Campaign to save DC Sears kit house

Sears “Fullerton” kit house in a 1920 catalog (l); the Jesse Baltimore house today (r)

On 23 September, the Washington, DC Historic Preservation Review Board (HPRB) will rule on whether to include the Jesse Baltimore House in the DC Inventory of Historic Sites. The Jesse Baltimore House is a 1925 Sears Roebuck “Fullerton” kit house located at 5136 Sherier Place NW in the Palisades neighborhood. The DC Department of Parks and Recreation is currently seeking a permit to raze this historically significant house, which is actually owned by the National Parks Service.

The Jesse Baltimore House, DC’s most intact and original Fullerton, is a monument to DC’s blue collar builders of kit houses and the “streetcar suburbs” within the city. It has a rich history, documented with hitherto unseen photographs of the depression era Palisades.

Historic Washington Architecture is the organization trying to save the house. They write:

This is going to be an uphill battle in the spirit of “Don’t Tear It Down.” We are asking all friends of DC history and preservation to take a look at the website and, if you agree that the cause is worthy, to send a letter or e-mail in support of the nomination to the HPRB. Detailed contact information is presented on the Web pages.

Address your letters to Tersh Boasberg, Chair, Historic Preservation Review Board, at historic.preservation@dc.gov.