ID This House! Sears Rodessa

Sears Rodessa from the 1922 Sears Modern Homes catalog

You may have seen examples of this house while driving around the Midwest. The Rodessa was one of Sears, Roebuck & Co's  more popular kit homes, with it being offered in their Modern Homes catalog from 1919 until 1933.

Our National Database of Sears Homes has over 230 Rodessas on it, and that list grows nearly every week! The Rodessa has a special place in my heart since it was the very first catalog home that I correctly identified in the wild. It can be pretty pesky to identify sometimes, so I've put together a blog to help make it easier!

What’s interesting about the Rodessa is that while it started off with only one floorplan (model C7041), it soon changed into two. From 1919 until 1922, the floorplan included a bathroom, but in 1923, Sears started offering a floorplan without the bathroom (model C3203). This option was only offered from 1923 until 1929, when the Rodessa underwent it’s facelift. Further on in the post, we will go over the no bathroom floorplan!

1920 Sears Rodessa Floor Plan

1923 Sears Rodessa Floor Plan
without bathroom

The Rodessa that we are going to look at today is indeed the first one I ever found. It's located on Patterson Road in Dayton, Ohio, and I drive past it nearly every day on my way home from work! It was also recently for sale, and thankfully the listing included some very nice interior photos as well. Also, this example Rodessa does have a bathroom, so we will be using that floor plan for this ID.

In the catalog photos above, the Rodessa may seem like an average sized house... but in real life, it's very, very small. Coming in at a cool 616 square feet, it's size is on average with the tiny house craze going on right now.

Sears Rodessa at 1509 Patterson Rd, Dayton, Ohio
Image courtesy of Google Maps

First things first -- the photo above shows the more common (and easier to find) version of the Rodessa. This version was offered from 1919 to 1929 in the Modern Home catalogs, and as noted above, came in two different floor plans. The clipped gable roof and the front porch are the two most likely giveaways on this version of the Rodessa. Sadly, the example I showed above has lost the original pillars and the smaller porch details, but the one giveaway still remains...

Whenever I am google driving, if I spot this detail, there's about an 80% chance that its a Sears Rodessa. Once I see that feature, I usually back my google car up to see the other giveaway. On the left side, where the front bedroom is, there is only one window (the front one). There is no side window and that blank space is definitely noticeable on the side of a house.

Image courtesy of Realtor.com listing

As you can see in this photo -- no window! While you're on this side of the house, there is another smaller detail to notate as well. The two windows that are there should be close together, as shown in these photos below. This would not be the case for a Rodessa with no bathroom, but we will go over that below. Also take note that the back of the house does extend past the roofline. This is also a Rodessa-esque distinction that happens on both floor plans.

 

The other side of the Rodessa doesn't really have anything that helps distinguish it, but the photo below is generally what the right side of the house looks like.

A rather jarred image provided by Google Maps

Another nice thing about this house is that it does have the original windows -- if you look at the photo above, you will see a window with 9 smaller panes up top. If you look at the catalog image, this too shows the 9-paned window.

The last thing that helps you identify the Rodessa is handy if you don't have access to see the sides of the home, due to foliage or the Google car being a bit hard to maneuver. Take a look at the front porch again. You will notice the two front windows next to it are not symmetrical, with the right front window being closer to the front door than the left one. BUT look closer, and you will notice this:

Even though the windows are not symmetrical, the porch "walls" will begin where the windows end, and the corners of the porch will be caddy-corner to the top interior corners of the windows. So now that we have gone over the exterior of the Rodessa, I will share a few interior photos of this home.

Living Room of 1509 Patterson Rd
Image provided by Realtor.com

Front Bedroom of 1509 Patterson Rd
Image provided by Realtor.com

Here are the two front rooms of the Rodessa -- on the left is the living room and on the right is the front bedroom. As you can see, there's only one window in the room, but it does let in a fair amount of light!

