More About the Sears Homes
Did you know that there might be 80 Sears Catalog mail-order houses in Villa Park? Many people saw the kits offered by Sears during the 1920’s through the 1940’s as an opportunity to join the ranks of homeowners. A few weeks after the customer selected a home and placed the order, two railway boxcars that contained about 30,000 pieces of house – everything from doorknobs and carved stairways, to varnish and shingles – would arrive at the nearest train depot. In Villa Park, the drop off was at the Great Western railroad siding near the former Ovaltine factory.
The Villa Park Historical Preservation Commission has created a Resource Center at the Villa Park Historical Museum that is available for the community to use. The collection includes:
- Information about Sears mail order houses
- Architectural house styles
- How to research your home
- And much more…
You can find more information on Sears homes here:
- Sears, Roebuck and Co. – Sears Catalog Homes website
- The Old House Web – Sears Kit Houses website
You can find the list of Historic Preservation Awards and Historic Landmark Awards recipients in Villa Park here.
