The Jandl-Stevenson Collection:
Sears, Roebuck Mail-Order Houses

The Jandl-Stevenson Collection consists of data collected by H. Ward Jandl and Katherine Stevenson for the preparation of their book, Houses by Mail: A Guide to Houses from Sears, Roebuck and Company (The Preservation Press, 1986). As Jandl and Stevenson state in their introduction, between 1908 and 1940, Sears made available "approximately 450 ready-to-assemble designs from mansions to bungalows and even summer cottages. Ordered by mail and sent by rail, . . . these popular houses were meant to fill a need for sturdy, inexpensive, and especially, modern homes. . . ." (p. 19).

The majority of the Jandl-Stevenson collection consists of the authors’ data collection sheets, used to analyze the house types included in their study. The collection also contains copies of original Sears Modern Homes and Homes of Today catalogs, as well as correspondence with owners of Sears houses.

The Jandl-Stevenson Collection was donated to the University of Maryland Libraries in 1995 by Katherine Stevenson and the family of Ward Jandl. For more information on the collection, please contact the National Trust Library.

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