Comments by "ToughAncientSpark" (@freetolook3727) on "When Chicago built the Tallest Building in the World | The story of Sears Tower" video.

Sears even sold houses through a catalog. You got everything to build a complete ouse (except for the foundation) and Sears even sold furnishings so your house could be completely turn key, literally. Curtains, pianos, sinks, furnaces, carpets, wallpaper, different door & window styles were all available in the catalogs!
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@pghrpg4065 More than you think. Sears sold 170,000 kit houses available in hundreds of styles from bungalows to mansard mansions between 1907 and 1940. They were of amazing quality by today's standards.
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Sears even had land where they grew renewable forests for lumber for their kit houses, sawmills, milling mills for molding, and factories to build the doors, windows, molding, and lumber precisely cut for the kit houses.
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@splitrim Sounds like one. But I reiterate that they only sold between 1907-1940. It's possible your grandfather doesn't remember the date and as far as I know only other company to make kit homes was Lustron but they were metal. There are a couple of good books about them with pictures and floor plans of each style of house. Sears made over 100 different models throughout the years.
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There are many in my area of upstate NY in The Great Industrial Northeast! Most were located in towns along railroads as that was the primary source of transportation before WWII. They were sold 1907-1940. I have two books on Sears kit houses and it's very fascinating how they were designed, engineered and built.
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No, basement was not included or the foundation but pretty much everything else was available through their catalogs
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Wish now that I saved some of those Sears catalogs from the 1960's.
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@splitrim Sorry, if your grandpa built his house in the 1970's, then it is not a Sear Craftsman kit house. They were sold 1907-1940. Maybe he bought a lot of hardware at Sears? Or more likely, he built it way before 1970. 😅
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