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A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

searshouseseeker.com

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Re: A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

#41

Post by [deleted] »

rawgabbit wrote: post #23
doomlaser wrote: post #10

Love the original catalog index of homes. http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1908-1914.htm You can click on the pictures to see the original home ads in the Sears catalog, with prices (e.g. http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/images/1908-1914/1911_011... ) $1062 for the parts to a beautiful American Craftsman style bungalow ($34,394.38 adjusted for inflation)! Some assembly required :) On a tangential note: Sears kill…

To buy an equivalent house like the ones in Sears catalog in a desirable neighborhood can easily set you back half a million.

[deleted]

Re: A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

#42

Post by zemvpferreira »

doomlaser wrote: post #10

Love the original catalog index of homes. http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1908-1914.htm You can click on the pictures to see the original home ads in the Sears catalog, with prices (e.g. http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/images/1908-1914/1911_011... ) $1062 for the parts to a beautiful American Craftsman style bungalow ($34,394.38 adjusted for inflation)! Some assembly required :) On a tangential note: Sears kill…

Agreed but worth it to note that since then building standards have gone up by a lot. It was much easier to offer cheap homes based on old-growth planks and lead paint.

Re: A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

#43

Post by tenebrisalietum »

codelikeawolf wrote: post #20

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and I didn't realize how weird the term "Chicagoland" was until I started traveling around a bit. I'm not aware of any other city in the world that tacks "land" onto the name to describe the surrounding area. Do this with any other city and it sounds like a weird amusement park: Dallasland, Indianapolisland, Seattleland, etc.

It's probably because of two reasons:

1. Most of northwest Indiana (Lake County) is considered part of Chicagoland, but is a different state. For example: Growing up there, I remember my parents crossing the state line on Sundays to buy alcohol, which was not legal to sell on that day in IN. But NWI had all the same radio and TV as Chicago.

2. Outside of of said Chicagoland, Illinois and Indiana are very different, especially the more south you go in both states.

Re: A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

#44

Post by halfmatthalfcat »

doomlaser wrote: post #10

Love the original catalog index of homes. http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/1908-1914.htm You can click on the pictures to see the original home ads in the Sears catalog, with prices (e.g. http://www.searsarchives.com/homes/images/1908-1914/1911_011... ) $1062 for the parts to a beautiful American Craftsman style bungalow ($34,394.38 adjusted for inflation)! Some assembly required :) On a tangential note: Sears kill…

Saying "Willis Tower" in Chicago is akin to saying "Voldemort" in Harry Potter, it's not done without gasps and dirty stares.

Re: A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

#45

Post by halfmatthalfcat »

ShadowBanThis01 wrote: post #27
codelikeawolf wrote: post #20

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs and I didn't realize how weird the term "Chicagoland" was until I started traveling around a bit. I'm not aware of any other city in the world that tacks "land" onto the name to describe the surrounding area. Do this with any other city and it sounds like a weird amusement park: Dallasland, Indianapolisland, Seattleland, etc.

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, and nobody says "Chicagoland" in conversation. It's only used by newscasters, and car dealers in their commercials. Even dumber is "Chicagoland area." My copyediting professor (who worked at the Chicago Tribune) loved to mock this dumb term, pointing out that nobody says "Detroitland" or "New Yorkland" or "Indianapolisland."

People say "Tristate Area" and "Metro Detroit"? Don't necessarily need to tack "land" on there but there are colloquial terms for these large metro areas.

Re: A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

#46

Post by tw04 »

jameshart wrote: post #14
tw04 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Builders pumping out 100 identical, low quality, garbage houses in a development. See: d.r. Horton

As opposed to a catalog company pumping out identical houses...?

A. Identical houses that aren't directly next to each other are far less obvious, and generally look better for the simple fact they look unique in their setting.

