Between 1908 and 1940, Sears, Roebuck, and Co. sold 70,000 homes through their catalogs. These were called Kit Homes, and they ranged from simple one-story cottages to elaborate two-story homes with columns and fireplaces. The house arrived in pieces in a boxcar. And they helped spark the first wave of suburbia. Host Kevin O'Connor speaks with Rosemary Thorton, author of The Houses That Sears Built, and Avi Friedman, author of Pre-Fab Living, about this then-groundbreaking concept. How did the kit home answer a booming need for affordable and modern housing? And why did their popularity disappear? And is there a place for a modern kit home today as we face yet another housing crisis?
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Urban Resilience
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Life On Mars?
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The (Second) Rise of Concrete
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Season 2: Premiering May 13, 2021
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Construction Waste: A Dumpster Dive
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Electricity: What’s Current and What’s Next?
Toilets: Humanity’s Greatest Invention?
Building Science: If These Walls Could Talk
Roofs: Coming Out On Top
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