Putter with Profit

In 1945, when the Washington housing situation was broom-closet tight, Texas' loud-mouthed Senator W. Lee ("Pappy") O'Daniel bought the four-story apartment building at 115 2nd St., N.E. for $52,500, and started eviction proceedings against the 14 families who occupied it. He needed all 40 rooms for his family, he claimed. "We're not used to being fenced in down in Texas," Pappy explained without blushing. "Besides, we want some place to put a cookstove." The 14 families had to leave.

Pappy went to work. In his spare time, he donned overalls and a dirty work cap and helped with the renovations. He installed airconditioning, a new heating system, and new wiring. He chopped the number of apartments down to nine. Mrs. O'Daniel, an enthusiastic amateur decorator, furnished them with a combination of Hollywood modern and antique-shop French.

Last week Pappy found that he did not need that much room for his family after all. His family was all broken up, he said. One son was in California, his mother-in-law was sick in Colorado. So he had turned the building into a cooperative and was selling individual apartments.

The apartments were priced at $10,000 to $13,000 apiece ($2,000 down and the rest on easy terms). Of course, well-heeled Pappy could figure on a neat profit. Next, he planned to find a single house near the Capitol and fix it up for himself. Said Pappy: "I sure like to putter around."

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