Music Mountain was founded in 1930 to educate through chamber music performances. When the founder approached Sears for assistance building a concert hall and housing, Sears shipped pre-cut materials for Gordon Hall, the performance center, and several homes - representing one of only a few times Sears designed a building for cultural purposes. The standardized, prefabricated construction helped realize the vision affordably and efficiently through Sears' mail-order house program, demonstrating how pre-manufactured homes could serve new applications beyond residential.