Sears Catalog Homes

This home is located in my old neighborhood of North Woodside. I always admired this cedar sided home and was surprised to find out that it was a Sear's Kit Home. Usually, Sear's homes in Silver Spring look more like bungalows and this is one of the only examples of this type that I know of in this area. When I lived in North Woodside over 25 years ago the home was run down and in need of repairs. But it has since been lovingly restored and shines like a jewel.

There are quite a few Sears homes in this neighborhood. Sears catalog homes are found in many neighborhood in our area. The homes were usually ordered directly from Sears and the home plans and all of the parts were shipped by rail. For this reason most Sears homes are found near a railroad line. You can find them in towns such as Takoma Park, Hyattsville and Rockville as well as Silver Spring and the District of Columbia. It was not unusual for the buyer to construct the home on their own but most purchasers hired a local contractor to put the home up for them. The homes are unusually well built and durable. Most are all wood construction but Sears did sell a variety of homes including some high end homes that featured brick and stone.

Is your home a Sears home? You can go the the Sears Archives and check out the various models and years that they were offered for sale. However, you have to be careful as there were other stores offering catalog homes in competition to Sears. JC Penny and Montgomery Wards also sold home but not as many and not for as many years as Sears. Many of these homes were very similar to those sold by Sears.

Oh, almost forgot. In the catalog this home was called The Cedars and sold for $2236.00

Ice cream in Silver Spring

Serious topic today. I don't mess around when the subject matter is ice cream. 24 years ago my wife and I lived in North Woodside. We loved the neighborhood because we could walk to the various stores in the area and to downtown SS (had a Hecht's and J. C. Penny back in those days) for shopping. It was for us a big treat when York Castle opened up in the little stip mall on Georgia Ave. right before 16th street peels off of it. This was not your mama's ice cream store. The owner came from Jamica and the store featured an outstanding assortment of tropical fruit ice cream-not to be found anywhere else. We loved to walk there with our dog Hero on summer evenings to try out new flavors. Well, York Castle is still there serving up tropical delights that you have never heard of, and after 24 year we still drop in for ice cream. There is an whole array of tropical flavors to try. My favorite flavor over the years has been the fresh coconut and when peaches are in season, the fresh peach ice cream is to die for. But you have to try them all at least once. If you have never been to York Castle then you just don't know where the best ice cream is in the DC area.