Instant House: Homart Homes

The Sears Homes of the 1950s
Even though Sears ended the "Modern Homes" program during the depression, post-World War II prosperity (and housing shortage) convinced them to give it another go. This led to the "Homart" series of homes. Unlike the "Modern Homes" program where the houses were pre-cut, the Homart homes were factory built in sections, much like Gunnison homes. The brochure touts that the homes were "Factory-built in ready-to-join sections", and claims that it only takes three men three days to assemble one full house. Homart homes could be built with or without a basement, as you can see from the examples below.

The Homes
While the Sears Modern Homes were many and varied, Homart homes only offered five different sizes of the same basic house--there were minor variations for each plan depending on if you ordered the "basement" or "non-basement" version. The homes were all exactly 24 feet and 7 1/4 inches wide. The biggest Homart was only 36 feet 7 1/4 inches long. The smallest was a mere 24 feet and 7 1/4 inches long (this house was essentially a square). The houses did NOT come with bath or kitchen fixtures, nor did they include plumbing, wiring or heating. But, in true Sears fashion, you could order these packages as easily as you ordered the house. Enjoy the following grabs.

Homart Catalog Cover from 1949.

Second-largest Homart of the non-basement variety.

The biggest Homart of the "with-basement" variety.

Cutaway view of a Homart.

The catalog has a brief "how-to-assemble" section. I think this was more to appease skeptical buyers rather than to provide actual instructions. The catalog indicates that detailed instructions accompanied the house.