 Sears Houses across Ohio.
In 2013, she was instrumental in locating a copy of a thesis written by Beatrice Lask that listed more than 500 Sears Homes in the Cincinnati area. The thesis, prepared by Mrs. Lask in the early 1990’s, was originally on file at the University of Cincinnati DAAP Library, but had gone missing. It has now been scanned, is back on file at the Library, and is available to the public.
Bea Lask paper on the Sears Houses in Cincinnati
Cindy loves to share information about this little piece of America’s architectural history.
Contact – cyn.catanzaro@gmail.com
Sears Houses in Ohio 
Cindy:
There is a farmhouse just west of Gettysburg that is slso a sears home. My ex husband lives there. His grandfather bought the house because it was a sears house back in the 80’s. He used to be the manager of Sears in Greenville. It is the 2nd house on the left going towards Greenville after you go through the light in Gettysburg. Happy Hunting!
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Thanks Christina! I’ll take a ride over that way one day soon!
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I live in one as well. I requested to see the google document to see if our house was listed
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Hello,
I have lived in a Sears home in Chardon Twp, Ohio for 32 years.
The original property was 30 acres, but we only purchased 5 acres.
It’s nice to hear that there are enthusiasts that are always interested in finding our special homes.
My windows and floors are original.
I am not sure of the model…
Regards,
Penny Conover
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I’m curious if I live in a Sears kit home. The sellers said it was, but I would like to know for sure. We live in blanchester Ohio and there are several houses in town similar to ours. What can I do to find out for sure?
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I would be glad to review your home from photos or Google Maps. You can send the address to me at cyn.catanzaro@gmail. com. Thanks for commenting!
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My husband and I just bought a Lewiston in Morrow, OH. We were told it was a Sears home but got the confirmation when we found the original blue prints in the attic! I’d love to see if it’s listed in the registry. I requested a copy.
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Angie, your Lewiston is on the National Database. We added it when it was listed for sale, as it was marketed as a Sears House. So cool that you found the blue prints!!! I will add that notation on the registry.
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We live in a Sears Kit Home. It was built in the Mid 50″s It is a very simple ranch home with a basement. Id love to know what “model” it was. Any ideas on how to find out?
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Sears was selling Homart Homes in the early 1950’s and those are pretty rare. You may have a kit from a different company like Aladdin or Liberty Homes, as they both had many ranch designs. If you want more info, you can email me at cyn.catanzaro@gmail.com and we can try to figure it out.
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I really don’t know anything about Sears homes in Ohio but my father had an interesting story about one built in North Dakota. He was born in 1910 and as a young boy he watched his neighbors build a Sears house. The man was a conductor for the Northern Pacific railroad and gone most of the week so that he was available only on weekends to work on it. His wife built about 80% of the house by herself. I wonder how many other women built their own homes?
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Cindy,
We have a Cape Cod model that my grandfather had built in 1933. It is located up on Lake Erie (12533 Lagoon Drive, Curtice OH). He hired a father and son to construct the house. I have seen a picture of the two guys constructing the house with their canvas tent pitched in the back yard. When we were doing some remodeling, we found a 2×4 with my grandparent’s last name burned into it.
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We have a Sears home, The Hammond. My neighbor has a different design. There are several in Vermilion Ohio and neighboring towns, there used to be a Sears store selling houses, services etc in nearby Lorain, Ohio. About 20 miles away along the lake is Sandusky, Ohio home of an amusement park, Cedar Point. Very close to Cedar Point is a large area that used to be called “Searsville’ due to all the Sears homes built there.
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Susan, I am just now starting to “see” The Hammond model. I’ll bet there are more out there to find. Thanks for letting us know about yours! Is it in Vermillion? We knew there were a lot of houses in Lorain County, but I’ll bet we need to check out Erie County as well!
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Just now got back on here. Vermilion (one “L”) is in Erie and Lorain Counties. We live in the Erie County portion. I’m trying to find info about the Sears store in Lorain, Ohio (Lorain County) where our home was rumored to be purchased. Hubs grandfather (deceased) told us in 1980 when we bought our home that he recalled it being delivered in 1939. The front bedroom was located a bit too far into the front yard per city allowances. Basement was done by then so the builder cut off a bit of the front bedroom per grandpa who was on city council at that time. Vermilion was pretty much just a village when our home was built but there are quite a few Sears homes in our town.
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I grew up in a Sears kit home that my grandfather built in 1924. It is at 3125 Beech Avenue, Covington, KY, not too far away from Ft. Mitchell. I have pictures of it as early as the 1930s. It is the Rodessa model.
