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| Sears Westly, 10 Park Terrace, Paxtang, Pennsylvania (a suburb of Harrisburg). This is a 2014 Google Maps Streetview image. Beginning in 2020, Streetview shows the sleeping porch section removed, and just a closed dormer with 3 windows. |
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| 1920 Sears Modern Homes catalog Westly, flipped |
I don't know that I've ever written about a Sears Westly model, specifically. Others in our research group have... Cindy Catanzaro showcased several in Ohio, in this 2016 blog post of hers, on her blog, Sears Houses In Ohio. In 2018, Marie Vore went into detail showing a real beauty, in Westerville, Ohio, here on her blog, Sears Houses In the Midwest. And I included a few examples of the Westly, in this 2021 blog post that I did, showing many Sears houses in the Philadelphia suburbs, after a great article by Kevin Riordan came out in the Philadelphia Inquirer, mentioning our research team. But, no... I've never done a full-on Westly blog post.
I guess it's time for that to change :) I came across this early Sears Westly in Paxtang, Pennsylvania, while looking at a nearby probable Sears Lucerne model, found for us by researcher Nigel Tate. I thought I spied a Westly with a closed dormer, across a park, a few streets over.
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| These are the expected Sears porch columns, on a Sears Westly in Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, authenticated by researcher Andrew Mutch. (You can see the house in the 2021 blog post I linked to, above.) |
The Sears Westly almost always has the tell-tale Sears porch columns, that we see a version of on the Sears Vallonia, the Sears Americus, the Sears Langston, and the Sears Woodland, for example. As you can see in the image, above, it's a straight column, usually grouped in a set of two or three, usually with a little knob sticking out on all sides (in grey, above), and, the big thing, the sort of wedge-shaped protrusions at the top. But, this house does not have those columns. It has rounded colonial columns. The house looks to have had these columns since at least 2011, but with no early photos available, it's hard to say whether or not it ever had the expected Sears porch columns. They could have requested this other style of column, when they ordered the house, or, during a new siding job at some point in the life of the house, they may have opted for this style column, rather than trying to cover all of the original pieces of the porch columns.
Sometimes, when we see a possible Sears house, but it has two big differences from the catalog (like, the closed dormer with windows and no sleeping porch, that is in the most recent Streetview image, and the lack of expected Sears porch columns), we put a house on our "Possibles" list, instead of on the main tab of our spreadsheet listing the over 19, 000 Sears Houses that we've found, in the U.S. . This house was on neither tab, so I did some digging.
Happily, I found a real estate listing, that allowed me to check out the floor plan, to see if it matched one of the two floor plans for the Sears Westly. Let's talk about those two floor plans, and how they change what we look for in the number and placement of windows around the exterior of the house.
Floor Plan 2026 or Floor Plan 3085?
We could say that the Westly was first introduced in 1911, as the No. 144 model, because the No. 144 is almost the exact shape and floor plan as the Westly, just with a simpler look to the porch columns and railings, a closed dormer with no sleeping porch, and a small entry vestibule that protrudes out a bit onto the front porch.
In the 1913/14 catalog, on the same page for the model No. 144, down in the bottom right corner of the page, Sears first introduced what we now call the Westly, but, as Sears was only using numbers to identify their models, at that point, it was called the No. 206. A buyer had the option of either exterior look, with that one floor plan.
