The year was 1906 and Sears, Roebuck Company (Sears) had a problem. The catalog sales for building components was falling far short of expectations. Company President Richard W. Sears assigned Frank Kushel the task of correcting the situation, and fix it he did. Frank initiated a program of packaged homes. 

Sears was not the first company to market home packages but they had a distinct advantage, due to the fact they had begun sending out catalogs in 1893. By 1906 more than a million homes received the catalog annually. 

The 1908 catalog contained a new feature, “Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans”. With 44 models ranging from $360-2,800, there was a home package for every income. 

The timing was perfect. Cities were becoming crowded and many were looking to move from tenements to individual homes. The base home package included all of the materials needed to build and enclose your own home. Much of the work could be done by the individual purchaser, saving money through sweat equity. 

By 1912 Sears Company was building materials at the Sears Lumber Mill in Cairo, Illinois, including doors, windows, and mill-worked trim at their Sash and Door Company in Norwood, Ohio. The next major step was taken in 1916. Sears began pre-cutting lumber to the exact length with specific angle cuts for the exact location the board would occupy in the house. Each board was coded by letter and number to match up with its location on the building plan. The homes were now truly pre-fabricated, no measuring, no cutting, only reading the floor plan and nail the right board in the right spot.

The process would work like this. You would go through the “Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans” and pick the home of your dreams. The base package would include nails, framing lumber, flooring, doors, paint and shingles. All lumber was pre-cut for ease of construction. The purchaser would need to buy a plot of land on which to build the home and, if wanted, excavate a basement to the specification of the home. The 30,000 parts of the home would arrive by train and then be hauled to the construction site by truck or wagon. Commonly the homeowner, their family, and friends would gather and erect the structure, similar to a barn raising. 

The package did not include cement, plaster, electrical, or plumbing supplies. Although all of these materials were available in the catalog at a very reasonable cost. Several of the homes offered the choice of wooden or brick exteriors. This allowed the home purchaser the ability to personalize their home. 

To add to the ease of purchasing a home, Sears began providing financing plans in 1912. The buyer could not only order a home but could also qualify for a 5-10-year loan at a comfortable 6-7 percent interest. In 1929 the Great Depression hit and Sears found itself in serious financial trouble. The company was forced to liquidate (sell) $11 million of home loans. The problem became a public relations nightmare when Sears sought to foreclose on their customers, many refused to ever deal with Sears again. By 1933 Sears was no longer involved in the mortgage business, but the dye was cast, the housing sales division began a gradual decline and the last “Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans” catalog appeared in 1940.

Over a 32-year period Sears had sold more than 70,000 homes. They featured 370 models. For a brief period around 1923 the “Modern Farm Buildings” and “Barns” catalog were also sent out by Sears with prefabricated barns and outbuildings featured. The largest building was in the 1908 catalog which featured a two-story schoolhouse with six classrooms, a library, auditorium, and superintendent’s office for the low price of $11,500. 

Of the many models available there are more than 25 in Rochelle. The “Barrington” was a 1929 model which could be bought for $2,531, and can be seen at 1023 Lincoln Highway. A six-room bungalow named the “Glyndon” was erected at 620 N. 9th St. with a purchase price of $888. The “Mitchel” with a brick exterior, five rooms and a bath located at 615 N. 11th St. “Rodessa”, “Sunbeam”, and “Wilmore” can all be found right here in the Hub City. The Flagg-Rochelle Museum has a list of more than 25 Sears homes in Rochelle, stop in and pick up a free list. 

Tom McDermott is a Flagg-Rochelle Museum historian and Rochelle city councilman.