ID this House! Sears Hawthorne

Catalog image Sears Hawthorne (1932)

I was recently scanning through real estate listings online when I spotted what looked like a rare Sears model, the Hawthorne. The listing included some great photos of the Hawthorne, a model that was offered by Sears Roebuck in the early 1930s. Those photos give us the chance to see some of the distinct elements of this model, details that could help us identify other examples of this house. As we only have one other example of this house on the National Database of Sears Homes and I've run across some look-a-likes for this model, I thought this house would be an excellent candidate for my "ID this House!" series. Let's learn to ID this house!

Sears Roebuck offered two different models named the Hawthorne - this particular model was the version offered by Sears from 1930 - 1932 (you can see some examples of the earlier version near the end of this post by Judith at the Sears House Seeker). The only example I had previously seen was one that I was able to authenticate through a mortgage record in Hartsdale, New York. Unlike this house in Hopewell, the Hawthorne in Hartsdale doesn't have all of its original exterior features intact. The fact that the Hawthorne was only offered for three years during a time period when sales of Sears kit houses was declining likely means that finding examples of this house is going to be challenging. But once you've learned what to look for with the Hawthorne, you'll have a better chance of finding one near you!

206 Prince George Ave - Hopewell, VA - Sears Hawthorne
Image courtesy of Estately

If you've traveled in kit house research circles for any amount of time, Hopewell, Virginia is infamously known for claims made that the Crescent Hills area of Hopewell is home to several dozen Sears kit houses. A number of years ago, prominent kit house researcher Rose Thornton challenged those claims stating that many of the houses that were listed as Sears houses were not from Sears. As you can imagine, the kerfuffle that ensued made for hurt feelings all around. I personally haven't studied all of the houses that Hopewell claims to be Sears houses. But of the ones that I've seen, most of them are clearly not houses from the Sears Modern Homes catalog. Absent some documentation showing that they are custom models built from plans and materials provided by Sears Roebuck, I would agree that they are not Sears houses. That said, Hopewell is home to at least ten houses that are Sears kit houses and this Hawthorne is one of them. Thornton even highlighted it in a post she did about the real-deal Sears houses in Hopewell.

In trying to identify the Hawthorne, we can start with the front of the house. The Hawthorne has a shed dormer on the second floor that extends almost the entire width of the house. The dormer doesn't extend to the ridge line at the top of the roof. Instead, it ends a few feet below it as seen below.

This kind of detail, like where the top of the shed dormer lands on the roof, is often overlooked but can help you differentiate between an actual Sears Hawthorne and a house that looks "kind of" like it. You can see that the dormer has three evenly spaced windows. Those second floor windows are narrower in width than the first floor windows, another important detail.

206 Prince George Ave - Hopewell, VA - Sears Hawthorne
Image courtesy of Estately

The front door sits at the front of a small vestibule with a sloping roof. This entry vestibule contains a spotting feature - a small window that is found only on one side of the vestibule (assuming the vestibule still exists which was not the case with the Hawthorne in Hartsdale). You can better see that window in the vestibule in the image below.

206 Prince George Ave - Hopewell, VA - Sears Hawthorne
Image courtesy of Estately

From this view, you can also see another spotting feature - the side door with porch on the right hand side of the house. The reason for this side porch and its location can better be seen in the image below of the floor plan for the first floor of the Hawthorne.

First Floor - Sears Hawthorne (1932)

According to the text in the catalog, this side door was provided as a way to avoid having "tradesmen" from "intruding". Intruding on what Sears? In any case, placing the kitchen at the front of the house was very unusual for a Sears kit house and I suspect that's true of most homes from this era or most any other time period. In the image above, I've highlighted the window in the vestibule and the side door. Look for that side door as I haven't seen that on any of the look-a-likes for the Hawthorne. The view of the kitchen below shows that side door from inside the house.

206 Prince George Ave - Hopewell, VA - Sears Hawthorne
Image courtesy of Estately

As we move from front to back, we can spot a couple more distinct elements of the Hawthorne. Most easily identifiable is the sizeable "garden" porch of the back of the house. That opens off the large living room and is largely contained under the roofline of the second floor. 

206 Prince George Ave - Hopewell, VA - Sears Hawthorne
Image courtesy of Estately

If you are trying to identify this house from the street (or Google Maps Streetview), you may not be able to clearly see this porch on the back of the house. But look for the tell tale opening for the porch towards the back of the house as noted in the graphic below. Also, take note of the difference in where the roofline for the second floor ends on the front of the house as compared to the back. This is a difference you should be able to spot with a good view of the side of the house.

Because the porch extends slightly beyond the second floor roofline, the difference between the front and back rooflines on the other side of the house would not be as pronounced. However, this house has a small addition on the other side of the house so we can't see how that would have originally looked.

If you can get inside a possible Hawthorne, another spotting feature is this little nook off the master bedroom on the second floor.

Second Floor - Sears Hawthorne (1932)

You can see how the nook provides access to closets on either side and through to a window that overlooks the back of the house. A large master bedroom and generous closets - are we sure this is a Sears kit house? Want to see more photos of the interior and exterior of the Hawthorne in Hopewell? You can view those at Estately.

I hope this short review of the 1930s version of the Hawthorne has provided you with enough details to be able to identify one on your own. Remember, the details matter so study the catalog images closely and note how well the houses you are studying match up. By paying attention to those key elements, you'll avoid misidentifying houses as they did in Hopewell. If you think you've found an example of the Sears Hawthorne (or any other kit house), share it with us in the comments!