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| The No. 206 makes its debut in 1913. (Image retrieved from publicly published catalog of Rachel Shoemaker, here, on Flickr.) |
In the next year's catalog, 1914, Sears moved the Westly style option up to the top of the page, but still included the No. 144 down in the bottom corner, as an available option. However, we see that the floor plan has gotten rid of the protruding front entry vestibule:
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| Beginning in 1914, the catalog started using 264P in front of some of the numbers (I'm really not sure why), so the Westly was marketed as the No. 264P206, and the 144 as the 264P144. This image is from my own 1914 catalog. |
In 1916, Sears first introduced its new option of buying its house "kits" with the framing lumber pre-measured and pre-cut (they refer to it as "already cut"). Though some of the models were never offered with an "already cut" option, the Westly was one of those offfered that year as either "not cut and fitted" -- Model No. C206-- or "already-cut-and-fitted" -- Model No. C2026:
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| 1916 Honor Bilt Modern Homes • Sears Roebuck, and Co. catalog, first offers a pre-cut/already-cut version of the Westly, calling it the No. C2026. |
It wasn't until the 1918 Honor Bilt Modern Homes catalog from Sears Roebuck, and Co., that the models began being marketed with a name, though we still see a "No..." identifier, in small print. The Westly name was born! The great majority of houses in the 1918 catalog were offered as already-cut kits, but quite a few that year, were still only offered as "Not already cut". Here's the Westly that year:
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| 1918 catalog page for the Westly, can be seen here, on Archive.org-- note that only an "already-cut" option was available. |
More information from that page, gives us details on the types of woods used, what the price included and did not include (heating and plumbing and wiring options were also always a separate, add-on price, as there were options from which to choose):
And, we see the only floor plan offered... the one we later come to refer to as "the No. 2026 plan", the same layout as was offered earlier:
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| The Westly floor plan No. 2026, the only plan offered, in the 1918 catalog. |
1920 is the first year that we see the option of a second possible floor plan... but, it is not seen in all issues that year. The 1920 edition that you can see, online on Hathi Trust, has only the original No. 2026 floor plan shown, as does the paper copy that I own of the 1920 catalog. However, my PDF copy of the 1920 catalog is a different edition (all of these with the same catalog cover image) and it includes the introduction of the new No. 3085 floor plan option:
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| 1920, some editions: The new No. 3085 floor plan option becomes available. |
Beginning in the 1924 catalog, Sears eliminated the original No. 2026 floor plan, and offered the Westly with only the newer, No. 3085 floor plan. There is no full 1924 catalog available on line, but I have a paper copy, so I was able to check it to see which floor plans were offered. Here is the 1925 catalog, showing only the single plan No. 3085 (labeled as I3085 for some reason) offered:
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| 1925 Honor Bilt Modern Homes • Sears Roebuck, and Co. catalog page for the Westly, showing only one floor plan offered: the newer No. 3085 plan. |
Side Windows, Staircase, and Rear of the No 2026 vs the No. 3085 Westly
When we find a Westly in the wild, we don't feel the need to clarify which floor plan it is, necessarily, but we often will add that bit of information in the listing on our spreadsheet. Sometimes, we have reason to try to pin down a year for the house, and when that's the case, noting which of the two floor plan versions the house is, can be helpful. Any one of three easy-to-recognize areas of detail, can be the indicator that we need for that clarification: the number and placement of the windows on the sides of the house; the look of the rear of the house; and, if we're able to see it, the placement of the staircase inside the house.
The Side Windows:
The older, No. 2026 floor plan, has side windows placed in just two spots both on the second floor and on the first floor, on both the left and right side elevations:
- Upstairs: only ONE single window, and one double window set
- Downstairs: just two single windows
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| 2026: The upper windows on each side, have a single, and a double. One side has the single toward the rear of the house, and the other side has the single window toward the front of the house. (BRACKETS: It's also good to note that the angle brackets shown during the no. 2026 years, are just four-piece brackets... the image shown during the No. 3085 years, has the Sears 5-piece angle brackets.) |
The newer, No. 3085 floor plan, has side windows placed in three spots on both first and upper floors.
- Upstairs: one single, a double, another single
- Downstairs: window--window--window(s) (on the non-kitchen side, that third window is a double)
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| Westly #3085: Windows in three spots, both upstairs and downstairs, on the sides |
The Rear of the two Westly Versions:
This comparison image shows the very pronounced difference:
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| The No. 2026 plan has no pop-up dormer, and has a 1-2-1 set of small windows, upstairs. The No. 3085 plan has a pop-up dormer with two full-size windows. The back entry door is in a different spot, as well, centered on the 2026, and off to one side, on the 3085. |
Here's a nice example of the side and rear windows of another Sears Westly #3085 plan:
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| Sears Westly #3085 floor plan, 208 Beech St, Waverly, PA (more photos, here) |
The Staircase:
If we get to see the inside of a Westly, we note right away where the staircase is... is it kind of enclosed in a center hall (No, 2026) or is it open on one side, into the living room (No, 3085)?
