Hometown Sears Houses -- Springhill Avenue
Kettering, Ohio.
It's the largest suburb of Dayton and the hometown to a few notable people, such as Nancy Cartwright who is the voice of Bart Simpson, skater Rob Dyrdek, and yours truly. It's also home to a fair amount of Sears Modern Homes as well.
Of the 15 Sears kit homes we have found so far in Kettering, 10 of them are within a two mile radius of each other in a neighborhood named Berkley Heights. All of them were built before Kettering was a city, or even a blip on Ohio's radar. The area was called Van Buren Township from 1841 until 1952, when the Village of Kettering was incorporated. For the 10 little houses in Berkley Heights, they were built on what is considered the outskirts of the city of Dayton.
A few have been blogged about by Cindy Catanzaro, over at Sears Houses in Ohio, including my favorite model of all, the Avalon. And the best thing is that every morning, I get to drive past these houses on the way to fuel my caffeine habit at the local Circle K.
Today, we will take a look at the four Sears kit houses on Springhill Avenue. Unfortunately, Kettering has been covered in snow for the past two weeks, so my photos look a little dreary, but at least there are some Christmas decorations!
First up is the Sunbeam -- what's nice about this house is that it was recently sold so we have some really nice photos of the home, including the interior!
To the right is the Sears catalog photo for the 1922 Sunbeam, and the floor plan is shown below. Exterior-wise, the only change made was enclosing the sleeping porch, which is somewhat understandable since it's Ohio and our weather can get pretty insane sometimes. I'll be in shorts one day and in a winter jacket the next!
The inside, however, has been altered slightly. Looking at the realtor photos in the link provided above, someone who owned this Sears Sunbeam decided that they did not want a lovely space for their huge piano, and instead opted for that opening under the stairs.
Also, take note of that fireplace in all it's original glory -- the only thing that has been changed is that little decorative piece in the middle. The people who sold this house took care in keeping a lot of things authentic, which makes me think they may have known that they had a Sears house.
There are a few exterior things that set the Sunbeam apart from it's predecessor, the Elmwood, including the use of five-piece brackets, the notch along the porch beam, and if you're lucky enough to see the back of the house, the placement of the back door is always a give-away as well. All of these details (and more) are listed in a blog post that Judith Chabot did about the differences between the two models.
Moving our way down the street, next up is a Conway. This home is almost directly across the street from the Sunbeam, and as you can see, it's still happily decorated for the holidays!
With this house, there are not as many original details. If you look at the catalog photo below, you can see that the front porch stairs used to be off to the side, whereas now they have been relocated to the middle. I wasn't able to get close enough to the house to see if the original stairs are still hiding behind those bushes, but one day I will have to check! Just another reason to go to the Circle K, haha.
If you're looking for the small stuff, you may also notice that the little decorative brackets under the three windows upstairs are missing. Most of the time, these types of things disappear once the house gets re-sided, or maybe the homeowners were forced to remove them if they were not maintained. But overall, the Conway that we are looking at today is in pretty nice condition!
If you look to the right of this Conway, you will probably notice the red house next door looks a little familiar... that's because it's a Sears Elsmore.
What's neat is that the people who own this Elsmore realize it's a Sears home. What's even more neat is that you can RENT this home on Airbnb. WHAT?! Not too often do you get to tour a Sears house, let alone stay overnight in one! From the photos, the house is DREAMS.
And last, but certainly not least, is the Westly that is up and across the street from the Elsmore. When I had found another Westly in Columbus, I had commented that it was the most beautiful Westly I had ever seen. Researcher Andrew Mutch had replied "Did they airlift that one in from Kettering, OH?" And it's true, this Westly is gorgeously original.
Those five-piece brackets, the original porch railings and pillars, the lovely paint job on the original siding... any of these alone can make a Sears kit house researcher drool, but when they're put all together, it's a Dreamy McDreamboat model house.
The build date listed for this Sears house is 1930, according to the Montgomery County Auditor. When I originally posted this blog, I said that based on the catalog image, I didn't believe that to be true, since the 1928, 1929, and 1930 catalog photos did not show the five-piece eave brackets that were on this house. However, Andrew pointed out that that we did have Westlys on the list during this time period that also had the brackets. So this is another classic example of the catalog photos being slightly off from the home that you'd end up with.
For the later models of the Westlys, there was only the one floor plan that was offered. In the early 1920's, there had been two plans to choose from. You could differentiate between the two floor plans by looking at the back of the house and seeing where the back door was -- if it was in the middle, it was the 2026 model, and if it was slightly off to the side, it was the 3085 model. After a few years, Sears decided that all Westlys would follow one floorplan, as is the case with this home. If you look at the sketch above, you will see the little block labeled A2 -- this is the small porch off to the side, as shown in the floorplan to the left. In our group, we use little facts like that all the time to help us figure out the year and the iteration of the kit homes we find out in the wild!
Well, there's all four of the Sears homes on Springhill Avenue in Kettering, Ohio! If you know of any Sears catalog houses in your hometown, shoot me an email at MidwestSearsHouses@gmail.com. If you're ever in the area, check out that Elsmore Airbnb and let me know -- I've got some great restaurant recommendations for ya!
It's the largest suburb of Dayton and the hometown to a few notable people, such as Nancy Cartwright who is the voice of Bart Simpson, skater Rob Dyrdek, and yours truly. It's also home to a fair amount of Sears Modern Homes as well.
