Sears Mortgages of Yonkers, New York - The Early Years

The Official Seal of the City of Yonkers
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

After completing my first round of searches for Sears mortgages in Yonkers, NY for the years starting with 1926, I turned my attention to the previous set of mortgage records which covered from 1918 - 1925. While there are not as many Sears mortgages in this time period, I've still been able to track down a number of houses from these records. As with the later mortgages, this is still a work in progress but I thought it would be helpful to share the numbers on the houses that have been found so far along with a few examples. Let's take a look at the numbers.

Sears Mortgages of Yonkers, New York - Update

The Official Seal of the City of Yonkers
Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Earlier this year, I shared the initial results of my research into Sears mortgages for houses in Yonkers, New York for the time period between 1926 - 1932. Since that time, I've continued to do more research on the mortgages I had not previously connected to a house and a handful of additional ones that I've found since January 2016. As I was working on those mortgages again recently, I thought it would be a good time to share a progress report with updated numbers and a few more examples of houses that I've been able to authenticate using the mortgages.

5000 Sears Houses

48 Ridge Rd - Yonkers, NY - Sears Rembrandt
Image courtesy of the City of Yonkers, NY 

Exactly 4 months ago, I reported that the national database of Sears houses had passed the 4,000 house mark. I'm pleased to report that today, the list has grown to over 5,000 houses. Many of the houses that have been added over the past 4 months have been authenticated via mortgage and deed records, like this Sears Rembrandt in Yonkers, NY. Almost 40% of the houses on the list are now considered authenticated using methods ranging from property records to blueprints to personal correspondence with Sears. Help us grow the list by sharing any Sears houses that you know of in the comments below.

Sears Winthrop in Commerce Township, Michigan

When I reviewed the Sears mortgages in Oakland County, Michigan, I discovered exactly one house in Commerce Township, Michigan. This wasn't entirely surprisingly as Commerce Township was primarily a farming community during the period that Sears was selling houses with mortgages. But there was a railroad line that ran through southern Commerce Township and there were areas that had been platted around some of the many lakes in Commerce. It was in one of these platted lakeside subdivisions where we found this Sears Winthrop.

Welcome Atlas Obscura Readers!

If you landed here from the Atlas Obscura article about kit houses, check out these links to learn more about what we do and about the history of kit houses.

• In the Beginning: How we got started!
• The Great Sears Paper Trail: Learn how we use documents, some almost 100 years old, to find Sears houses. 
• Sears Mortgages of Washington DC: One of our biggest research projects that led to the discovery of a lot of big kit houses!
• Sears Houses of Massapequa Park, New York - Grand Boulevard: One of our projects to document Sears houses around the United States. If you are interested in seeing many examples of Sears houses, check this out!
• The Lost Sears Houses of Hazel Park, Michigan: An in-depth exploration of streetcar suburbs and kit houses.

After you visit the blog, join the Sears Modern Homes Facebook page to see many more examples of kit houses from Sears and other kit house companies. Interested in reading more? Check out the kit house blogs linked under "More about Catalog and Kit Homes" on the right hand side of the page. Thank you for visiting!