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| The Yates model Sears kit house |
Heather Weidner has been a mystery fan since Scooby Doo and
Nancy Drew. Her short stories appear in Virginia is for Mysteries
and Virginia is for Mysteries Volume II.
Learn more about her and her writing at her website/blog.
Secret Lives and Private Eyes
Between 1908 and 1940,
homeowners could shop and purchase houses through the Sears and Roebuck
catalog. The parts, including hardware and varnishes, arrived by railroad and
were ready for assembly on the owner’s lot.
All materials arrived precut
and fitted with instructions. Some homeowners hired contractors, while others
assembled their own homes. The boards, molding, and pipes usually had markings still
visible in many of the homes today. It was a great marketing plan by Sears to
sell the home to buyers who would also need furnishings, household items, and
lawn gear offered by their stores.
By 1937, according to
the Sears Archives, home sales had reached $3.5 million. There
were over 447 home models to choose from, and in 1923, Sears added barns to its
offerings. During its run, Sears sold over 70,000 of these
ready-to-be-assembled homes.
Private investigator,
Delanie Fitzgerald in Secret Lives and
Private Eyes, lives in a Sears Catalog home. While there are several of
these houses in Hopewell, Virginia in the Crescent Hills neighborhood, I took
the liberty of moving one to Chesterfield County for my character’s residence.
Delanie lives in the
Yates model, which according to original advertising, “was a mellow house,
pleasantly flavored with English-cottage characteristics.” Its first floor has
four rooms and a bath. It also has a second floor with three bedrooms and a
bath. The bungalow is quirky and quaint and matches her style. This model was
marketed as a complete home on the first floor level. Buyers could finish the
second floor at their leisure. In 1938, the Yates model originally cost between
$1,812 and $2,058.
When my husband and I
first moved to Central Virginia, we toured nearby Hopewell. I fell in love with
the catalog homes that have lasted well over seventy years. It was the perfect
residence for my spunky sleuth.
References
Secret Lives and Private Eyes
Business has been slow
for PI, Delanie Fitzgerald, but her luck seems to change when a tell-all author
hires her to find rock star Johnny Velvet. Could the singer whose life was
purportedly cut short in a fiery car crash still be alive? And as if sifting
through dead ends in a cold case isn’t bad enough, Chaz Wellington Smith, III,
a loud-mouthed strip club owner, hires Delanie to uncover information on the
mayor’s secret life. When the mayor is murdered, Chaz is the key suspect. Now
Delanie must clear his name and figure out the connection between the two cases
before another murder – probably her own – takes place.
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I'd never heard of a Sears catalogue home. So interesting and great premise for a book!
ReplyDeleteI remember the Sears Christmas book. It would arrive at the end of the September and that was how school children knew Christmas was coming (and to start making that toy list for Santa).
ReplyDeleteThere are a few real Sears catalogue homes in Hopewell, Virginia. I was fascinated that folks ordered the kits and picked them up at the railroad station. And a lot have survived 60-75 years.
ReplyDeleteI'll have to take a trip to Hopewell and see these catalogue homes.
ReplyDelete