Downers Grove, Illinois: Sears Catalog Home Capital of the World
In its print catalog heyday, Sears sold mail-order do-it-yourself houses. The citizens of Downers Grove were its best customers. The houses do not have "Sears" labels.
- Address:
- 5100 Main St., Downers Grove, IL
- Directions:
- Most of the homes were clustered in the neighborhood around the train station, which is on Main St. six blocks south of US Hwy 34/E. Ogden Ave. Private property. Visible from street.
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I was perusing the list of the "Gone but not Forgotten" sites in Illinois and discovered that this listing was presented as "Gone." This is not the case; many of the Sears catalog homes are still in the immediate area. I followed up with the Planning Manager of Downers Grove and he assured me that a multitude of the Sears catalog home are still standing. A brochure is available on the town website that enables interested individuals to take a walking or driving tour of the homes.
[Joseph D. Kubal, 07/18/2021]Sadly, they have all been knocked down. A gas station replaced a few of them, and the rest of the lots now have new homes built on them. The last home was knocked down in maybe 2007. Very sad, they were cool.
[Ben Perdue, 04/14/2015]The village of Downers Grove, IL wants tourists. Their lure is an unusual concentration of Sears do-it-yourself homes.
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