Land Rush

On a Long Island plot 20 miles from Manhattan, Builders Levitt & Sons put up a trim two-bedroom bungalow. Like other U.S. builders, they knew a slump had curbed real estate sales; many a new house was going begging because the price was too high. But Bill Levitt felt sure there were plenty of buyers, if the house --and price--were right.

He thought he had the right house. The living room had a big picture window; the fireplace boasted a second opening in the kitchen for indoor barbecues. The kitchen shone with stainless steel cabinets and sink, a new refrigerator and automatic washer.

He thought his price was right also: $7,990. Veterans could buy the house for $90 down and $58 a month (for 25 years). The monthly payments covered taxes, water, fire insurance, mortgage payments and interest. When Levitt put up a for sale sign, the crowd got so big that police had to keep them in line (see cut). In seven days, Levitt & Sons sold 707 houses, nearly $6,000,000 worth.

Poured Foundations. That kind of big business was nothing new to 42-year-old Bill Levitt. After he got out of the Seabees in 1945, he and brother Alfred, who designs their houses, started building on a semi-mass production basis (TIME, Dec. 23, 1946). They used a huge earth-moving machine to root out foundations, a concrete mixer to move from site to site pouring concrete slabs for house bases (no basements). In 1946 they finished 1,000 homes, sold them to veterans for a shade under $10,000.

Mushrooming Houses. The next year, brother Alfred designed a 25 by 30 two-bedroom bungalow to rent for $65 a month. These went over so well that the Levitts bought a 1,000-acre potato farm near Hempstead, L.I., named it Levittown, and started building houses on it at the rate of 150 a week. The houses were neat and trim but so much alike that the development had a barracks-like air. But looks made little difference. By the end of last year they had finished and rented 6,000 houses (Levittown's population is now 20,000), and their gross had jumped from 1947's $20 million to twice that. As big-scale production cut costs the Levitts decided they could give Levittown a slightly bigger house (25 by 32), with a lot of extra comforts, for $7,990. Originally they had planned to build only 2,500 of them this year. After last week's rush they expected to up their goal to 4,000 houses.

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