Not So Long Ago, You Could Order A House From A Catalog

Check out this blast from past courtesy of realtor.com:

From 1908 to 1940 the average American could open up a catalog from Sears Roebuck Co., and order the dream home of their choosing. Sears sold as many as 75,000 homes, many of which are still loved and cherished by proud homeowners today (see gallery below).

It is mind blowing to think that you could order a coon-skin cap, a blender, maybe a new suit and ... a house (!) all from the same catalog.

Of course, catalogs were amazing, especially to young people in general. They could carry you away to some fantasy world, or you could dream about ordering some toy that you know your parents would never be able to afford.

These catalogs would arrive at your house some time in the fall, well ahead of your need for them for Christmas (if memory serves me correctly, they also had spring catalogs that came out some time before Easter).

The things were huge, the size of a, well, a thick book, maybe a 1,000-page book (for reference, bigger than any Harry Potter book).

Inside were lawn mowers, toys, go-karts, sports equipment, appliances, tools, sheds, car parts, and yes, even houses.

Amazingly, many of these houses are still standing today.

While Sears no longer sells homes, Southern Utah’s Zipkit homes (southwest of Cedar, visible from I-15) may have a cheaper alternative for Utah’s families on a budget. Zipkit homes are FHA and USDA loan eligible and not considered “manufactured or modular” because they are built to industry construction standards. Like the Sears homes, they are real residences that need land and a crew to assemble them.

https://zipkithomes.com/plans-pricings/#/

Check these Sears mail-order homes out (these are scans from the actual Sears Roebuck Co. catalog):