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| Comparison of the placement of the staircase, on both Westly floor plans. Note that the 2026 staircase also starts much further back in the house, than does the staircase of the 3085, which you practically walk right into when you open the front door. |
Examples of the No. 2026 plan staircase:
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| No. 2026 floor plan staircase: From the Westerville, Ohio Westly This also shows the dining room fireplace of that early floor plan, though the plan shows it placed on a slant. |
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| No. 2026 floor plan staircase, from a Westly in Ironwood, Michigan . |
Examples of the No. 3085 staircase placement:
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| 3085: Staircase open into the living room. The space behind the living room is listed as a "Music Room or Bedroom", so it is often closed off with a wall and doorway. Also, note the fireplace on the side wall of the living room, which we will see on the Paxtang, Pennsylvania Westly. This house is in Elgin, Illinois, at 626 May Street, and is an authenticated Westly, researched and documented by Rebecca Hunter. |
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| 3085 floor plan staircase again, open on that side portion of the staircase, into the living room. The "Music Room or Bedroom" is sometimes left open, like this, and there is that expected closet next to the staircase. These three photos are from a No. 3085 Westly in Polo, Illinois, at 304 E Mason Street. |
Here is another beautiful example of the #3085 plan staircase opening into the living room:
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| #3085 floor plan Sears Westly, 208 Beech St, Waverly, PA (more photos, here) |
The Westly in Paxtang, Pennsylvania
With all of that background established, let's take a look at photos from the real estate listing of the Westly that I found at 10 Park Terrace, Paxtang, Pennsyvlania, a suburb of Harrisburg with its own town limits. This house, as it turns out, is in the East Harrisburg Addition neighborhood (according to its legal description on the assessor's website).
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| Legal description for 10 Park Terrace, Paxtang, PA |
This is interesting to us, because, in 2018, researcher Andrew Mutch came across an ad in a 1919 Harrisburg, Pennsylvania newspaper, with a real estate contractor advertising the building of Sears houses in the Harrisburg area... and, instead of the homeowner already having their lot, and then approaching a contractor, this contractor, E. M. Hershey, advertises that they have lots open in four subdivisions in the Harrisburg area... and the prospective owner simply needs to pick out which lot they want, put down a small downpayment on the lot, and then pick out the Sears house they want built there. Then, a small downpayment on the house itself, at completion, move in, and the rest of the payments will be "the same as rent" (meaning, they'll have a monthly mortgage payment). And... one of those subdivisions, is E. Harrisburg Addition, in Paxtang, where this house is located. We can likely assume that the first owners of this house, acquired the home this way.
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| Here's the ad that Andrew found, from the 1919 Harrisburg newspaper. And, there is a Sears Westly as one of the suggested models. |
We can see the three elements of the house that show us that it is the No. 2026 floor plan:
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| Side windows follow the 2026 details: 2 spots 2nd floor, 2 spots 1st floor. (Notice that this latest Streetview image shows that the sleeping porch was removed, the roof patched there, and a triple window replaces the door with side windows that was in the dormer.) |
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| Rear view upper windows follow 2026 details... no pop-up dormer, just 4 small, square windows. |
Staircase placement: Though the staircase now opens into the living room, only a very small amount of the staircase does. As you would expect to see, the wall that was in place, previously (see header that was placed when that wall was removed) to start the back music room/bedroom, starts just behind the end of the staircase.
