Sears catalog house south of Tamaqua renovated, at center of enclave's revival

Sep. 5—TAMAQUA — Jim Hain believes his grandparents, Charles and Catherine Houser, ordered a new house from a Sears, Roebuck and Co. catalog in the late 1920s or early 1930s.

"The house was complete, and they had moved into it by the time I was born in 1933," recalled Hain, who is 90 and lives on a farm in New Tripoli, Lehigh County.

Growing up, Hain had often heard the story of how the Sears house came to be constructed in the family enclave, a secluded 10-acre tract in Walker Twp. locally known as Houser's Crossing.

"It was delivered to the Tamaqua railroad station," said Hain, a retired engineer. "My grandparents picked it up with their horse-and-buggy in Tamaqua, and built it themselves."

Time had taken its toll on the Sears home, but the more than 90-year-old structure has gotten a new lease on life under new owners, Oliver and Carolee Smith, of New Tripoli.

The Smiths, who bought the property from Jim Hain, did a top-to-bottom renovation of the Sears house.

Under the expert hands of Amish craftsmen, the house was made structurally sound and modernized while retaining its original character.

Carolee Smith, a retired human relations administrator, furnished the house with period antiques.

In addition to the Sears house, the other buildings on the property are available for short- and long-term rentals.

"The Sears house is frozen in time," Carolee Smith said. "We're excited for people to learn about its history."

Single-family living

About a century before internet shopping, there was the Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog.

Early in the 20th century, about 20% of American homes subscribed to the 1,400-page catalog that offered thousands of items for sale.

Consumers, particularly in rural areas, could order virtually anything that was available in Sears stores through the mail orders.

As incredible as it may seem, that included houses — and even buildings as large as schoolhouses.

In publications like Popular Mechanics, Sears ran advertisements that showed a photograph and floor plan of the various models available.

Under its Modern Homes Program, which started in 1908, Sears sold the concept of a dream home to middle class families when America was emerging as a world power.

Its catalog offered houses ranging from Cape Cods priced at around $1,000 to The Magnolia, a mansion priced at $5,840. In between was a stately Mission-style Alhambra for $2,674.

Once ordered, a kit containing basic structural materials already cut and fitted was shipped to the buyer, who was responsible for construction. Sears standardized materials like drywall and asphalt shingles to drive down costs.

Between 1908 and 1942, Sears sold an estimated 75,000 houses through its mail-order catalog.

"The company's simplistic home designs changed life forever," according to a history of the program. "Most early-20th Century families lived in multigenerational houses, but the Sears kit popularized newlywed homes and jumpstarted single-family living."

Following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, as the nation entered World War II, the Sears homes program ended amid lumber shortages in 1942.

Historic revival

Granny Houser's Sears home is the centerpiece of a revival of Houser's Crossing, on the eastern edge of the state game lands on Wildcat Mountain.

The Smiths purchased the entire property, which had been in the Houser family for four generations. Included are several other houses on a tract that once featured an apple orchard and farm outbuildings.

"The Housers were self-sufficient," Carolee Smith said. "They raised crops, canned their own food and basically lived off the land."

The Village at Houser's Crossing has been designated an Anthracite Cultural Landmark, honoring the owners' commitment to historic revitalization.

"In 2021, Carolee Smith began the restoration of this over century-old small enclave which was part coal mine patch, part railroad patch and a four-generation private family village," the marker says. "Carolee's vision is to preserve the character and history while upscaling accommodations and amenities to serve our region's future visitors."

A crew shooting a movie, "Dream Devil," for Outhouse Production Films in Tamaqua, recently stayed at Houser's Crossing. Carolee Smith will appear in the movie as a beautician giving the star, Nick Turturro, of "Blue Bloods," a haircut in a Tamaqua barbershop.

Details on The Village at Houser's Crossing, including activities and amenities, are available at www.houserscrossing.com.

Contact the writer: rdevlin@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6007