B. The fact the houses are identical is less the issue than sub-par materials and most importantly, as you'll find in all of the DR Horton lawsuits, sub-par construction. They're not just pumping out 100 houses, they're doing it as fast as humanly possible with crews of questionable experience.

I'd MUCH rather have a mail-order Sears house put together by a crew that actually cares about what they're doing than a company that just hires any crew they can find to pump out houses as fast as possible so they can move on to the next development.

Re: A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

#48

Post by jameshart »

tw04 wrote: post #46
jameshart wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As opposed to a catalog company pumping out identical houses...?

A. Identical houses that aren't directly next to each other are far less obvious, and generally look better for the simple fact they look unique in their setting. B. The fact the houses are identical is less the issue than sub-par materials and most importantly, as you'll find in all of the DR Horton lawsuits, sub-par construction. They're not just pumping out 100 houses, they're doing it as fast as humanly possible…

Where are you going to get this ‘crew that cares’? How much of a premium does making them care cost?

When you’re hiring a crew to build one house, what’s their incentive to do a great job? You’re not likely to build another house soon.

I don’t understand why people romanticize Sears houses like this.

It’s like saying ‘I’d rather have an IKEA table assembled by a person who cares than a piece of furniture made by a craftsman who makes the same table design again and again’.

Re: A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

#49

Post by EvanAnderson »

On the theme of pre-fab (albeit not mail order): I'm in western Ohio and we have a few Lustron houses[0] left around. These were a post-WWII product. Once you know the design features they're easy to spot.

In the town where I live we also have the Hobart Steel Houses[1] that were a quirky proof-of-concept by a local manufacturer. My daughter's first school is located in one of these houses. Being able to stick magnets in nearly any surface in the house is bizarre and cool. The school uses this property to great effect. I don't see how they would have ever been economical, though.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lustron_house

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobart_Welded_Steel_House_Comp...

Re: A trip to see Chicagoland Sears houses

#50

Post by tw04 »

jameshart wrote: post #48
tw04 wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A. Identical houses that aren't directly next to each other are far less obvious, and generally look better for the simple fact they look unique in their setting. B. The fact the houses are identical is less the issue than sub-par materials and most importantly, as you'll find in all of the DR Horton lawsuits, sub-par construction. They're not just pumping out 100 houses, they're doing it as fast as humanly possible…

Where are you going to get this ‘crew that cares’? How much of a premium does making them care cost? When you’re hiring a crew to build one house, what’s their incentive to do a great job? You’re not likely to build another house soon. I don’t understand why people romanticize Sears houses like this. It’s like saying ‘I’d rather have an IKEA table assembled by a person who cares than a piece of furniture made by a cr…

>Where are you going to get this ‘crew that cares’? How much of a premium does making them care cost?

I can name three GCs off the top of my head who have reliable crews. If you have never had any construction work done, you pull up google or your search engine of choice and look for GCs in your area then ask for some references - or just ask a friend?

>When you’re hiring a crew to build one house, what’s their incentive to do a great job? You’re not likely to build another house soon.

Some people just take pride in their work? Referrals? Future work on upgrades to the house they just built? The money to build the house in the first place? It's not like you give them payment on the entire project up front... What's your incentive to put out effort day to day?

>It’s like saying ‘I’d rather have an IKEA table assembled by a person who cares than a piece of furniture made by a craftsman who makes the same table design again and again’.

No, it's like saying I'd rather have an IKEA table assembled by a person who cares, than a pre-assembled piece of garbage from China made of even less actual wood put together by someone working 18 hour shifts in a sweatshop.

I don't know on what planet you think DR Horton is equivalent to a "craftsman who makes the same table design again and again" but that's very much NOT the case with 90% of "big builders" - it's cut as many costs as possible, use the cheapest components possible, and move on to the next one as quickly as possible. Because the average person has no idea that yes, they should be able to plug in a vacuum and a blender at the same time without popping a breaker because it was cheaper to run half the main floor off a single circuit.

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