‘Sears Modern Home’ for sale in Vienna

WASHINGTON — Between 1908 and 1940, Sears, Roebuck and Co. sold more than 70,000 Sears Modern Home kit houses through catalogs  that were delivered — unassembled — to buyers across the country.

Long & Foster has listed one of the surviving Sears Homes, considered a historic property, in Vienna, Virginia.

The three-bedroom house, on 1.05 acres, is at 2601 Babcock Road.

Long & Foster says it was constructed around 1922 by Charles Babcock, a former Vienna mayor. Since its construction, it has only been owned by one other family.

The house was delivered to the Vienna train station on two flatbed railroad cars, including all the wood, boards and materials cut to size. It has all the nails, screws, lights, siding, bathroom fixtures, and even “the charming china cabinet” advertised in the catalog.

The blueprints of the Sears Modern Home even provided suggested locations for furniture, like twin beds in the master bedroom and a piano and Sears SIlvertone radio in the living room.

The Babcock Road Sears Modern Home originally cost $1,600. Long & Foster has the property listed at $850,000.

You can see the listing here.

Jeff Clabaugh

Jeff Clabaugh has spent 20 years covering the Washington region's economy and financial markets for WTOP as part of a partnership with the Washington Business Journal, and officially joined the WTOP newsroom staff in January 2016.

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