Whitley Family House | Brandon County, MS | c. 1917 or 1919
Locals have driven by this home and lamented its deteriorated condition for more than 30 years. Like a sad sentinel, this local landmark holds the story of one Mississippi family who grew up within its walls. But it also holds the story of kit homes, like so many others of this time, that were ordered from a catalog and shipped here by train to be assembled piece by piece on site.
What is a Kit Home?
As early as 1902, manufacturers were designing and delivering homes in kits across the U.S. on rail lines that were now reaching every corner of the country. Suddenly, a wide variety of designs in ready-to-build homes were accessible to would-be homeowners in rural and urban settings alike. Of the kit home manufacturers that emerged in the early 1900s, one stepped ahead of the pack- Sears Roebuck & Co. Their catalog reached iconic status in the American home during this era, offering a wide variety of household items and materials that soon included entire kits of almost 400 different designs. As railroad shipping networks expanded, Sears’ ability to reach new customers with new products did too.
Primarily shipped via railroad boxcars, these kits included most of the materials needed to build a house. Many of the home kits included the latest technology available to house buyers in the early part of the twentieth century, such as central heating, indoor plumbing, telephone, and electricity. Each kit came with a 75-page instruction book and contained 10,000-30,000 pieces which were marked to facilitate construction. Once delivered, many of these houses were assembled by the new homeowner, relatives, friends, and neighbors, in a fashion similar to the traditional barn-raisings of farming families. Other homeowners relied on local carpenters or contractors to assemble the houses. In some cases, Sears provided construction services to assemble the homes. Some builders and companies purchased houses directly from Sears to build model homes, speculative homes, or homes for customers or employees.
The cost of the home design ranged between $360 and $2,890- making options for a wide variety of budgets. Materials could weigh as much as 25 tons and advertisements claimed that the homes could be constructed in as little as 90 days.
The Mack and Ora Bethune Whitley Family
The prospect of a modern, ready-to-build kit home appealed to tens of thousands of families across the U.S., including one family in Rankin County, Mississippi. In 1917, Mack David Whitley (1871-1955) married Ora Bethune (1893-1955) and Mack set out to build a proper home for his new bride. He thumbed through a 4-pound Sears Roebuck & Co. catalog to find the style of home that appealed to him most and in 1918, this handsome model was delivered by railcar to Brandon, MS, and trucked to their 100-acre farm in the nearby community of Langford, MS.
In this home, the Whitleys raised 12 children- many of whom were born within these very walls, and one who they mourned here when he lost his life at only 21 while serving in the U.S. Army in Korea. Mack and Ora were farmers who raised cattle on their land and according to the family stories, Ora passed away when she was 62 in the pasture that surrounded her home. Her husband Mack followed her just a few months later when he passed away inside this home in December 1955.
Memories of the Old Family Homeplace
While researching the history of this home, I came across hundreds of comments from locals who remembered the place and thousands of comments from locals who wanted to see it saved. But as I waded through the comment threads, it was the memories shared by descendants of Mack and Ora that really brought this place to life. One granddaughter of the Whitleys, Polly Reid, recalled:
“This home was owned by Mack David Whitley and Ora Bethune Whitley. He died in the home at age 84. She died in the pasture to the right of the home as you see in this photo. Papa had a deaf-mute bother who caught on fire and ran into the front yard. He later died from his burns. Their son Bence Whitley died at age 21 in Korea. When Papa died there were 48 grandchildren and 7 great. The family gathered at this home every Sunday for lunch until my grandmother’s death. For me, it will always be a place that housed much love. My mother hated seeing it empty.
It seems like it was just a few years ago that we all played in the yard, up at the barn having corn cob fights, and swimming or fishing in the pond. We kids would eat first at the dining room table. Then the grown-up sent us outside while they ate. We walk the porch railing if the grow-ups were inside. I remember Papa sitting outside leaning against the rocking chair turned upside down.
There was a crawl space between the floors and my favorite place to come down and go up was from inside Papa’s closet. You could get there from several parts of the house but that was my favorite. The outhouse is now gone but it had one with double seats. Great memories.”
Another descendant of Mack and Ora, their great-granddaughter, Michele Whitley Burgess, shared her memories: “This is my Great grandfather & grandmother’s old house. I was named after my grandmother. It is still in the family! Spent nights there with my Grandparents- the only downside was no bathrooms so we bathed in 2 washtubs as kids.”
Local Legends About the Home
This unique home hasn’t been lived in for decades and due to its mysterious appeal and interest from locals, a lot of ghost stories have been created about the home over the years.
Granddaughter Polly Reid shared this haunting story that has been passed down through her family about the property, she said: “I have never heard stories about a ghost at the house but when we were growing up it was believed a black woman’ s ghost was in the old pecan orchard. She was hung in a tree there. Mawmaw would tell us this story as we picked pecans.”
Although I haven’t been able to confirm or expand on the details of its truth, this is just one of the local legends surrounding the house that has created an air of mystery about it. So much so that in 1980, a group of 10 local teens was arrested here while ghost hunting.
For years, stories circulated about the Whitley Home which was reportedly still filled with antique furnishings and family heirlooms until vandals and thieves relieved the home of its valuables. Today, it is used to store hay for the livestock but despite dozens of interested buyers, the owner refuses to sell.
Local interest refuses to subside however and many were relieved to see that the house was spared when the highway in front of it was expanded to its front lawn. But it seems that no matter the fate of the home, it will live on in the numerous renditions of it that have been painted by local artists and can be found at local art fairs.
What Happened to Kit Homes?
Due to the popularity of the Sears Roebuck catalog and the kit homes they shipped, it is estimated that more than 70,000 kits were sold in 48 states between 1908 and 1939 through Sears’ Modern Homes program. But with the onset of World War II, demand for lumber exploded and the war’s growing demands quickly halted most residential construction throughout the U.S. and the Modern Homes segment of Sears was closed down.
