Kit Built Houses

I've known for quite a while that there were some metal-paneled (Lustron) Sears kit houses in Elmgrove, but recently stumbled on a website that showed additional kit homes in Wheeling of totally different styles. Sears Modern Homes is a site by Rosemary Thornton that features photos from Sears kit homes catalogs of the 1920s and 1930s and contemporary photos of some kit houses. So far only a few kit homes have been identified in Wheeling but so many were sold in the city that Sears had a kit home office at 41 16th Street in the about 1929 - there should be lots of Sears kit homes built in the following years that are yet to be recognized.

This page aims to list and photograph kit homes (by Sears and other vendors) in Wheeling. The photos here now are only temporary - from the Thornton website - until I can find the addresses and take my own photos. Please send me info and images of these and other Wheeling kit homes!

National Road

Up the hill opposite Dairy Queen
 
 

Kruger Street

Locations Unknown

2210 some street
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Kit homes arrived on train freight cards with all the lumber and parts needed - 12,000 pieces for some homes with 75 page instruction booklets. These weren't for people who have trouble putting together Ikea furniture! 
  Other homes were made from plan books, which are still common today. Here is one Wheeling plan book house included in Thornton's website; there must be many more.
 
 
  Here is a list of distinctive features to help identify Sears kit homes.
 

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