Villa Park library to host program on history of Sears ready-cut houses

Do you love old houses? Do you enjoy hearing the hidden stories of old houses? Come to the Villa Park Public Library, 305 S. Ardmore Ave., for a program at 7 p.m. Oct. 2, to indulge this interest by exploring Sears Homes of Chicagoland.

Lara Solonickne, creator of the blog Sears Home of Chicagoland, will present the history of Sears ready-cut houses, what a Sears house is (and isn’t), how to authenticate one and common misconceptions about these houses.

From 1908 to 1942, Sears Roebuck and Company sold about 65,000 ready-to-build kit homes through catalogs. Despite the rash of tear downs in the Chicago area, some of these houses have managed to survive. See undiscovered treasures that are hidden in plain sight, many in Villa Park and neighboring communities.

Registration for this program is required. For more information, visit the library’s website at vppl.info or call 630-834-1164.