Kit House Hunters: Sears Houses of Massapequa Park, New York

September 14, 1930 - "Brooklyn Daily Eagle"
Image courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library

When we last visited Massapequa Park, I shared a number of Sears houses found on Grand Boulevard and Pacific Street. The models on those streets include some of the most popular models from the 1920s. But Massapequa has more than just 1920s era Sears houses. On the south side of the village are two streets where you can find ten houses that represent three different models of Sears houses that were popular in the early 1930s. Eight of those houses are located on Tyrconnell Avenue.

Catalog image of Sears Stratford (1929)
Image courtesy of Antique Home

The ten houses that are located on Tyrconnell and Glengariff were ordered from Sears Roebuck in late 1930 to serve as model homes for a development by the company of Brady, Cryan and Colleran which had large land holdings in Massapequa Park. One of the principles, Peter Colleran, would later serve as Mayor of Massapequa Park. Not long after the houses were constructed, Michael Brady, Frank Cryan and Peter Colleran found themselves embroiled in lawsuits and legal troubles involving their company's less-than-honest real estate activities. The three were arrested and accused of defrauding purchasers of lots in their development. From news accounts, Cryan and Colleran suffered legal consequences for their actions while Brady managed to avoid any.

October 6, 1936 - "Brooklyn Daily Eagle"
Image courtesy of the Brooklyn Public Library

As I shared in the post titled "Massapequa Park Mystery Solved?", the newspaper references to these 10 homes were likely conflated with Brady, Cryan and Colleran plans to built 100 homes in this area of their development to create the impression that 100 Sears homes were built in Massapequa Park. As we know today, in all likelihood, that never happened. But we do know that 8 Sears houses were built on Tyrconnell.

Catalog image of Sears Hillsboro (1935)
Image courtesy of Antique Home

In the Brooklyn Daily Eagle article outlining the plans for these 10 homes, it was stated that three different models were going to be built - the Colchester, the Stratford and the Hillsboro. Two of those models, the Colchester and Stratford were brick versions of the popular Lewiston and Mitchell models. The Hillsboro was only offered in brick. But it turns out that the Hillsboro wasn't built on Tyrconnell. Instead, we've found examples of the Sears Stratford. The Stratford shares some similarities with the Hillsboro but is smaller and less expensive. It's likely that the decision was made between the time the article was published and the houses were built to substitute the Strathmore for the Hillsboro.

The following is a list of the 8 Sears houses on Tyrconnell Avenue heading from west to east.