Sears Homes were the most popular kit homes and were sold right out of the pages of the Sears Roebuck catalog in the early 1900s. More than 370 designs of kit homes were offered - everything ranging from Arts and Crafts bungalows to foursquares to Colonial Revivals. These homes came in 30,000-piece kits and were shipped to all 48 states. Sears promised that a man of average abilities could have these homes assembled in about 90 days.

Today, the only way to find these kit homes is literally one by one.  And that’s what I do. When I decided that Sears Homes would be my career, I endeavored to memorize each of those 370 designs of Sears Homes. Now I can drive the streets of small town America and find the Sears Homes - one by one.

In addition to Sears, there were other companies that sold kit homes, including Aladdin, Gordon Van Tine, Montgomery Ward, Harris Brothers and more.

Here are a few of the kit homes I’ve found in the Lynchburg and Roanoke area.

(Special thanks to Dale Patrick Wolicki for accompanying me on the trip to Roanoke, Bedford and Lynchburg to help with the treasure hunt!)

The Sears Alhambra was one of the most popular Sears Homes

The Sears Alhambra in Roanoke, Virginia

Another Sears Alhambra - with some modifications - in Lynchburg

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Best described as a trailing-edge Victorian, the #306 was surprisingly popular

And here's the #306 in Christianburg, Virginia

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The Martha Washington was a spacious and fine home. Here is a Martha Washington in Bedford, Virginia.

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This is a kit home offered by Montgomery Ward. Like Sears, Montgomery Ward also sold kit homes. This one is in Bedford, next door to the D-Day monument.

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Harris Brothers was another kit home company (based in Chicago). This is the HB Ardmore, just outside of Roanoke (in Salem).

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Here's a pair of Aladdin Georgias in Roanoke

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Another Wardway house, this one is in Roanoke.

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And the creme de la creme of our trip: A Wardway #101 in a tiny town just outside of Roanoke. And Dale Wolicki was the one who made this discovery! Without him, I would have passed it by!

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This is an Aladdin Detroit, which we found in Lynchburg.

To look at more pictures of Virginia’s Sears Homes, click here:

Sears offered about 370 designs of kit homes in the early years of the 1900s. During their 32 years in the kit home business, Sears sold about 70,000 of these houses. Sears also sold kit barns. While doing research on Sears Homes in Illinois, I was told about this Sears Barn outside of Mattoon, Illinois (see picture below). It was built in the early 1920s and is still in beautiful condition today.

I’m often asked for more information about barns, but I’m not the expert on this topic. All that I need to know about barns came from The Book of Barns, by Rebecca Hunter and Dale Wolicki. According to this interesting little book,  Sears started offering barns in 1911, when four barn designs first appeared in the pages of the Sears Modern Homes catalog. In 1915, a few hog houses and chicken coops appeared. In 1918, the first speciality catalog appeared, featuring barns and other outbuildings.

Rebecca and Dale’s research shows that part numbers (originally used to facilitate construction of these DIY kits) can be found on the framing members of the Sears kit barns.

Purportedly, there is a Sears barn at Montpelier (Virginia), the home of James Madison and his wife, Dolly.

Sears Barn in Mattoon, IL