1 min.
FROM THE archive
HONOR BILT HOME
Sears Modern Homes ‘Argyle’ interior, 1921
Ca. 1900–1940, Sears, Roebuck & Co., among many others (Montgomery Ward, Aladdin, Gordon–Van Tine, Liberty, Keith’s, etc.), sold pre-cut house kits, crated and delivered by railcar. The best-selling ‘Argyle’, a Sears bungalow plan, appeared in catalogs from 1915 until 1926.
TODAY’S HOMEOWNERS are thrilled to find theirs is “a Sears house,” particularly when the discovery comes after dedicated sleuthing. (See p. 38.) When evidence is in an old Honor Bilt or Modern Homes catalog, it may come with a bonus: interior views! Usually these aren’t photos, but rather artistic interpretations based on popular taste and period conventions (and available Sears furniture). The clientele was largely middle class, but these room illustrations are aspirational—and thus useful today.
You might look for elements…
