335 MARGUERITE STREET
HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
In April of 1928, Leonard and Gladys Schmidt purchased a kit home from the Sears Catalog. Common at the time, the Sears Roebuck and Company marketed over 400 homes by mail order catalog. As America’s network of trains became increasingly well-connected, delivering homes by train became equally as popular. Elgin’s geographic location along both a river and popular railroad line, thanks to our proximity to Chicago, it made Elgin a highly viable option for homes-by-train delivery. Adding to this fact was the Elgin Watch Factory, which by the early 1900s was the nation’s largest watch maker. All of those factory employees needed housing, however, and the affordability of Sears homes compounded their popularity.
After completing the construction of their kit home in 1931, the Schmidt’s lived at 335 Marguerite until 1992.
ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
335 Marguerite Street is an excellent example of a Bungalow that also happens to be a Sears catalog home in “The Collingwood” style. Sears homes were exceedingly popular in the early decades of the 20th century as materials were cheaper to prefabricate as well as ship longer distances.
Features common of a Bungalow seen here include its height of one and one-half stories, the hipped façade dormer, a partial-width front porch, original wood siding on the exterior and multi-lite over one wooden windows.
TIMELINE OF PREVIOUS OWNERS
Sources: 1997 Heritage Plaque Application; Audio: TextAloud