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Levitt & Sons’ first successful housing development was located on almost 20 square miles (52 km2) of land near Hempstead, Long Island and was named Levittown.
What did Levitt call his firm at once?
“The Henry Ford of Housing” Started in 1929 by attorney Abraham Levitt, Levitt and Sons quickly became one of the nation’s largest home builders. Abraham, William and Alfred Levitt pose for a Fortune Magazine feature story in 1952.
What was William Levitt was known for building?
Levitt revolutionized home building, creating Levittown and making the dream of owning a home a real possibility for thousands of middle-class American families. OWNING a house came to be the embodiment of the new American dream.
Where did Levitt get the idea for building houses in the US?
In 1941 the Levitts built 2,350 defense housing units at Norfolk, Virginia. Of these, 1,600 were slab-based worker houses, constructed in assembly-line fashion. It was here that Levitt conceived the idea for his Levittown project.
Why was Levitt called the Henry Ford of housing?
William Levitt has frequently been called “the Henry Ford of home-building” for his revolutionary mass-production techniques. He doubtless owed as much to Ford as to Henry J. Kaiser.
How much was a Levitt house?
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.
What did William Levitt create what were his towns called What changes did suburban growth bring?
William Levitt came to symbolize the new suburban growth with his use of mass-production techniques to construct large developments of houses, eponymously named Levittowns, selling for under $10,000. Many other relatively inexpensive suburban developments soon appeared throughout the country.
How did Levitt build houses so fast?
Some had camped out in tents for as long as four days. To build houses rapidly and inexpensively, Levitt used the method made famous by Henry Ford: the production line. Levitt broke down the construction of a home into 26 separate steps.
What did the Levitt company do to address the housing demand?
Levitt’s true genius was that he foresaw the unprecedented demand for middle-class housing that followed World War II, and by applying a panoply of assembly-line techniques to housing construction, positioned himself to make the most of the situation. With a house on the lot, William quickly made the sale.
What is Levittown known for?
Levittown was the first truly mass-produced suburb and is widely regarded as the archetype for postwar suburbs throughout the country. William Levitt, who assumed control of Levitt & Sons in 1954, is considered the father of modern suburbia in the United States.
How did William J. Levitt contributed to the growth of suburbs?
how did william J. levitt contribute to the growth of suburbs? In 1947, William Levitt used mass production techniques to build inexpensive homes in surburban New York to help relieve the postwar housing shortage. Levittown became a symbol of the movement to the suburbs in the years after WWII.
What were levittowns quizlet?
Levittown was the mass production of inexpensive suburban houses meant for young veterans and their wives. It symbolized the flight to the suburbs, residential areas around cities doubled during this time.
How did Henry Kaiser and William Levitt change housing forever?
In response to this housing crisis, developers like William Levitt and Henry Kaiser used efficient, assembly-line methods to mass-produce houses. Created suburbs-small residential communities (ex. Levittown).
What is Levittown in history?
Levittown is the name of several large suburban housing developments created in the United States and one in Puerto Rico by William J. Levitt and his company Levitt & Sons. Standard Levittown houses included a white picket fence, green lawns, and modern appliances. Sales in the original Levittown began in March 1947.
Who started suburbs?
Suburbanisation in the interwar period was heavily influenced by the garden city movement of Ebenezer Howard and the creation of the first garden suburbs at the turn of the 20th century.
How many houses did Levitt crews build in one day?
By July 1948, Levitt’s specialized crews were building 36 homes a day, 18 in the morning, and 18 in the afternoon. Nothing could be left ot chance, since even a delayed shipment of nails would ruin the tight timetable.
Who created Levittown?
In 1947, William Levitt of Levitt & Sons began building mass-produced, affordable housing for veterans returning from World War II. Island Trees, or Levittown as it later became known, is widely recognized as the first modern American suburb.
Is Levittown still there?
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.
What were the names of the different styles of Levittown homes?
Levitt and Sons only built six models of houses in Levittown, all single-family dwellings with lawns: the Levittowner, the Rancher, the Jubilee, the Pennsylvanian, the Colonial and the Country Clubber, with only modest exterior variations within each model.
What was the location of Levitt and Sons first housing tract?
Levitt & Sons chose an area known as Island Trees near Hempstead, Long Island, as the site for a huge building project for housing these veterans. The company named it Levittown. The community was planned to have 6,000 low-priced homes, making it much larger than any other U.S. development.
How did the suburbs change America?
Between 1940 and 1950, suburban communities of greater than 10,000 people grew 22.1%, and planned communities grew at an astonishing rate of 126.1%. This new suburban economy also led to increased demand for automobiles. The percentage of American families owning cars increased from 54% in 1948 to 74% in 1959.
