In the early part of the 1900's, Sears sold all the pieces for building homes in kits. One could somewhat pick and choose the features they wanted and the home would be built that way. Once a kit was ordered, all the pieces would come and building would start. The link on the searsarchives website below gives a good summary. Nowadays, with trend to bulldoze smaller homes and build McMansions, many Sears homes (and Montgomery Ward, and Aladdin etc) have gone the way of the wrecking ball. Here is a link that might be useful: Sears archives

Hi, I have a Montgomery Ward (Signature) machine that was made in the 1960's. I'm trying to remember just how old it is. I seem to remember my mother having it at least by 1964. (She made me a dress for school on it). It is a zig-zag machine and has cams. I do have all the cams, I think (no manual). Does anyone know what model it is and where I might get some attachements for it? It still works perfectly. Donna

What I noticed when looking at the photo of the house. All the windows are framed in dark brown. The door is not, which is why it looks so barefaced. I would recommend replacing the center panel, painting white again. But the small strip around the door should be dark brown. And, I would go with a good hardwood sill, and paint the facing edge dark brown also. However you finish the rest of the sill, you need the same look for the door frame as the windows all have. Since the door frame shows hinges for a screen door, I'd look for a wood worker who could make you a screen door in dark wood. Whether you request inset screen to change out with glass inset is your choice. Most people have no use for a screen door with glass. Unless you like the extra light it could afford you. These may be decisions you can make later. Drive around, see if there is another home with your style and see how the front door is done. Glass inset screen door, or just screen? Give that one some time. Good luck on your door, am happy to see you want to do it right.

Houses built in the early 1900s would have had interior walls of lath and plaster and no insulation in the walls. Horse hair and other fibers were added to the plaster to give it strength and crack resistance. At a later time, insulation could have been injected into the walls through holes bored through the outer siding and sheathing. A lath and plaster wall could have been painted, but many were papered if it were a farm house. A possible renovation was to rip out the lath and plaster walls, fill the wall with modern insulation batts, and finish the interior with wall-board. While the walls were open, plumbing and electrical wiring could have been added. Due to lumber availability and style, new base boards may not match the older items. Some old baseboards were straight boards from 6 to 10 inch in width. Another common feature in kitchens and dining areas was a "chair rail" along the wall. This would have been a board about 4 inch wide running all around the room whose purpose was to keep chair backs from damaging the walls. Early electrical wiring in attic spaces used knob and tube insulators to hold wire. The service entrance box usually had fuses instead of circuit breakers.