Did you know that there might be eighty Sears Catalog mail-order houses in Villa Park? Many people saw the kits offered by Sears during the 1920's through the 1940's as an opportunity to join the ranks of homeowners. A few weeks after the customer selected a home and placed the order, two railway boxcars that contained about 30,000 pieces of house - everything from doorknobs and carved stairways to varnish and shingles - would arrive at the nearest train depot. In Villa Park, the drop off was at the Great Western railroad siding near the former Ovaltine factory.

The Villa Park Historical Preservation Commission has created a Resource Center at the Villa Park Historical Museum that is available for the community to use. The collection includes:

• Information about Sears mail order houses
• Architectural house styles
• How to research your home
• and more...

For more information about Sears Catalog Homes please visit:

Sears, Roebuck and Co. - Sears Catalog Homes Web site
"From 1908–1940, Sears, Roebuck and Company sold more than 100,000 homes through their mail-order Modern Homes program. Over that time Sears designed 447 different housing styles, from the elaborate multistory Ivanhoe, with its elegant French doors and art glass windows, to the simpler Goldenrod, which served as a quaint, three-room and no-bath cottage for summer vacationers."

The Old House Web - Sears Kit Houses Web site
"More than 75,000 Sears kit homes were built in the U.S. between 1908 and 1940. This special section explores the Sears mail-order home phenomenon."