Of the 15 Sears kit homes we have found so far in Kettering, 10 of them are within a two mile radius of each other in a neighborhood named Berkley Heights. All of them were built before Kettering was a city, or even a blip on Ohio's radar. The area was called Van Buren Township from 1841 until 1952, when the Village of Kettering was incorporated. For the 10 little houses in Berkley Heights, they were built on what is considered the outskirts of the city of Dayton.
A few have been blogged about by Cindy Catanzaro, over at Sears Houses in Ohio, including my favorite model of all, the Avalon. And the best thing is that every morning, I get to drive past these houses on the way to fuel my caffeine habit at the local Circle K.
Today, we will take a look at the four Sears kit houses on Springhill Avenue. Unfortunately, Kettering has been covered in snow for the past two weeks, so my photos look a little dreary, but at least there are some Christmas decorations!
First up is the Sunbeam -- what's nice about this house is that it was recently sold so we have some really nice photos of the home, including the interior!
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| 1924 Sears Sunbeam at 1564 Springhill Ave, Kettering, OH Photo by Marie Vore, may not be used without permission |
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| Taken from the 1922 Sears Modern Homes catalog |
The inside, however, has been altered slightly. Looking at the realtor photos in the link provided above, someone who owned this Sears Sunbeam decided that they did not want a lovely space for their huge piano, and instead opted for that opening under the stairs.
Also, take note of that fireplace in all it's original glory -- the only thing that has been changed is that little decorative piece in the middle. The people who sold this house took care in keeping a lot of things authentic, which makes me think they may have known that they had a Sears house.
 |
| A page from the 1930 Sears Honor Bilt Building Materials catalog and a photo of the fireplace from the Sunbeam Zillow listing |
There are a few exterior things that set the Sunbeam apart from it's predecessor, the Elmwood, including the use of five-piece brackets, the notch along the porch beam, and if you're lucky enough to see the back of the house, the placement of the back door is always a give-away as well. All of these details (and more) are listed in a blog post that Judith Chabot did about the differences between the two models.
Moving our way down the street, next up is a Conway. This home is almost directly across the street from the Sunbeam, and as you can see, it's still happily decorated for the holidays!
 |
| 1929 Sears Conway at 1557 Springhill Ave, Kettering, OH Photo by Marie Vore, may not be used without permission |
With this house, there are not as many original details. If you look at the catalog photo below, you can see that the front porch stairs used to be off to the side, whereas now they have been relocated to the middle. I wasn't able to get close enough to the house to see if the original stairs are still hiding behind those bushes, but one day I will have to check! Just another reason to go to the Circle K, haha.
 |
| Taken from the 1929 Sears Modern Homes Catalog |
If you look to the right of this Conway, you will probably notice the red house next door looks a little familiar... that's because it's a Sears Elsmore.
 |
| Side-by-side Sears homes -- 1929 Conway at 1557 Springhill Ave and 1923 Elsmore at 1549 Springhill Ave Photo by Marie Vore, may not be used without permission |
I like to call the Elsmore the older, bigger brother to the
Conway. It’s a whole three feet wider and four feet longer, and they do look
related! Now all of the houses on Springhill were built in different years
according to the Montgomery County Auditor webpage, with the Sunbeam built in
1924, the Conway in 1929, the Elsmore in 1923, and the Westly in 1930. For the
Conway and the Elsmore, these dates do make sense since the Conway was only
offered from 1926 to 1933 and the Elsmore was offered from 1916 to 1926.
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| Taken from the 1922 Sears Modern Homes catalog |
If you take a look at the chimney in the catalog photo and
compare it to the photo above, you may realize that the floorplan is reversed.
I asked our group of researchers when this practice started being offered, and
the general consensus was the 1921 catalog. While there are some details
missing, such as those classic five-piece brackets, this home is most
definitely an Elsmore.
What's neat is that the people who own this Elsmore realize it's a Sears home. What's even more neat is that you can RENT this home on Airbnb. WHAT?! Not too often do you get to tour a Sears house, let alone stay overnight in one! From the photos, the house is DREAMS.
 |
| the Airbnb listing for the Sears Elsmore |
And last, but certainly not least, is the Westly that is up and across the street from the Elsmore. When I had found another Westly in Columbus, I had commented that it was the most beautiful Westly I had ever seen. Researcher Andrew Mutch had replied "Did they airlift that one in from Kettering, OH?" And it's true, this Westly is gorgeously original.
 |
| Sears Westly at 1516 Springhill Ave, Kettering, OH Photo by Marie Vore, may not be used without permission |
Those five-piece brackets, the original porch railings and pillars, the lovely paint job on the original siding... any of these alone can make a Sears kit house researcher drool, but when they're put all together, it's a Dreamy McDreamboat model house.
 |
| Taken from the 1929 Sears Modern Homes catalog |
 |
| Sketch from Montgomery County Auditor |
 |
| Taken from the 1929 Sears Modern Homes catalog |
Well, there's all four of the Sears homes on Springhill Avenue in Kettering, Ohio! If you know of any Sears catalog houses in your hometown, shoot me an email at MidwestSearsHouses@gmail.com. If you're ever in the area, check out that Elsmore Airbnb and let me know -- I've got some great restaurant recommendations for ya!
Kettering has such great Sears houses! Thanks for showcasing them :)
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