Sears N° 126 In Danville, Kentucky

Probable Sears N° 126 • 202 S Alta Avenue, Danville, Kentucky

Who doesn't love the Sears model N° 126, eh? This is a very early model from Sears, and we're never 100% sure it's the Sears model, when we see one, because there are similar "lookalikes" from other companies.  Here's what it looked like in the catalogs:

The N° 126, as shown in the catalogs, did not have front porch columns. But, that's a huge porch roof, to have no column support, so most examples that we see do have columns. The original design calls for these porch eave supports, and we sometimes still see those, but not always.

The Aladdin Homes company had a very similar model, named The Carmen:

Aladdin Homes Carmen model in their 1916 catalog.

On first glance, these two look almost exactly alike, except for the obvious porch columns and rails on the Carmen. But, there are a few differences in interior layout, windows, and rear view, as well as the existence of windows in the chamfered corners in the back, on the Sears 126, that are not present on the Aladdin Carmen model. Take a look:

Up close, we see those window differences, as well as a window on the front of the Sears model, that is not on the Aladdin model. Additionally, the obvious difference of a full-depth living room, spanning the front to the back of the house, on the Sears model, vs the Carmen's partial wall dividing that space into a dining room in the back, and living room in the front. Also, the kitchen on the Sears model is a bit wider...so, in fact, the Sears N° 126 is wider than the Aladdin Carmen by about 2 feet. In addition, the the Sears model shows a back porch, next to a Bilco style cellar access door on the ground, whereas the Aladdin model just shows some steps off of the back door. The Sears model doesn't show a window in the exterior walls of those left-side bedrooms, or the bathroom...but, would that really be the case? Sears also shows small corner closets, absent in the Aladdin model. Finally, the Sears model has a fireplace right in the center of the long living room wall, and the Carmen has no fireplace shown.  :

The Sears N° 126 was never a pre-cut model, so it would never have had marked framing lumber. We have no Sears mortgages related to any of the N° 126 models we have on the list, and we have only two on our list that we feel certain about, because they are testimonial houses (the buyer wrote in to Sears, sending a photo, after construction, to say how happy they were with the house). And, one of the very convincing examples of this model (here, in Webster Groves, Missouri), as all of the Sears elements, except that the long living room space is separated into two rooms, like the Aladdin model.

The house in Danville, Kentucky, does seem to have all of the elements of the Sears N° 126, so we've added it to our list as such. Still... I don't find an exact match for the beautiful fireplace surround, in the Sears catalogs, nor do I find an exact match for the colonnades separating the reception hall from the living room. Maybe they were just shown in a catalog in a year that I don't have? Who knows. Let's just take a look at the beautiful interior of this probable Sears N° 126 (thanks to this listing on Realtor.com), and hope that it is one (note that there was a small addition put on where the back porch is, to enlarge the kitchen):

Sears Elsmore in St. Louis, Missouri

8804 Olden, Overland, Missouri • Authenticated 1924 Sears Elsmore

This is the first Sears Elsmore that I have ever seen in person, in real life, and it's right here in Saint Louis.

With summer vacation upon us, I decided to go back to the St. Louis County mortgage records, to re-check the 1920s listings for Sears Trustee Walker O. Lewis.  I researched them last year, but remembered, recently, that I had skipped a few years, because I was finding so few hits for Walker O. Lewis. So, I finished looking through the 1924-1929 records, and the very first mortgage that I found that day, led me to this beautiful Sears Elsmore, in Overland, a suburb in the north-western part of St. Louis County.

The Elsmore was first offered in 1913 as a companion model to the beautiful Sears No. 126, and was listed in the catalog as the No. 208.  The No. 126 and the No. 208 shared the same floor plan, with a long living/dining room combo stretching the length of the right side of the house, with the two bedrooms on the left side of the house, though the two models had a very different look to the front elevation.

1914 Sears Modern Homes catalog, page 12 

Beginning in 1916, the Elsmore earned its own spot in the catalog (the No. 126 model was discontinued), listed as the No. 2013.  Beginning 1921, a second floor plan option was made available (No. 3192), and by 1925, that second floor plan became the only one offered for the Elsmore, which was discontinued after 1927 (thanks for the date correction, Cindy Catanzaro!)

The Elsmore's two floor plans, as shown in the 1923 catalog, available on Archive.org.  

The Elsmore at 8804 Olden, in St. Louis, has the original floor plan, with the inset front entry in the center of the porch.  You can see, as well, that the placement of the chimney on the right side of the house, shows that the house has the long living/dining room that spans the depth of the house, with the fireplace in the center.

Those look to be the original porch railings -- see how they match the catalog image?

The Elsmore as shown in the 1923 catalog, available here. 

Let's take a look at the left side of the house, the back side, and a close up of those 5-piece brackets, and typical Sears porch pillars:

Note the Sears 5-piece porch roof brackets.

The left side of the house.
It's so great the the original tracery on the front gable peak is still intact,
and the house retains its original wood clapboard, and has not been covered over in vinyl siding.

Sears porch pillars, and another look at a 5-piece bracket.

Notice the inset front entry, indicative of the original floor plan of the No. 208 and No. 2013,
as well as the original porch railing, just as shown in the catalog image. 

We so rarely get to see the back of our Sears houses, but this one sits on a spacious corner lot.

The Elsmore at 8804 Olden, was built by Peter M. Jaeger, who, according to the 1930 census, was a foreman in an electric plant in St. Louis.  A listing in an October 1924 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, shows a Peter Jaeger taking out a marriage license to marry Emma Eisele:

St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 11, 1924

However, the 1930 census shows that the Peter M. Jaeger who lived here at this address, was married to a woman named Margaret... and, they had, living with them, two of her children from a previous marriage, along with two other Jaeger children. So, I don't know whether Emma Eisele Jaeger ever lived in this house, or if she was married to a different Peter Jaeger.

The Jaeger family in 1930.

And... one last look at this lovely little home:

UPDATE!
I just found a 1992 St. Louis Post-Dispatch newspaper article (October 7, page 142, in the "Home" section), written by Darcy O'Neill, called, "Home Sweet Home by Sears", that showcases this wonderful Elsmore. Here is the portion of the article that deals with this house, bit by bit (if you have a Newspapers.com subscription, you can access the article here.)

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