What was the square footage of a Levittown house?
750-square-foot
His first Levittown house was a 750-square-foot cottage, with REVIEW 7 5 Page 4 two bedrooms, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen. The interior was small, but an unfinished attic had space for two extra bedrooms, and the 60-foot by 100-foot lot left plenty of room for future additions.
How did Levitt simplify the home sale process?
Levitt bought appliances form Levitt subsidiaries, since the very idea of middlemen enraged him. And Levitt simplified the process of financing so people could purchase his homes much easier: no money down, and the price was the price, no debate, which was especially appealing to veterans.
How much did each different style of Levittown house cost in the 1950s?
Each home looked the same in Levittown — they were all built in the Cape Cod-style and featured the same floorplan. They each cost around $7,000.
What did a Levittown home look like?
A house could be built in one day when effectively scheduled. This enabled quick and economical production of similar or identical homes with rapid recovery of costs. Standard Levittown houses included a white picket fence, green lawns, and modern appliances.
Is Levittown still around?
But Levittown still has its original nine community swimming pools with playing fields and playgrounds, as well as remnants of the seven intimate shopping strips known as village greens. It also still has active VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and American Legion posts.
Was Levittown a success?
Levittown was an astonishing success from the very beginning. Some 17,000 houses were built in the first Levittown and 82,000 people lived there. One swimming pool was built for every 1,000 houses.
How was Levitt able to keep costs for building these homes down?
During the first weekend of building, Levitt sold more than 300 houses.) To keep down lumber costs, the Levitts bought their own forests and built a sawmill in Oregon. They purchased appliances directly from the manufacturer, cutting out the distributor’s markup.
Are Levittown houses still standing?
Short answer: Probably not. Long answer: The homes have all been altered, expanded or rebuilt since the first house went up 70 years ago, according to the Levittown Historical Society. The building company Levitt and Sons, led by William Levitt, bought land on Long Island and constructed more than 17,000 homes in 1947.
How much did a house cost in Levittown?
Available only to World War II veterans and their families–and only white veterans at that–the first Levittown house cost $6,990 with nearly no money down. Levitt built 17,447 houses in the next four years. On average, Levitt’s builders finished 12 houses per day , and the tract house was here to stay.
How big is a Levittown house?
Landscaping the Levittown House. While small by rural standards, Levittown’s 7000 square foot lots seemed spacious to city dwellers. Levitt believed that most homeowners would be unwilling to maintain lots any larger than that.
What kind of model is a Levittowner?
LevittownerModel #1. Sales flyer for the Levittowner. [Levittown Regional Library] The heart of Levittown was the mass-produced, single-family house. Levitt sacrificed individuality and custom design for low-cost efficiency.
Should you buy a Levittown home?
A number of initial buyers noted that they could purchase a new home in a Levittown with a cheaper monthly cost than they could rent accommodations elsewhere. Two additional thoughts about these floor plans: 1. A fascinating aspect of these basic house models is the number of modifications made to the homes over the decades. 2.
What lies underneath the uniform houses of Levittown?
But underneath the uniform houses lining the curved, meticulously gardened roads of Levittown lies a much more turbulent story. Although 1950s suburbia conjures visions of traditional family life, idyllic domesticity, and stability, the story of the suburbanization of America is also one of exclusion, segregation, and persecution.
