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Old and new Modern amenities blended with historic charm of Sears home in Glen Ellyn.

Article Excerpt
Byline: Deborah Donovan Daily Herald Homes Writer

Sears houses have charm and a romantic mystique, but sometimes drawbacks make it difficult for them to thrive in 21st century suburbia.

First, most of them are rather small, at least by today's standards.

Second, they are old. The Chicago company sold kit homes by mail order from 1908 to 1940.

Third, the kitchens are dated, and they're a little short on bathrooms.

An Elsmore model built in Glen Ellyn in 1922 has a new lease on life thanks to David and Rayanne Thompson, who rehabbed and expanded the home, and Jim and Maureen Gaines, who eventually bought the house from the Thompsons.

In fact, the home came very close to joining the teardown craze in the village just south of the railroad tracks and not far from downtown.

When you remodel a house with your own hands as the Thompsons did, you learn a lot about it and the families who lived there.

And you learn about Sears houses in general. For example, the...

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