Let’s Build a Sears House
If you’re here then you either love us, or you at least have a burning curiosity to escape traditional social media for long enough to find out what it is we’re doing with all of our time. Either way- welcome!
After many many years of trying to envision exactly where Chandler and I see ourselves and our family for the long haul, we at least knew that we shared a common interest: a love for all things old. While I certainly romanticized wood staircases with patina and deep-set windows that you can read a book in, Chandler in parallel focused on modern day electricity and the nuances that come with actually restoring a 100+ year old house. After 2 years of touring “historical” homes, offers on both houses and undeveloped properties, we finally found the right fit in Midway. Our thinking is this, we want to build something new, and pack it with as much character as these 100+ year old homes we both adore.
We’re still very much in the planning stages. We sold our home in Shelbyville, and purchased a small property in Midway 7 minutes walking distance from Main St. I wanted to build a Victorian, Chandler wanted to build a Ranch, so we compromised and did neither of those things. Enter the American Four Square!
If you’re not familiar with a Four-Square home, it came to be as a rejection to the Victorian era of elaborate and highly decorative taste, moving to a movement of maximizing the space that you have with simple craftsmanship. This happened in the late 1800s, aligning with the Arts & Crafts movement that swept America. The name comes from its simple, boxy shape and is one of the most widely recognizable architectural styles. I urge you to take a drive around your older neighborhoods, and you will see foursquares-a-plenty! They rose in popularity via the Sears Catalog and Roebuck and Co. which sold house kits from 1908 to 1940. While a “house kit” sounds really rudimentary, there were incredible because they included details like stained glass windows, tapered columns, built-ins (everywhere), rich millwork…the list goes on.
Now…how are we going to make a brand spanking new build look like it’s been around for 100 years you ask? Easy! Fill it with a bunch of old stuff.
We selected a historical house plan online and started working with a local architect to make some adjustments to ensure it works for our lifestyle (modernity can be a good thing. ie. closets). Leaning on good old architectural salvage, the plan is once we start building, we can source things like 100-year-old doors, vintage bathroom vanities, mirrors, lighting, and even larger pieces like craftsman colonnades and original stained glass. I have a running list of businesses like Architectural Antiques of Indy, Reclaimed Fort Wayne, and Architectural Salvage Louisville to help bring our vision to life.
If you’re still here, thanks for reading along. I wanted to find a way to continue my anti-social-media tirade while still being able to share an incredibly exciting time in our lives. This house is truly a passion project, so I felt the need to find a way to share with the people around us.
In the meantime, enjoy some of our inspiration until we get a more meaningful update!
