Recently I ran across this example of a Sears “Maytown” on Zillow. Currently on the market at 410 D Street in Central City, Nebraska, the house is easily recognized by its signature corner turret. First marketed as Sears Modern Home No. 167, the design was immensely popular in rural areas. The popular Sears kit house was sold at roughly the same time that the Harris Brothers were marketing a nearly identical kit which they called the J-6. Which came first? I’m honestly not sure, but someone probably knows. Kit house manufacturers of the period were notorious for ripping off each other’s work.
Update: Lara of Sears Homes of Chicagoland has let us know in a comment below that the Harris Brothers were the first with the design… Sears copied them soon after. Now, let’s explore a Maytown!
I’ve reversed this image from a period catalog illustration so that it looks like the house we are about to tour (which was built in reverse from the marketed plan). Image source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/SearsHome167.jpg
I reversed the floor plans, too, for the same reason. Image source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/88/SearsHome167.jpg
This is the house in Central City. Both the tower roof and the main roof appear less steep than the one in the illustration. The column capitals have also disappeared. Surviving originals can be seen on another Maytown featured on Sears Homes of Chicagoland. Photo source: zillow.com
A rare glimpse of the back. The small projecting room is a bathroom/laundry room addition. Photo source: zillow.com
The original stair is intact. The top of the newel was drilled to hold the now-missing finial (seen below in a 1912 Sears catalog). Photo source: zillow.com
The newel is the fourth from the left. It’s also the fourth from the right! Image courtesy archive.org.
This appears to be an original Sears window. Photo source: zillow.com
The living room as seen from the dining room. The archway in the foreground is a later alteration; this was originally a wide cased opening. Photo source: zillow.com
The dining room. A portion of the wall separating it from the kitchen has been removed. Photo source: zillow.com
The floor plan shows a chimney and a pantry; neither are visible here. The plan also shows a doorway connecting to the entry hall where the sink is now located. Photo source: zillow.com
Another missing finial. Photo source: zillow.com
The positions of bathroom fixtures appear to have been changed from the original plan. Photo source: zillow.com
Master bedroom turret. Photo source: zillow.com
A bedroom and closet. Photo source: zillow.com
Still enchanting after more than a century! Photo source: zillow.com
Nice find!
The Harris house came out in mid-1909 and the Sears house was first in the 1911 catalog.
Thanks – I had a hunch you might know the answer!
I have a Maytown! In Houston. We bought it a few months ago, it was in pretty rough shape but has the original colonnades and flooring and windows, etc. We are restoring it. It is great/weird to see another one (in reverse), and to see that our rear upper windows are not original, by the look of this one. We added two further identical windows to the turret. We are now trying to fathom an efficient HVAC system for the house while the sheetrock is off and a century of shiplap is everywhere. Sheetrock will go back up (efficiency, and sound insulation). Thank you for all your work, I love your site.
Congratulations! It’s always good to learn that another kit house has found appreciative and respectful owners. The new windows in the turret undoubtedly add a lot of light to the room. Here’s a link to another Maytown which has two extra windows in the turret… I’m not sure if it was built this way originally or was a later alteration. It’s kind of hard to see because of the trees, but there are five windows. I was made aware of this house when I saw it on searshomes.org. Good luck with your renovations!
P.S. Just found this link on zillow with better photos – including the interior!
I also own the Maytown 167. You may google and see: 402 North Avenue Burlington Vermont 05401 We would like to restore the porch to the original. along put back the window that was over the porch. Our home has a addition to the original kit. The addition was added when the house was built according to the two appraisers at two different times. The addition added four rooms and two sunporches. Most everything else was original.
I hope you do not put in sheetrock! The original plaster walls were fire proof and sound proof! There are still some folks who know how to do that type of plastering!
I also own a Maytown in Struthers Ohio! My floorplan is reversed and the porch was made round to wrap around the house. I would love to be able to make contact with someone that I could send photos to and have the house documented since it appears to be almost totally original.
That’s exciting, Dawn… the more original the house is, the better it is! I’ll attempt to help document it. I will email you so that you can send photos… I look forward to seeing them!
Hi Dawn. I’d love to correspond too. I am currently renovating a Model 167
Hi Dawn and Kenyon, I’d love to know more about your houses. We are in the midst of our restoration/remodel of our Maytown. But we now wonder if ours is an actual Sears home. While it certainly looks like one and follows the Maytown floorplan perfectly, we have had our eyes on every joist in the house now (doubling or tripling them to make the house stronger) and found no Sears marks. Further, we have tension rods zig-zagging inside the walls behind the shiplap throughout the home that could only have been part of the original build. With AO’s help we surmise it is probably a perfect copy of a Maytown, but with extra reinforcement for Houston. The Galveston storm would still be fresh in the minds of anyone building in Houston at the time. Dawn, our porch wraps around the house too, under the turret.
I think I have a Maytown in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Oddly, it was built in 1907 though, and isn’t that before these houses were manufactured? You can see it online if you google 2716 Warren Ave., Cheyenne, WY. Is this a Maytown?
Yours might be the J-6 model by Harris Brothers… they were the first to offer the much-copied design. Note how the bay window locations differ from those of the Maytown. I suspect that the roof of the turret was modified on yours.
A trip to the courthouse may be in order… you might be able to determine the original mortgage holder. My guess is that it will be Harris Brothers (or a kit-house rival).
Happy researching!
That’s awesome. I will definitely check that out. Thank you. I’m very impressed with this site.
Thanks Greg! I just noticed that Lara (above) had mentioned that Harris Brothers introduced their J-6 in 1909 so if your 1907 date is accurate, then your house must have been made by someone else… the plot thickens! It may have been built from mail-order plans, too, rather than being of kit origin.
Either way, it suggests that someone other than Harris Brothers may have come up with the design. Please keep us posted as to any information you may uncover about the origins of the house… it may clear up some mysteries!