Kit Houses

Over several decades, it was possible to order kits for the construction of entire houses. Here are some examples of Kit Homes in Matton and Charleston.

Inside the Sears House, Interior features of a modern home
from Old.House Journal online. Click title to read.


Sears - 320 Wabash, Mattoon

Sears - 1221 Marshall, Mattoon

Sears - 2816 Dewitt, Mattoon

Harris - 621 Edgar, Mattoon

Sears - 220 Wabash
, Mattoon

Gordon VanTyne - 909 S. 17th, Mattoon

Aladdin - 1020 Dewitt, Mattoon

Aladdin - 723 10th, Charleston
The links below contain more information on kit houses:

Sears Modern Homes:
Here you can find an excellent synopsis of the history kit homes, and an image database of photographs and descriptions of kit homes. This site offers an interactive reference forum where staff of the webpage respond to commonly asked questions about Sears houses.

Old House Web:
This page links to feature stories from the Old House Web page, including an article on how to determine if your house is a kit house. Also included are several feature stories on the history, importance, and unique design characteristics of these houses.

Arts and Crafts Society:
This page provides a number of resources for in-depth research into kits homes and Arts and Crafts style architecture, including contact information for archival repositories that contain extensive collections of kit house catalogs and related materials. The site also includes detailed histories of both Sears Modern Homes and Aladdin Homes.

The Lynnhaven.
This page documents the restoration of a 1939 Sears Kit Home and provides the opportunity to see an example of this kind of work first hand. The page includes before and after photographs, detailed descriptions of renovations, and links to a variety of resources.

 

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Photos Copyright © Association for the Preservation of Historic Coles County Illinois
Links courtesy of University of Maryland Library - http://www.lib.umd.edu/NTL/kithomes.html