Sears Kilbourne In Martinsville Virginia

Sears Kilbourne, circa1925-1930 • 621 Mulberry Rd, Martinsville, Virginia

I noticed this Sears Kilbourne in the real estate listings yesterday, and thought it was time to do a quick post, to highlight it. I Just really like the Kilbourne. I did a blog post about one in August of 2021, which you can see here... that one was in Glenshaw, Pennsylvania, and I showed one or two others in that post, as well.

This Kilbourne in Martinsville, Pennsylvania is unusual, in that it has brick porch columns... I don't recall ever having seen that before. This house is not authenticated, but it does seem to follow the layout of the Kilbourne correctly, and the placement of the windows and doors seems correct, so I believe that it is one. It is in the real estate listings as a Sears house, but that is frequently said about houses that simply are not a match for anything that Sears ever offered (sometimes, they are kit houses from other companies, but very often they are just thinking that because a house is of Craftsman design, it's a Sears house), so that is never a given.

This house would have been built between 1925 and 1930. We know this, because, though the Kilbourne was offered from 1921-1930, the catalog image beginning in 1925, shows purlins, rather than curvy brackets, supporting the large front porch gable, and that's what this house has. The Zillow listing gives the build year as 1929, and that date probably comes from the county assessor records... which may be accurate, or may be off by a few years.

You can see the Kilbourne in the 1925 Sears Modern Homes catalog, here

I don't have any historical information about the original owners of this house, unfortunately. The only thing I found in my research, was that Billy and Ernestine Franklin lived here in 1952, according to a mention of the birth of their daughter, Coris Ann Franklin, on June 11 that year:

Birth announcement in the Roanoke Times, Sunday, January 29, 1952, page 48.

Inside the Sears Kilbourne In Martinsville

So, let's just move on to taking a look at this very nice Sears house, in Martinsville, Virginia. These photos all come from this Trulia listing in April of 2024:

Sears Kilbourne floor plan, first floor, 1925 Sears Modern Homes catalog

Sears Kilbourne floor plan, second floor, 1925 Sears Modern Homes catalog

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For more information on who we are, and what we do, visit our website: SearsHouses.com

(NOTE: This blog is best seen in WEB view, to access the many informational links in the side bar.)

Christmas Delights: Sears Houses With Lights In Greater Pittsburgh

Sears Avalon • 5638 3rd Street, Verona/Penn Hills, Pennsylvania
(You can see this house in my May 27,  2016 blog post about Sears houses on this street.)

Merry Christmas Eve, 2023! I am very pleased to have, this year, several photos of Sears houses all decorated and lighted up for Christmas time. These are all in the greater Pittsburgh area of Pennsylvania, and were photographed and shared with me by our fellow researcher and friend, Karen DeJeet. 

Here's Karen's Sears house, a Sears Hamilton bungalow in Forest Hills,  that had its dormer removed during renovations by the previous owners. Karen has found us hundreds of Sears houses in Pennsylvania.

Here's another Sears Hamilton,  complete with its original dormer (even if it has had two windows removed). This house is in Oakmont, Pennsylvania, on Delaware Avenue.

Here's the Hamilton bungalow in the 1926 Sears Modern Homes catalog:

This link takes you to the catalog, online.

Also in the Penn Hills neighborhood of Verona, Pennsylvania, is this Sears Dover. 1940 was the only year that the Dover was shown in the Sears Modern Homes catalogs with this look (side chimney, instead of front; A-style entry vestibule, instead of having one side that swoops down; double windows on one side of the front; peak side gables, instead of clipped). We are confident that it is a Sears house, though, because of the presence of the curlicues on the decorative iron strapping on the front door.

1940 version Sears Dover • 5520 3rd Street, Penn Hills neighborhood of Pittsburgh.
I have it on good authority that the elderly couple who lived here back when "my source" used to go Trick-or-Treating here, would give out quarters for Halloween ;)

Sears Dover as it appeared only in 1940

Sears Wellington • 5205 Verona Road, Penn Hills neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA

Sears Wellington in the 1926 Sears Modern Homes catalog

And, in Oakmont, we have a Winona and a Verona:

Sears Winona • 805 Washington Avenue, Oakmont, Pennsylvania
You can read about the various versions of the Winona, over the years, in this 2020 blog post of mine.
This house looks to be a 1923-26 version, but with an extra window added to the front, and one bedroom window eliminated on the right side.

Sears Verona • 816 Eleventh Street, Oakmont, Pennsylvania

Sears Verona • 1926 Sears Modern Homes catalog

The Hollywood is a model that we rarely find, and that we are not always fully confident about when we find a possible example, because there are "lookalikes". But, this one looks very good, though it has different dormer brackets than the catalog shows. However, if there were any town where we could feel pretty confident about a house, it's Pittsburgh :) Karen located this Hollywood in 2015.

Sears Hollywood • 199 Dewey Street, Edgewood neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA

Here's the Hollywood in the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog

And, our final decorated Sears house for today, is a Sears Marina model that Karen found for us in Swissvale. I love these decorations!

Sears Marina • 7801 Union Avenue, Swissvale neighborhood of Pittsburgh, PA

Sears Marina in the 1921 Sears Modern Homes catalog

That's it for the Sears houses, but you know that I always like to include other vintage houses that are nicely decorated for the holidays. Karen sent these four beauties from the Pittsburgh area:

A beautiful house -- not a Sears house :)

Look at those fun decorations! Note: not a Sears house :)

I love the elegance of this house and its decorations. Beautiful :) (Not a Sears house.)

Not a Sears house, but, what a delight!

Meanwhile, back in Kirkwood, Missouri

To finish off, I'll show a few of the lovely houses I get to drive past in my travels around my little world in the St. Louis suburbs. These are all in Kirkwood, Missouri, and none of them are Sears houses:

I had to show the original photo... look at that blue sky!

Thanks to neighbors Anita and Ken, for this beautiful display on our corner :)

From my corner (literally) to yours: 

Merry Christmas

...and may 2024 bring you health and happiness!

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For more information on who we are, and what we do, visit our website: SearsHouses.com