Kitchen of 1509 Patterson Rd
Image courtesy of Realtor.com 

Kitchen of 1509 Patterson Rd
Image courtesy of Realtor.com

These are two different pictures of the same tiny room! The left photo is what it looks like when you walk into the kitchen. You can see a bit of the range oven to the left and a bit of the sink to the right. The right photo is what is looks like once you're in the kitchen, and now you can see that sink area in all it's glory. The owners have kept the layout of the kitchen the same as when the house was first originally built.

Kitchen from 1928 Modern Homes catalog

If you have a trained eye for detail, you may have noticed one little detail in one of the photos above...

Door from 1509 Patterson

Stratford Design for Sears Honor Built Homes
Taken from 1925 catalog

There's the cincher! Some Stratford designed hardware, heyooo! It's hard to believe that this Rodessa has kept so many of the original details over the years, especially considering it's age, but it is a welcome sight for Sears home researchers!

And here is one last exterior photo -- the back of the house. Many times, it is extremely hard and/or impossible to get photos of the back of a house, so researchers like to notate when they do manage to get a view!

Back of Sears Rodessa at 1509 Patterson Rd, Dayton, OH
Image courtesy of Realtor.com

And here is where we find the ONE difference that the owner made... they did add a second window to the back bedroom. It was fairly common for homeowners to request changes to the floor plans when the home was built, so you may run into this from time to time. Just use your best judgement -- or post it to the Sears Modern Homes Facebook page and we can help you out!

Through out the blog, I have mentioned there were two floor plans for the first version of the Rodessa -- one with a bathroom (C7041)  and one without (C3203). To refresh your memory, here is the catalog photo:

1923 Sears Rodessa floor plan
without bathroom

When I asked our group of reseachers about the no bathroom floor plan, Andrew Mutch, of Kit House Hunters, responded that he had found one recently, but overall, they're not very common. But just in case, here is a brief ID This House for the Rodessa without a bathroom, model number C2303!

As you can see above, the floor plan does look similar, but there are a few key differences, mostly towards the back of the house. Instead of being a corner staircase to the basement, in the middle of the the house, it is a straight staircase with a small landing for the back door. The back door is also not centered on the back of the house, as it would be with the C7041. Due to having more room for a staircase, there is also an extra window in the kitchen as well.

So the back of the Rodessa at 1509 Patterson Rd would look more like this if it followed the floor plan of the C2303. Also, please excuse my very basic paint drawing!

Potential back of a C3203 drawn in paint

So from before, we know that the back window that's crossed out was never supposed to be there in the first place. The red arrow signfies the back door being moved to the right just slightly, and the red box would be right about where that kitchen window is on the Rodessa C3203 floorplan.

The front of the house would remain looking the same as the typical C7041 Rodesssa, as would the right side, but the left side of the house would change ever so slightly. Here we go with the paint drawing again...

Potential left side of a C3203 drawn in paint

As you can see, I do have some creative inabilities, but you hopefully get the point of my drawing! The bathroom window would not be there at all, hence the red X, but there would be a second window in that front bedroom, where the big red box is. These would be the major key differences in a Rodessa with a bathroom and a Rodessa without a bathroom.

As I mentioned in the beginning of this blog post, the Rodessa did go through a slight change in 1929. It also got a brand new model number, the C3317. Instead of having a clipped gable roof, it is just a regular gable roof. Also, instead of having a bump out in the back, the roofline does extend over the entire back of the house. The front porch did go through some changes as well, which are shown below.

Sears Rodessa in the 1930 Modern Homes catalog

But remember -- the floor plan did remain the same as the C7041! It is still 28 feet long by 22 feet wide, and the window placements are the same as well. While my porch "wall" tip might not work for the 1929-1933 version of the Rodessa, keep an eye on the windows, as they will still be slightly lopsided!

Sears Rodessa floor plan from 1933 Modern Homes catalog

So when you're out driving next time, look around for a Sears Rodessa. Sometimes, like me, you'll find one on a route you drive every day! If you find any potential Rodessas, or any other kit houses, email me at MidwestSearsHouses@gmail.com.