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Amy, we do have that Rodessa on our Master List of Sears Homes, but I will now mark it as documented. Thanks for commenting and I would love to see your vintage photo. If you would like to share, please email it to me at cyn.catanzaro@gmail.com.
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Hello! My wife and I just bought a Sears “Lexington” kit home that was built in 1926 in Hudson, Ohio. The two next to it are also Lexingtons built in 1927. Our Hudson Historical Society refers to them as the “Three Sisters”. Very cool piece of trivia we came to learn upon making an offer on the home!
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Hi Scott. Congrats on your new home! The Lexington was a high end Sears model, so three together would be VERY unusual. Please know that the style of that model, Colonial, was extremely popular in the 1920’s and many homes built looked similar. What type of documentation was provided about the origins, I am wondering? Not saying it’s not a Lexington, but this is one of those models that is really tricky to identify.
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Hello, I used to own a Sears Honor Built home in Delaware, Ohio, before the current owners remodeled it. I also still own an Honor Built Modern Homes catalog from 1924. The model of the house is not in that catalog, but it is in the 1926 reprint on page 29, the Oak Park. I also own a copy of the Building Material catalog of 1929 which has Millwork, etc. that was used in the Honir Built homes.
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Hi Fred. I have been past the Oak Park on Elmwood Dr in Delaware several times. I found a mortgage record for it as well, so it is completely documented. There is a Barrington model two doors down. The Oak Park is in the 1926 Dover reprint, but it is not in my personal original copy of the 1926 catalog. I think it must have been added sometime in 1926, and my catalog is an early year version.
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Hi! Love your blog. How does one figure out if they’re living in a Sears kit home? Ours sure looks like one but I can’t figure out exactly which it might be. Thanks!
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Caitlin, there are lots of way to research your home. More than I can explain in this reply. If you want, email me at cyn.catanzaro@gmail.com for more information.
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Hello! I just happened to go down a rabbit hole about Sears homes. I’ve always known 2 of them in my hometown of Peebles, Ohio but recently started looking into them more. I do not know which style they are but I can tell you they are very large. The ‘rumor’ I was always told is that one was built and then in a ‘competition’ of sorts, the sister or the 1st home bought and built a larger one. It’s a very small town so 2 larger houses like this were quite surprising at that time. I apologize if this is duplicate information. The addresses are 299 North Main Street, Peebles, Ohio & 137 Elliott Ave. Peebles, Ohio. I can actually see both houses from my parent’s house.
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Hi. Your page is very interesting. I grew up in a Conway model in Zanesville Ohio. It was built by my great-grandparents in or around 1928. Although it has had several additions over the years, you can immediately recognize the features that signify the Conway design. My grandfather used to tell me about how all of the materials arrived via train car and they had to use large farm trailers pulled by horses to get the materials to the site. Well over 10 miles. All precut and ready to assemble.
Let me know if you would be interested in more details.
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Hi Cindy. I love this site! I grew up in a renovated Sears Berwyn/Mayfield in the Cincinnati area, but I’m not sure if it is documented. I’d be happy to provide info if you’d be interested.
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Hi Michelle. I would be glad to check and see if your Berwyn is documented. I will email you for more info.
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My brother and I have a house in New Concord Ohio we are sure is a 1937 Dover kit house. Everything in the house is still 1937. We are starting to do a rehab and want to keep the original look as much as possible. The bathrooms and kitchen have the original
cabinets and fixtures. The toilet is square. Never saw that before. We need help in what should we do without losing the Sears kit look and attraction. Any suggestions would help.
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Darrel, how awesome if it is a Sears Dover, with a lot of original details. We don’t see much of that. I have never heard of a square toilet either, but commodes usually have a manufacture date on them somewhere. I would surely look for it. Ancestry.com has all the Sears General Merchandise catalogs available on their website. If you can access those from your local library you can research what would have been standard for that time period. Good luck!
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We have Sears kit house in Dayton Ohio, it is the Westly. We have some original doors, door and window trim, and baseboard if you know of anyone who could use them. Please let us know.
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I hope if somebody needs them, they see this! Thanks!
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William, I have a Westly and could possible use the doors, etc. Though I see this post is from Aug 2021 so it may be too late.
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We live in a Sears Westly located in Willoughby. We found shipping labels in a door frame. I am always trying to find out more information about our house, but I am struggling to do so. Where would you suggest I start?
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