Bungalow revamp makes for cozy living in Zelienople
ZELIENOPLE — Looking at the house at 330 E. Spring St. wouldn’t immediately give off the impression that the structure was assembled from a building kit circa 1928.
With two floors and a basement, the house consists of three bedrooms, two baths, a family room and a living room on the ground floor, as well a little study nook on the upper floor.
The outside of the house welcomes visitors inside with its large front porch with yellow walls, which is flanked by pillars accented in white.
It was the exterior of the Sears & Roebuck Bungalow that first drew Donna Zeigler’s interest in the house, but it was the remodel of the interior that led her and her husband, Brad Zeigler, to choose to live there instead of flipping it.
“The very first thing is I can remember years ago walking around Zelie with my sister, and I said I really love this house,” Zeigler said. “It was really the front porch and the doorways. It's all plate glass and all original. Plus, it's angled, it's not like a box house.”
Zeigler commented that although the home was assembled on-site from what is essentially a building kit, it is spacious, and can host around 10 people comfortably.
She said a historian at the Zelienople Historical Society estimated that the house was assembled some time between the first and second World Wars, and it would have come in packages that were put together on-site.
Although the house maintained its 1920s aesthetic when the Zeiglers bought it, the remodel was a must. Zeigler said there were holes in floors and in the drywall, which the couple fixed up with the help of contractors.
Zeigler described the house as “cozy,” and said that she regularly hosts a group Bible study inside.
“The rooms aren’t huge, but the ceilings are higher than new homes, so they’re about 8-and-a-half feet tall. Some of the walls are 12- to 15-foot wide,” Zeigler said. “Every week we have at least eight to 10 people for the Bible study.
“We put in a banquette with cabinets and lighted cabinets above for little knick knacks, because that's where the dining room table is.”
Additionally, the Zeiglers’ home has a backyard where they can host even more people.
“The yard is nice and private with a big deck and everything. It's nice to have to entertain back there,” Zeigler said.
Fun Facts
√ Frank W. Kushel, a Sears manager of its catalog building materials in 1906, is credited with suggesting that the Sears, Roebuck and Co. assemble kits and sell entire houses through mail order.
√ In 1908, Sears issued its first specialty catalog for houses, “Book of Modern Homes and Building Plans,” featuring 44 house styles ranging in price from $360 – $2,890.
√ Shipped by railroad boxcar, and then usually trucked to a home site, the average Sears Modern Home kit had about 25 tons of materials, with more than 30,000 parts.
√ Plumbing, electrical fixtures, and heating systems were options that could be ordered at additional cost.
√ Sears offered roughly 370 models over the 32 years it sold houses by catalog, with an average of 80 to 100 models in each catalog.
√ There was no single architect for the Sears designs.
√ There is no complete list of homes sold. Among cities with documented larger sales was Pittsburgh and its surrounding suburbs, with 1,000 (696 in Pittsburgh itself).
√ From 1908 to 1942, Sears sold more than 70,000 homes in North America, by the company's count. Sears Modern Homes were purchased primarily by customers in East Coast and Midwest states, but have been located as far south as Florida, as far west as California, and as far north as Alaska and Canada.
Source: Wikipedia, Sears Archives
