Watch CBS News

House Ordered From Sears Catalog In 1920s Now 'Haunted,' Many Believe

ESTANCIA, N.M. (CBS Local) -- An abandoned house in a small town southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, attracts people from across the region.

Many think it's haunted.

"If you drive by, sometimes you can see ghosts standing in the window," Raul Zubia told KRQE.

"It's kind of a ghost house," Michelle Jones said. "People love it for this time of year, for Halloween."

The now doorless house is fenced off from public on Highway 55 in Estancia.

"It's been abandoned now for probably 20 years," said Estancia Board of Trustees member and former Mayor Morrow Hall.

How it got there may surprise you.

Hall says a local attorney, Fred Ayers, bought the house as a kit back in the 1920s through the Sears, Roebuck and Company catalog.

It turns out the retail giant sold more than 70,000 of these build-it-yourself house kits in nearly 450 different housing styles between 1908 and 1940.

>MORE: 'Piece Of American History': 1912 Sears Home Found In Greeley

The house is still owned by the Ayers family, who currently raises cattle on the surrounding land.

"I just think it's wonderful that it's in our town," said Jones.

Of course, things haven't been so wonderful for Sears as of late. Sears Holdings Corp., the parent company of the Sears and Kmart retail chains, filed for bankruptcy protection this week, announcing that it would close another 142 stores by the end of the year.

Hall can't help but see the irony.

"[The abandoned house] looks about the way Sears and Roebuck does right now," Hall said.

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.