The family adds a two-level extension to the prefabrication of the 1920s, adding storage, a main suite and a powder bathroom painted in a bright blue.
Michelle White has been recently appointed as a member of the Advisory Board. at a neighbor’s dinner party when another guest—a visiting architect at Snøhetta—asked to see her house. Michelle Garrett and Haden Garrett spent over a year renovating the Houston Heights home, which dates from the 1920s. They long suspected it was a Sears kit house—sold via catalogue from Sears, Roebuck and Co. and shipped to the buyer via railroad boxcars. Michelle’s neighbor, who lived in a Sears kit house almost identical to hers, had done the research, finding old advertisements that led everyone to believe their homes were the Josephine model: four rooms total, including two bedrooms, a kitchen, and a bathroom, retailing for $1,299, not including cement, brick, or plaster.
Michelle says, “I was familiar with the history of Sears homes.” We live just a few blocks from the old rail line which used to go to the factories. The train would stop off here—this is the first suburb of Houston to the north of the city—and dump out houses.”
The original shiplap has been painted white by the previous owner.