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| Normally, there would only be two windows on the exterior wall here, one in the back room, and one in the living room, but, because of the addition of a fireplace on the wall, they added an extra window (you can't see it here) so that there is one on each side of the fireplace. |
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| Here's the exterior wall of the living room area... with its added window, to have two windows flanking the fireplace, instead of just one. Normally, the fireplace on the 2026 floor plan is in the dining room for some reason, on a slant, in a corner. |
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| The original hardwood floors must still be there, under the added wall-to-wall carpeting. |
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| It looks like the original wall that might have been to the side of the front door, to create an entry way into the living room, was either removed later on, or was modified with a Sears architect, when the kit was bought. |
Moving on to look at the rest of the house:
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| It's nice to see that the dining room still has its original hardwood floors. |
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| Those original leaded-glass windows with the stained-glass top sketch, are wonderful. |
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| Not the original kitchen cabinets and counters and flooring, of course, but the original kitchen area. |
Upstairs, there's nothing exciting to see, but the original solid wood doors and original Sears door handle hardware are all still in place. Under the added wall-to-wall carpeting, again, there must be the original hardwood floors.
Now, this room is significant. Why? Because of that wall that is on a slant, between the entry door and the next wall. This is important because it shows us that this follows the floor plan upstairs for the Sears Westly, and not for the close lookalike that was offered in plan books from publisher C. L. Bowes.
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| C. L. Bowes plan-book offering from 1918. As you can see, it's almost exactly the same as the Sears Westly's 2026 floor plan, but... there are a few differences on the second floor. |
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| Side-by-side comparison of the second floor layout, shows a distinct difference in these indicated areas. The C. L. Bowes plan has no wall on a slant. Also, the bathroom is larger on the Sears plan. |
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| You can see from this view, that access into the bathroom is right where it is shown, on the Sears No, 2026 floor plan. |
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| I just noticed that the porch columns that had been encased to form a rounded colonial column, have been altered. That siding must have been removed, to either expose the original squared off porch columns, or to create the new look. In any case, it's a shame that the original design for the porch columns of the Sears Westly, is not what this house has. |
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| Sears Westly, plan No. 2026, 10 Park Terrace, Paxtang, Pennsylvania... I wonder if the owners know that they have a Sears house? |
Want to see more examples of the Westly model?
Here are some real estate listings for a few more examples (and I've noted which of our researchers found the house, initially), some in beautiful condition, some not as nice:
- 2026 plan: 108 W Ridge St, Westly in Ironwood, Michigan ( Lara Solonickne)
- 2026 plan: 228 W Wilson St., Palatine, IL, (Lara Solonickne) --has the Dining Room fireplace as is shown on the 2026 plans... also has two big condo additions behind it!)
- 2026 plan: 213 9th Ave SE, Rochester, MN (Matthew H.)--Has Sears Stratford door hardware, shed roof and windows on the front dormer, instead of sleeping porch dormer
- 2026 plan: 1912 County Route 90 St, Wayland, NY -- (Sarah Mullane)--Very old, very dated inside, but some beautiful original woodwork (Sarah noted the Wellington Colonnade inside, and possibly the Majestic front door.)
- 3085 plan: 412 E Curtin St, Bellefonte, PA (Andrew Mutch) -- a real beauty with lots of photos
- 3085 plan: 208 Beech St, Waverly, PA (Judith Chabot [that's me;)] ) -- great photos, beautiful
- 3085 plan: 626 May St, authenticated Westly in Elgin, IL, cited above (Rebecca Hunter)
- 3085 plan: 147 N Prospect St, Burlington, VT (Lara Solonickne)--beautiful
- 3085 plan: 212 W Michigan Ave, Saline, MI (Andrew Mutch), mostly just closeups of windows and floors
- 3085 plan: 52102 Rocky Ridge Rd, Henning (Inman Twp), MN (Lara Solonickne)
- 3085 plan: 833 Hiland Ave, Coraopolis, PA (Karen DeJeet)
- 3085 plan: 114 E Undercliff St, Pittsburgh, PA (Karen Dejeet) --nicely modernized
- 3085 plan: 1337 Greensburg Pike, North Versailles, PA (Judith Chabot), authenticated
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| Sears Westly, 412 E Curtin St, Bellefonte, PA |
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| Sears Westly, 208 Beech St, Waverly, PA |
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| Sears Westly, #2026 floor plan, 36 Friedland Rd, Nutley, NJ No interior photos of this one, but it is just so nice :) |
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