Behind the Scenes - Sears Catalog Homes

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I have been fascinated with the Sears Catalog homes for many years. Way before the days of Ikea and online shopping, people could pick out a house from a catalog and order it. All the pieces and parts arrived by railcar, and it was ready for assembly on your lot. It was a brilliant marketing plan for a retailer who sold household goods and appliances. They also dabbled in real estate and loans over the years. Check out the links for more information on the history of these homes, many of which are still standing in communities across America. From 1908-1940, Sears and Roebuck sold over 70,000 of these.

There are quite a few of these homes still standing in Hopewell, Virginia. We did a driving tour of the neighborhoods. The historic and nostalgic qualities of a bygone era are still apparent, while many have been refurbished for this generation. You can also find lots of groups on Facebook dedicated to preserving and showcasing these homes in a hosts of different states.

When I started my Delanie Fitzgerald series, I wanted her house to be interesting, so a Sears Catalog home, the 1939 Yates model was perfect. I needed a house for a single professional. In the novels, Delanie likes the historic details like the boards and building materials that are stamped with the model number and assembly codes. Delanie’s home is a two story, and the prominent feature on the front is the fireplace.

I took the liberty of putting Delanie’s house in the Winterpock neighborhood of Chesterfield County, Virginia. (I don’t think there are any catalog homes in the area.) A friend from church who is a retired state trooper did let me know after he read the book that there are some Sears homes in the Bon Air neighborhood of the county.

Check out the Delanie Fitzgerald Mysteries: Secret Lives and Private Eyes, The Tulip Shirt Murders, and Glitter, Glam, and Contraband. Delanie and her pals also appear in “Strut Your Mutt” in To Fetch a Villain.

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25 Things about My Sleuth - Delanie Fitzgerald of Falcon Investigations

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Secret Lives and Private Eyes is the first in my Delanie Fitzgerald mystery series. She is a private investigator who lives in Central Virginia. And I’m often asked about what my protagonist is really like. Here’s my top-twenty-five list about my spunky sleuth.

  1. Delanie is a redhead like 1-2% of the human population (and me). She has determination, grit, and a spunky spirit.
  2. She drives a Mustang, and she calls it “Black Beauty.”
  3. My private investigator graduated from VCU (Virginia Commonwealth University) with a degree in business.
  4. She lives in a Sears catalog home from 1939. Back then, people ordered kits from the catalog, and all of the pieces arrived by rail, ready to assemble. Hers is the Yates model. Many of the boards in her bungalow still have the Sears catalog number stamped on them.
  5. Delanie's bungalow has an upstairs. Her bedroom and living space are on the first floor. She may have a remodeling project in her future.
  6. Her partner is computer guru (and hacker), Duncan Reynolds.
  7. She shares her office space with Duncan and his English bulldog Margaret.
  8. One of Delanie’s guilty pleasures is her junk food habit. She also orders a lot of take-out from the nearby restaurants.
  9. When she’s not sleuthing or trailing a suspect, she likes to stay home in her comfy jammies and watch reality TV.
  10. Growing up, Delanie had a major crush on ‘80s rock star, Johnny Velvet from The Vibes.
  11. Her middle name is Lynn.
  12. Delanie has two older brothers. Steve is a Chesterfield County police lieutenant, and Robbie is a bouncer at a club in downtown Richmond.
  13. She used her share of the money from her father’s estate to open Falcon Investigations.
  14. Delanie chose the name for her company in honor of Dashiell Hammett’s The Maltese Falcon.
  15. Her client, Chaz Wellington Smith, owns a strip club in the downtown area near where Edgar Allan Poe worked in Richmond.
  16. Delanie had never seen an alpaca up close until she encountered Myrtle on John Bailey’s farm in Amelia County.
  17. Delanie’s best friend from school is hair stylist, Paisley Ford.
  18. Though she prefers the comfort of jeans and T-shirts, Delanie has a wardrobe full of outfits and shoes to create just the right look when she’s sleuthing.
  19. Her favorite drink is iced coffee, and her go-to treat is always chocolate.
  20. Delanie and Duncan usually investigate cheating spouses. She is thrilled when she lands an assignment from tell-all author, Tish Taylor, to track down leads on rocker Johnny Velvet, who purportedly died in a fiery car crash in the ‘80s.
  21. While the story is fiction, many of the locales that Delanie visits are real. Some of these include: Amelia County, Belle Island, Byrd Park, Church Hill, The Diamond (Home of the Richmond Flying Squirrels), Kanawha Canal, Library of Virginia, Main Street Station, Shockoe Slip, Tredegar Iron Works, and Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Readers who have been to Central Virginia will recognize some of the street and place names.
  22. Delanie got her first name from my niece's friend, and her last name is in honor of F. Scott Fitzgerald, one of my favorite writers.
  23. Delanie's home and office are in Chesterfield County, Virginia. I liked the location because it's close to the city and rural parts of the state. It's also within driving distance to the beach, mountains, and Washington, D.C.
  24. She loves a variety of music, but rock 'n' roll is her favorite. A great escape is to blast the radio with the windows down.
  25. While she has enough culinary skills to survive, cooking is not her forte, and she often forgets to keep the pantry and fridge stocked.