15. Sears home kits were kits that were sold by the retailer Sears that included all of the parts necessary to build a home. The kits, once purchased, would be delivered via railcar and then by truck to the site of the new home where the new owner would assemble them, often with the help of others. The service lasted for more than 30 years, beginning in 1908, and more than 70,000 homes of this type were built. Home kits were available with many different add-ons, such as kits that included additional materials for plumbing fixtures or higher-quality or specialty items. In their peak, a large number of competing home kit suppliers existed, and many of them used very similar designs. The program ended in the early 1940s, although most of the homes built using the kits still exist today. Finding these homes can be quite a challenge as there is no official record of which homes were built using the Sears kits. Home kits of this type are no longer available in the United States, although many home builders offer a similar approach in offering model homes that can be purchased through the builder and then customized by the buyer. Although still long off from reality, 3D printing technology may allow home builders of the future to create any home they desire, in a way using the idea that was started by Sears in the early 1900s. What inference can be made about homes built from these kits?​