The Sears No. 164, the sweet Dutch Colonial at 2 Taft Place, Dunkirk, NY, is currently for sale. The owners had an open house so Saint Jerome and I hopped in the car and made the hour or so drive from Tonawanda to Dunkirk. We thought it would be the best opportunity to photograph the street and some other mail-order houses in the neighborhood, including two other Sears houses, one on McKinley at Taft which can be considered part of group since it was built by Mr. Stapf. To refresh your memory, here is the post on John A. Stapf and his 8 Sears homes on Taft and round Taft Place in Dunkirk, NY:
Stapf Affection: Early Sears in Dunkirk
Dunkirk Part 1 is here:
All Roads Lead to Dunkirk
We'll start with 1 Taft Pl at the corner of Woodrow and Taft. This is a No. 225.
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| #225 from the 1914 Sears catalog. |
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| No. 225 at 1 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 1 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 1 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 1 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 1 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 1 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 1 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 1 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 1 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
2 Taft Place is the sweet No. 164 Dutch Colonial also at the corner of Taft and Woodrow. The owners were very gracious to us and showed us around the house and explained all the work they did over the years. I didn't take that many photos of the interior because the layout is very altered from the original floor plan and there are a ton available in the real estate listing (link below).
2 Taft Pl real estate listing on Zillow.
When the owners moved in 40 years ago, the house had been converted to a two-family home. They rented one half. After they bought the house, they removed the walls dividing the two apartments and stripped the remaining walls down to the lathe, preserving the original trim. They re-installed the wood trim they had. They also removed most of the original solid brass hardware, restored it and are now storing it in the basement. They left a few door knobs upstairs which were copper-plated. The garage is original to the house as far as they know.
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| No. 164 from the 1914 Sears catalog. |
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No. 164 at 2 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018
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| No. 164 at 2 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 164 at 2 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 164 at 2 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| Emerald door hardware at 2 Taft Place. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| Emerald design hardware from the 1912 Sears, Roebuck Building Material and Millwork catalog. |
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| No. 164 at 2 Taft Place corner of Taft and Woodrow. Garage. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
17 Taft Place is an Avondale on the other end of Taft near McKinley Ave.
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| No. 151, later known as the Avondale, from the 1914 Sears catalog. |
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| Avondale at 17 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| Avondale at 17 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| Avondale at 17 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| Avondale at 17 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| Avondale at 17 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
19 Taft Pl is a No. 113 on the corner of Taft Place and McKinley. Since it is on the corner, I could get some pretty good views of the side and back. I ended up taking a lot of photographs because it is not mentioned in the catalog and there are some alterations.
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| No. 113 from the 1914 Sears catalog. |
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| No. 113 at 19 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| No. 113 at 19 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| No. 113 at 19 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| No. 113 at 19 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| No. 113 at 19 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| No. 113 at 19 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| No. 113 at 19 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
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| No. 113 at 19 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
Across the street on the opposite corner of Taft Pl and McKinley is another No. 225. This one has the typical Western New York enclosed porch whereas the other 225 does not.
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| No. 225 at 24 Taft Place corner of Taft and McKinley. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 24 Taft Place corner of Taft and McKinley. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 24 Taft Place corner of Taft and McKinley. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 24 Taft Place corner of Taft and McKinley. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 24 Taft Place corner of Taft and McKinley. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
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| No. 225 at 24 Taft Place corner of Taft and McKinley. Photo Sarah Mullane, 2018 |
Next to the No. 225 at 22 Taft Pl is the Sherburne, probably one of my favorites on this block.
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| No. 187, later known the the Sherburne, from the 1914 Sears catalog. |
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| The Sherburne at 22 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| The Sherburne at 22 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| The Sherburne at 22 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| The Sherburne at 22 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| The Sherburne at 22 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 (windows of the 225 to the left) |
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| The Sherburne at 22 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| The Sherburne at 22 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 (also the rear of the 225 next door) |
Not quite last is 24 Taft Pl on which the most incredible, unique designs Sears offered: the 124. Unfortunately this No. 124 is missing its front columns, but it's still amazing (at least in my opinion).
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| No. 124 from the 1914 Sears catalog. |
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| No. 124 at 24 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| No. 124 at 24 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| No. 124 at 24 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| No. 124 at 24 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| No. 124 at 24 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018 |
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| No. 124 at 24 Taft Pl. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. Good view of the bay window and the side of the Sherburne next door. |
Now for the bonus round! A Sears Glyndon! Originally No. 156. This house is located at 513 McKinley Ave, facing Taft Place. It's another John A. Stapf build as can be seen in some advertisements.
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| No. 156, later known as the Glyndon. from the 1914 Sears catalog |
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| The Glyndon at 513 McKinley Ave. Photo Sarah Mullane 2018. |
This is the end of the known Sears homes of John A. Stapf. I have a couple more houses to add in Dunkirk, Part 3!
