Sears houses of 1926

healey36 · Post by **healey36** » Fri Mar 01, 2024 11:21 am

A recently completed project, inspired by the Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog of houses, 1926:

I've been on a kick lately, building houses similar in layout to those in my neighborhood. Most are 1920-1950 vintage, and a few look strikingly similar to those offered by Sears back in the 1920s and 1930s.

Base dimensions are 6" x 9", with a house height of ~ 8". It seems one porch-post went a bit askew, and I went a little heavy on the glitter

I'll be the first to admit, not the classic putz house, but almost an architectural model; I think that's the model railroader showing through.

Post by **Lynn** » Fri Mar 01, 2024 1:52 pm

Great build, I love your color choices!!

Post by **Howard** » Fri Mar 01, 2024 2:10 pm

You are too hard on yourself regarding going too heavy on glitter…it looks perfect to me…about the porch corner post…”It’s an old house”…

…
Howard…

healey36 · Post by **healey36** » Sat Mar 02, 2024 11:15 am

Howard wrote:You are too hard on yourself regarding going too heavy on glitter…it looks perfect to me…about the porch corner post…”It’s an old house”… …
Howard…

I've noticed that if you go heavy on the glitter, it kinda deadens the underlying color. Then again, it goes a long way toward covering up the design/assembly gaffes (part of why I enjoy building these...the finish is pretty forgiving). I think I might take a brush to this and try to knock off just a little bit of the glitter, if for no other reason than the roof color (black) will be more distinguishable from that of the second floor (brown).

Not sure how that post went so crooked...hope the roof's not buckling under the weight of all that glitter, lol.

healey36 · Post by **healey36** » Sat Mar 02, 2024 12:07 pm

Lynn wrote:Great build, I love your color choices!!

Thanks, Lynn. I've seen this color combination on houses in some of the old neighborhoods in Baltimore. Typically the first floor was clad in a light-green clapboard, and the second floor was sided with painted cedar shingles.

Here's a pic of the project before being slathered in glitter...the colors are way more apparent:

: Pre-glitter.; Sears Cornell house project h.jpg (358.73 KiB) Viewed 21716 times

A lot of houses in New England, especially those near the coast, are sided with cedar shingles. They turn a nice silvery gray color there, probably due to a combination of the temps and the salt air. Here in the Mid-Atlantic, they tend to mildew over time and discolor, especially if not near the coast. For that reason they are typically painted, and brown seems a popular color.

healey36 · Post by **healey36** » Fri Mar 14, 2025 10:51 am

I want to build a series of these houses, all inspired by the Sears catalog of 1926, so I changed the thread title so it's not specific to one house. I'll post other projects here from time to time.

I recently started a second, a bungalow-type house loosely based on "The Bedford" from the catalog, modified to include some of the features of the house that is next-door to me here in the 'hood. I haven't gotten too far, having cut out and assembled the exterior walls, added a bit of bracing, and reworked the front dormer to accommodate a shed-style roofline:

The footprint is approximately 4" x 7", so still a bit large. Further work has been deferred temporarily due to the addition of a new pup here. Most of my time right now involves a mop and bucket

Hope to get back to this soon.

Post by **Howard** » Sat Mar 15, 2025 9:41 am

healey36...

Another tribute to the Sears organization...it looks spot on in every detail to me...there are some older, core-city neighborhoods here in Jacksonville with similar houses...stay with the bold color choices like you did with the first house...

The mop and bucket days won't last forever...

Howard...

healey36 · Post by **healey36** » Sat Mar 15, 2025 10:18 am

Howard wrote: Sat Mar 15, 2025 9:41 am healey36...

Another tribute to the Sears organization...it looks spot on in every detail to me...there are some older, core-city neighborhoods here in Jacksonville with similar houses...stay with the bold color choices like you did with the first house...

The mop and bucket days won't last forever...

Howard...

I was initially thinking of an off-white as the basic color, but I think you're right, Howard, something a bit darker would likely be better. There's a small bump-out that goes on one side...I'm going to glue that into place once I install the window-glazing. I think it'll be too fiddly otherwise.

As far as "the mop and bucket days won't last forever...", tell her that: