Kingsport’s Most Famous Sears Roebuck Home

Nancy Garrett opened up the Wall Street Journal on May 15, 2006 and did a double take. There on the front page was a picture of her home.

Well, not exactly her home, but a house that was a spitting image of her home.

“I called my daughter and I said, ‘Honey, our house is on the front page of the Wall Street Journal!’”

The Journal had published a story about Sears’ homes, pre-fabricated houses that Sears Roebuck sold through its catalog beginning in 1908.

Nancy’s home, The Glen Falls model, was featured on the cover of the 1926 Sears “Honor Bilt Modern Homes” catalog, and the Journal had picked that particular catalog cover to illustrate its article. The Glen Falls was described as an “exclusive and pleasing Dutch Colonial Home, picturesque, hospitable and dignified,” with nine rooms and a porch.

Catalog number C3245, the Glen Falls came already cut and fitted and could be built on a 60-foot wide lot.

Sears sold some 70,000 kit homes in 370 designs during the thirty years the company was in the pre-fab home business. They were shipped via railroad boxcar complete with nails and a 75-page instruction manual. (You had to supply your own hammer.)

Nancy’s house was originally built by Pace Construction for Arthur Doggett.

“He was president of J. Fred Johnson (department store) and J. Fred lived next door. J. Fred’s first wife was a sister of Arthur Doggett.”

The Journal article noted that many Sears’s home owners were trying to document their house’s origins. Each piece came with a framing number but Nancy said she had never found a framing number anywhere on her house.

She thought that was perhaps because the house had been modified extensively.

Nancy’s house was built sometime between 1926, when The Glen Falls model was introduced, and 1929 when Arthur Doggett’s daughter Ruth had a birthday party with the house in the background of the birthday photo.

The house was next door to the Johnson mansion and Nancy said, “When Mr. Johnson died, Mrs. Johnson said the big house was too much and they switched houses.” The Garretts bought the “Sears’ home” from the Doggetts.

The Wall Street Journal wasn’t the first time it had been a cover home. Nancy said that one year it was on the cover of the Kingsport phone book, as an example of Pace Construction’s work.

Sears has often been called the Amazon of its day. It’s not well-known but Amazon also sells home building kits. You can buy a 1000-square-foot three-bedroom, one-bath home on Amazon for $63,965. Beware the fine print: “Additional Materials Required.”

The Glenn Falls model sold for $4,398 in 1926. My favorite inflation calculator tells me that is $63,248 in today’s dollars., almost exactly the same as the EcoHousesmart log house on Amazon. But the Glenn Falls had two stories, four bedrooms and a den. Obviously you got a lot more for you money with a Sears house in 1926. And nails were included.

Ruth Doggett's sixth birthday party in 1929 - posing in front of the family's Sears home. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Wright. (Click on photos to enlarge.)

Added 3 p.m. April 8, 2019

Sears maintains an archive of Sears homes that are still standing. It's a voluntary registry so it's far from complete. There are two Glen Falls models on the registry, one in Dayton, Ohio, the other in Amenia, New York. 

You can check out the Sears Home Registry at:

http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/enthusiasts.jsp