City Designates Craftsman Style “Mail-Order” Home as a Local Historic Landmark

The City of Joliet recently designated 804 W. Marion Street as a local historic landmark as well as a contributing property within the Catalog Home Local Thematic Historic District and Classic Bungalow Local Thematic Historic District.

The circa 1920 one-story brick home is an authentic and highly intact "mail-order" Craftsman style bungalow from the Sears, Roebuck and Company. Between 1908 and 1940 Sears sold upwards of 50,000 houses in more than 400 different models through its Modern Homes division, becoming the nation's largest and most popular purveyor of factory-produced mail-order homes. This house represents an important period of the technological and social innovation in the history of American housing, as well as the pattern of the suburban-style residential development that occurred citywide during the early 20th century in response to a housing shortage and migration.

The house is also a high-style example of a brick Craftsman style bungalow with its exposed roof beams; triangular knee braces; deep, wide and distinctive porches with massive brick piers with limestone detailing; quadruple wooden columns topping the brick porch piers; solid brick porch balustrades with limestone coping and decorative details; and "oriental" peaked roof lines.

The property is owned by Mr. Billy E. Jones, who has lived here since 2005. There are 130 locally designated historic properties in the City of Joliet.