The Sears catalog is just a memory now, but during its heyday, home shoppers could order just about anything from it, including the home itself.
One such home, standing in what was once a Crystal Lake pickle farm, recently joined the McHenry County Historic Preservation Commission’s select roster of historic structures, primarily because it remains virtually unchanged since it was assembled in 1913.
Assembled as opposed to constructed is the operative word because a Sears “Well-Built Home” was shipped with all the components–pipes, wires, boards, trim–pre-cut and numbered to fit perfectly into place. Even the nails were included, along with a detailed instruction book. “Hang your saw on a nail,” the Sears ads boasted because a saw would not be needed.
Now the home of Jack and Laura Wilson and their two daughters, Caitlyn and Shannon, the house was bought by Arthur and Augusta Mickelson in 1913 for $1,185. Delivered. Listed as “Modern House No. 24” in the 1913 catalog, it was described as a “two-story bungalow” featuring eight rooms with one bath. It also included a full-width porch and brick fireplace.
In kit form the house was shipped in two boxcars and apparently went together as easily as advertised. According to Shelly Trost of the historic preservation commission, the Mickelsons bought the 66-by-240-foot lot at 40 Pomeroy on May 13, 1913, for $700. By the following August, the land was appraised at $2,200, “indicating that the house was completed by then,” Trost said.
When the Wilsons moved in four years ago, they found that aside from the addition of skylights and a dormer, the home was structurally unchanged. Even most of the window glass is original, as evidenced by its wavy texture.
Some interior “improvements” had to be reversed, however, to bring out the splendor of the oak and maple floors and other architectural details.
“It’s been a major project every year,” Laura Wilson says, with one of the hardest being the removal of asphalt tiles from the stairs. But it has also been rewarding. “I’ve learned from every project. And one thing I’ve learned is that every project takes twice as long as you think it will.”
Sears sold more than 100,000 homes in about 450 different styles between 1908 and 1940 when they were discontinued, Trost said. During its peak year, 1929, Sears shipped about 250 a month. Prices for “Well-Built Homes” during their 32-year run ranged “from around $650 for a modest bungalow to $5,000 for a plantation-style mansion,” according to Trost.
No plantation-style mansion, the Mickelson/Wilson house is no modest bungalow, either. Its four ample bedrooms are arranged around a large square second story hallway, which Laura Wilson loves for its feeling of spaciousness.
Although the restoration projects have taken up a lot of their spare time, the Wilsons don’t regret a minute of it. “This house has a lot of good vibes,” Jack Wilson says. “We wanted a house that looks inviting, that says `Come on in; make yourself at home.’ ” Officially historic or not, it seems they found it.
