Kit houses typically have numbered pieces. If you dig around in the basement or attic you should be able to see the numbers on the exposed wood.
Rosemary Thornton has a good book out about kit houses.
She use to post here occasionally, maybe she'll see this and have more to add.

Thanks Carol. I didn't see any sign of numbering on the few beams that I could see. I won't get another chance to dig around either because my friends found the condition of the house to be way more work than they can take on. I hope it gets a good owner -- despite horrible water damage, it has the bones of an amazing house.

There isn't an easy answer to this one. Let me pull out my books and do some research and I'll respond to this in a day or two. In short, it's not a design I readily recognize, and I have about 500 designs safely stashed in my head.

If it is a kit house, it's one I haven't seen very often.

I'll respond to this soon. Promise. :)

Here is a link that might be useful: Sears Homes info

Yea! Rosemary, I'm glad you saw this post. Thanks for taking a look.