Lebanons and Carlins and Rodessas, Oh My!

So currently I've been poking around Akron, Ohio, looking for some Sears homes, and boy did I hit the jackpot! What's funny is that I was just about giving up on the area and getting ready for a hot date with my husband when I came across three catalog homes on Hollibaugh Avenue.

Let me tell you, nothing is worse when you find a few Sears homes but have to wait til later to go through and document them! BUT I do believe there is a reason for everything, because after I got back home, I noticed there weren't just three Sears homes on the street, but actually NINE of them!

My fellow researcher, Judith Chabot, who runs Sears House Seeker, commented "Wowser, your heart must've been pounding, finding all of these!" And she was sure right! It took me about an hour to tack everything down and make sure that what I was looking at was correct -- two Rodessas, three Lebanons, and four Carlins to boot!

What's even more fun is that the Lebanon and the Carlin are siblings of each other, so the floor plan is pretty much the same for both types of houses.

Excerpt from Houses By Mail by Katherine Cole Stevenson & H. Ward Jandl

 As you can read in the photo, the models were offered in different years. During research for this blog, I realized that the build date listed on the Summit County Auditor page was wrong for some of the houses on the street... we had a few listed at the correct build date of 1918, but most were listed as built in 1923, which meant that some of the Carlins would be Windsors. BUT after looking at the catalog page for both homes, I realized that all of the homes I thought were Windsors were potentially Carlins instead.

Here is a helpful infographic from Dale Haynes that shows all the differences between the Carlin and the Windsor
This may not be used or re-produced without his permission

What's nice is that at first, I was pretty unsure about them being Carlins, since Carlins are rare outside of Carlinville, Illinois. So I posted my findings and thoughts to our little research group on Facebook -- you'd think at 1am on Christmas Eve, everyone would be either sleeping or busy getting ready for Christmas -- but NOPE, not us! After about twenty-five comments, a multitude of screenshots and pictures of catalogs, we determined that these are all Carlins due to the side door. If it were a Windsor, the door would have been located on the back of the house, not the side!

Sears Carlin at 624 Hollibaugh Ave, Akron, OH

Sears Carlin at 598 Hollibaugh Ave, Akron, OH

Sears Carlin at 586 Hollibaugh Ave, Akron, OH

Sears Carlin at 560 Hollibaugh Ave, Akron, OH

And in between all these Carlins are Rodessas and Lebanons... how exciting! I believe that whoever ordered these homes must've been the same person, based on one small detail -- the living room windows. Here is a catalog picture of the Lebanon in the 1918 Sears Modern Homes catalog:

Sears Lebanon, as shown in the 1918 catalog

If you look on the left side of the floor plan, you will see that the two windows in the living room are supposed to be separated. In all of these Lebanons and Carlins, the windows are a double window, meaning that they combined the two windows together, instead of leaving them apart.

Sears Lebanon at 632 Hollibaugh Ave, Akron, OH

Sears Lebanon at 616 Hollibaugh Ave, Akron, OH

Sears Lebanon at 576 Hollibaugh Ave, Akron, OH

 I'm not exactly sure on why they wanted the double window instead of the two separate ones, but the rest of the windows on the houses do match up with the catalog, so I'm 100% sure these are (slightly) customized Sears homes.

As for the Rodessas, they may have been changed and updated over the years, but the house under it all remains the same.

Sears Rodessa at 628 Hollibaugh Ave, Akron, OH

Sears Rodessa at 582 Hollibaugh Ave, Akron, OH

Sears Rodessa floor plan from
the 1921 catalog

So there they are -- the nine Sears houses on Hollibaugh Ave in Akron, Ohio! Finding one or two Sears catalog homes on a street is somewhat standard, but finding nine of them is a rarity! If you're like me, it also may cause a slight heart attack (of excitement!) as well! If you know of any Lebanons, Carlins, or Rodessas in your area, send me an email at MidwestSearsHouses@gmail.com.

Happy Holidays!