1930s Sears kit house and streamlined thirties coupe - real world modular building and car MOC - finished IRL 12/18/24

[Murdoch17]

For those of you who don't know, the department store Sears (remember them?) used to sell homes through mail order catalogs as do-it-yourself kits from 1908 to 1942. Over the years, they had 370 styles available, and ~70,000 homes were built over that timeframe. They had optional extras for each style including electricity, indoor plumbing, central heating, and telephone hookup. You can read more and even flip through numerous catalogs here on Wikipedia. The house I've made is not based on any specific model or year, but it *looks* like a 1920s / 1930s kit house to me, so thus it became one.

This house is a super heavily modified version of a Brick City Depot design, specifically this Winter Village house that I bought instructions for over a decade ago. I updated the design quite a bit, while leaving enough of the early-2010's charm of the original MOC. I also added a much-needed back half to the model with stairs to the upper level and a chimney.

The building folds open dollhouse style. Inside the front we have the entryway / foyer, and living room, with bedroom upstairs.

In the back we have the dining room and stairway, all with the proper furniture for each room.

The modular footprint is removable from the building.

I like the late-1930s car from 2015 San Diego Comic Con set 'Action Comics 1 - Superman', but don't particularly like the colors - or the insane price! So I used the instructions and built my own version in dark blue. The car has a number of changes from the set, but it still seats one figure at the wheel.

The rear of the car.

Inside the car, featuring the drivers seat.

 

...apologies for the dust everywhere. I don't know where it came from, I just built this MOC last week!

Thanks for viewing!

Edited December 18, 2024 by Murdoch17

[Murdoch17]

Just testing to see if the Brick City Depot - inspired house looks good on a removable modular base, which was borrowed from another model. In the process, I updated the pictures of the model in the first post because I changed the MOC around a bit. I also added the digital version of the car that is already built in real life, as seen above in the main post.

Thoughts?

[FullBrickDev]

I like the pillars and the roof on this one! It's an interesting build because it shows/teaches history through Lego.

[Murdoch17]

'Sprawling on the fringes of the city
In geometric order
An insulated border
In-between the bright lights
And the far unlit unknown
Growing up it all seems so one-sided
Opinions all provided
The future pre-decided
Detached and subdivided
In the mass production zone
Nowhere is the dreamer
Or the misfit so alone
Subdivisions
In the high school halls
In the shopping malls
Conform or be cast out...'

(part of the song 'Subdivisions' by Rush)

I was looking at color swaps of the Brick City Depot house I modified while the above song was playing. It struck a cord with me, so this MOD of a MOC was created.

On 9/10/2024 at 2:20 PM, FullBrickDev said:

I like the pillars and the roof on this one! It's an interesting build because it shows/teaches history through Lego.

Thanks for you comment @FullBrickDev, but those pillars aren't my design - those are part of the original Brick City Depot model.

[Feuer Zug]

Another interesting historical find. I'm a car guy, so I find it the stand out piece of this. Nicely done.

[Murdoch17]

3 hours ago, Feuer Zug said:

Another interesting historical find. I'm a car guy, so I find it the stand out piece of this. Nicely done.

Thank you @Feuer Zug! That car MOC is very well liked on my Flickr - 21 fave's on the main photo and eight each on the other two since I uploaded them in May. I seem to have struck a cord with my recolor of Leewan's MOC.

[Murdoch17]

@FullBrickDev @Feuer Zug The model is done in real life! (I've tagged you two because you commented before)

See the first post for more details / pictures, including a NEW car!

Edited December 18, 2024 by Murdoch17