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This Allegedly Haunted House Came From a Sears Catalog
Most haunted houses have a dark history. The Winchester Mystery House in California was built by a widow trying to appease vengeful spirits; the Lizzie Borden house was the site of one of New England's most infamous murders. The backstory of an abandoned structure in Estancia, New Mexico, however, is far less disturbing than it is bizarre. According to WISH-TV, it was ordered from a Sears catalog.
In the early 20th century, Sears catalogs were a popular source of not just home goods, but actual homes. Between 1908 and 1940, the company shipped anywhere from 70,000 to 75,000 prefabricated house kits in roughly 450 styles to buyers across the country.
One of these customers was a lawyer named Fred Ayers. He assembled his mail-order home in Estancia, New Mexico in the 1920s, and today it sits abandoned on the side of Highway 55. The site attracts people from all around looking to snap a picture of the dilapidated structure, and its reputation for being "haunted" makes it an especially popular roadside attraction around Halloween.
Despite the unconventional construction method, Sears's pre-fab homes were built to last. Many people have reached out to the company archives to say they're still living in a Sears home more than a century after it was erected. And with Sears filing for bankruptcy recently, the Estancia house appears to have outlasted its maker.
[h/t WISH-TV]