Inside a 1915 Sears Phoenix. Who wants to see?

Once and awhile I have the opportunity to see inside a Sears home. I prefer first hand experience but thanks to You Tube I had the opportunity to see the inside of a 1915 Sears Phoenix. As the homeowner guided *me* through his home I recognized several architectural features that I have seen in my building materials and mill work catalogs. I am going to post that link so you can see the inside of this gorgeous mail order house. But first I am going to post the catalog images of the architectural features you will see.

I hope you enjoy this special blog!

First stop, the exterior of the Sears Phoenix as seen in the 1914 catalog. See that price? I was a little surprised at the beauty of this house for that price!

1914 Sears Phoenix

We enter the house and the window to our right is a gorgeous stained glass floral window. You will see this at :55 sec.

Sears Stained Glass Window from their building materials and millwork catalog.

We are now in the entry hall. Notice the oak newel posts on the oak stairway.

This the Newel Post that was included in the Sears Phoenix. This image is from a building materials catalog.

Our next view is the parlor. He calls it the living room but in the floor plans it is referred to as the parlor. Let’s take a look at the actual floor plan so we can see where we are and where we are going. Please read through the specs and see everything that is included for that price. Notice there are no light fixtures included. At the bottom there is a list of plumbing and heating outfits that were available for an additional charge.

This Sears Phoenix floorplan shows the specifications that were included with the purchase price.

Did you figure out where you are? NOW let’s take a look inside the parlor! At 1:34 you will see this stained glass window. They called it the Roman. Our tour guide shows us an etched sash window.  I have never seen a window like that in any of my catalogs.  Sorry I can’t show you that one.  It’s not mentioned in the original specs so it might have been added later to replace a broken window.

Sears Stained Glass Window from their building materials and millwork catalog.

From the parlor we walk through the bookcase colonnade into the living room. This buyer left out the fireplace and opted for a bay window.  That would have cost a little extra.

Sears Bookcase Colonnade from a building materials and mill work catalog.

As we step through the French pocket doors behold a stunning craftsman dining room! This dining room includes an oak plate rail as well as oak mill work just as the stairway and newel posts were.

Sears Plate Rail from their building materials and millwork catalog.

At the end of the dining room is an oak built-in buffet which was included in that price! You can’t buy an oak buffet alone like that today for $1200 bucks.

Sears Dining Room from their building materials and millwork catalog. This image shows a built-in buffet as well as the plate rail.

Here is the colonial buffet as shown in the building materials catalog.

A Sears Buffet from their building materials and millwork catalog.

Above the oak buffet you will see another beautiful stain glass window at 3:22 in the video.

Sears Stained Glass Window from their building materials and millwork catalog.

Next we see the kitchen and he explains that it was pretty much a complete remodel but they kept it as close to the original as they could.

As we go upstairs keep an eye out at the top for the door hardware on various doors. I was able to pair the catalog image with an actual doorknob that was in another Sears house that I identified for someone in another part of the country.

Sears Hardware from their building materials and millwork catalog.

Our first view upstairs is the front bedroom. In the front bedroom there are three very beautiful stained glass windows. The center window is the Roman once again like the parlor window. It can be seen at 5:55 in the video.

Sears Stained Glass Window from their building materials and millwork catalog.

However, at 5:42 there are two five foot length stained glass windows that flank the Roman. Gorgeous!

Sears Stained Glass Window from their building materials and millwork catalog.

With the help of editing software I created the set of windows you see. Wow, Wow and WOW!!!

Sears Stained Glass Windows from their building materials and millwork catalog. I assembled as they appear in the first bedroom.

He should have saved that room for last. We visit the smaller middle bedroom next where we see three colonial diamond muntin windows. Those are seen at 6:08.

Sears Windows from their building materials and millwork catalog.

We then see the bathroom which was remodeled but he used subway tile which was period appropriate. I couldn’t find that unique hinge in any catalog. Bummer.

My last image is the entire page as the Sears Phoenix appeared in the 1914 catalog.

1914 Sears Phoenix

Now that you have had a preview of the inside of the Sears Phoenix let’s watch the You Tube video.

Please leave him a compliment on his house and let him know you read my blog! If you enjoyed my blog please leave me a comment 🙂

If you have a mail order house and need help identifying it please send me a message. I love identifying interior images as well. That’s obvious isn’t it? If you live in northeastern Oklahoma and would like me to visit your home and see your interior first hand please message me. All I ask is that you permit me to take photos and feature your house in my blog.

Another fellow researcher has a blog about mail order houses in her neck of the woods, Chicago, Ill. She recently featured a Sears Phoenix which is where I found the You Tube link. Thanks Lara! Please visit her blog and read that post. http://www.sears-homes.com/2013/02/a-phoenix-rises-in-norwood-park.html

I hope you enjoyed this blog!