Historic Mail-Order Homes

1926 Mail-Order Home in Shepherd Park/ Washington DC — A less common model: The “Honor,” Nr. P13071, a 1926 Sears Catalog House in Washington DC’s Shepherd Park Neighborhood

(Click here for my Kit House brochure for the Cleveland Park Historic Society)

If you have been following me here or on blogs, you probably know about my infatuation with house history (which goes back to my European big-city childhood) and (very American) historic kit homes.

In light of the growing number of kit home enthusiasts, I have given talks at different historic societies in the Washington DC area. (Want to invite me? Click here for an example). I often to write about catalog houses that are actually on the market right now. Most of them came from Sears, Lewis or Aladdin Homes, as these were the makers most prominently represented in the Washington, DC area.

I have been featured as a Sears and Lewis house expert in the Washington Post as well as on local news radio, WTOP, and national research blogs. You can find older posts about DC area kit houses here as well as a regularly updated selection of previous posts and articles from our collaborative DCHouseSmarts blog here. DC HouseSmarts frequently features kit houses that have hit the market–a prominent means for us to sneak in and document them!

It might be noted that quite often, we find that a supposed or reported kit house actually did not come from a kit.

The dchousecat stream on Flickr features a large number of local historic catalog homes from Sears, Lewis and Aladdin.

If you think you own (or live in) a Sears house or other kit home and would like some assistance in authenticating it, I’ll be happy to help! Just fill out the form at the bottom of the page, and I’ll be in touch shortly.

Scroll down for a compilation of other blogs and resources from kit house researchers across the country. You can find some of our older posts on DC kit homes here:

About a sensibly and beautifully renovated Sears “Barrington” in Chevy Chase, DC

About an Aladdin “Standard” in Silver Spring, MD

“Fullerland” or “Wooderton”? – A Case of Hybrid Sears House

Nov, 2012: Kit House Of The Week — A Sears “Puritan” in Shepherd Park

September 21st, 2012, Kit House Of The Week, a Sears “Colchester” for sale in Silver Spring

August 11th, Kit House Of The Week, a Sears “Martha Washington” for Sale in Shepherd Park

August 3rd, 2012: Kit House Of The Week — a Sears “Starlight” for sale in Takoma Park

June 27, 2012: Kit House Of The Week: a Sears “Cornell” in Arlington, VA for sale at $750,000

April 20, 2012, Kit House Of The Week, a Sears “Maywood” in Chevy Chase, DC, for sale at $899,000

April 3, 2012, Kit House Of The Week, a Sears “Winona” in Arlington, Virginia, for sale at $649,000

March 29, 2012, Kit House Of The Week, a Sears “Brookwood,” and an update on last week’s Sears house

March 21, 2012, Kit House Of The Week: 1923 Sears “Vallonia” for Sale in College Park

March 9, 2012, On the History of Mail-Order homes in Washington, DC (with link to Rosemary Thornton’s Sears House blog)

March 8, 2012, Kit House Of The Week: Adorable 1923 Sears “Uriel” in close-in Silver Spring for sale at $425,000

February Lesson On Lewis Kit Homes

January 27, 2012, Kit House Of The Week: A 1928 Sears “Americus” in Chevy Chase, DC

January 15, 2012, Kit House Of The Week: Sears “Honor” in Shepherd Park, DC

December 22, 2011, Kit House Of The Week: Vampire Of Homes–Sears “Fullerton” in Brookland, DC

December 12, 2011, When Men Were Still Handy

December 10, 2011, The House In The Post

Other Resources and Blogs On Catalog and Kit Houses

If you think you own (or live in ) a Sears house or other kit home and would like some assistance in authenticating it, I’ll be happy to help! Just fill out this form and I’ll be in touch shortly.