The Plymouth

The Plymouth stands on the site of the Levi Jones homestead, where the original house built in 1900 once stood and where Jennie Jones McLean was born on August 23, 1907, and her daughter, Jean McLean Aldrich, was born on July 4, 1933. The McLean family of Hopkinsville, Kentucky, were early settlers of Palmetto who became important farmers, and J.N. "Newt" McLean was a prominent businessman in citrus packing and shipping. The current residence is a reproduction of the Plymouth, a Sears Roebuck and Company mail order house first offered in the 1933 catalogue. Between 1908 and 1940, Sears sold about 75,000 homes by mail order as Americans during the Great Depression sought compact, simple, affordable housing and the chance to build comfortable homes on lots of their choice. The Plymouth is a well-proportioned six-room bungalow with a columned porch, boxed header for afternoon shade, double-hung windows for ventilation, ten-foot ceilings to reduce summer heat, quarter-sawn vertical-grain oak flooring, and simple casings and baseboards that reflect the era's austerity. Built with modern amenities, this reproduction preserves the historic spirit of Palmetto.

Palmetto, Florida · United States