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In the Southern California of 1959-60 a tract house would cost 10 dollars a square foot, so a 1800 sq ft home would cost you 18,000 dollars. The tract houses would be 3 bedroom, 1 or 2 bath with a 2 car garage. The first two homes are larger and at that time would be considered either custom or semi-custom homes, at 2300-2700 sq ft they would be 15 dollars a sq ft so they would cost in 1959-60 between 35 to 40 thousand dollars.
ReplyDeleteOur most famous home builders were Eddie Meredith who built the first split-level homes in California, Joseph Eichler with his famous post and beam constructed type ultra-modern tract homes, and Val Jean with his very affordable Cinderella tract homes.
Meredith’s houses were very well built semi-custom homes with large rooms that featured up to 4 and 5 bedrooms, 3 and 4 bathrooms for between 30-40 thousand dollars, a price line and features unheard of in tract homes at that time, as you would have had to custom build a house that size at much greater expense. He also offered many floor plans to escape the cookie cutter look of many housing tracts of that time. Eichler was a pioneer in inexpensive construction and civil rights, as he believed houses should be built for everyone and spearheaded efforts in the home building industry to end discrimination when it came to selling homes. Val Jean built cookie cutter style to bring costs way down while offering homes to appeal to housewives with kitchens of pink appliances, bathrooms with pink sinks and baths and floor plans that allowed mom to view the front door, living room, dining room and the backyard from her kitchen to keep track of dad and the kids :)
The golden age of affordable home building, now long gone.
-Rj
Rj - I agree with Milleson. Thank you for your information.
DeleteRj - I always appreciate your in-depth comments. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you both.
DeleteI hope I don’t bore any visitors to this fine blog, I am a detail person and think knowledge should be shared. As great philosophers have written, knowledge is power, to be ignorant is to condemn men to misery and tyranny, as we are gradually finding out today in our United States. -Rj
Rj - By all means, keep the knowledge flowing!
DeleteTo me, these floorplans make sense! Look at how the plumbing is arranged, for example. Pretty much in a straight line to the street.
ReplyDeleteThe flatter or flat roofs have broad expanses onto which install lots of solar panels! Plus being less dangerous for installers!
The larger houses were upper-middle class homes of the time. A time of expanding prosperity in the USA. The "two-car garage" was coming into play, although the open-concept carports were popular and neat looking. PLUS having a "welcoming orientation" to them.
These houses can be elegant and efficient at the same time! Add some modern wall, roof, and slab insulation/vapor barriers, with modern hvac (even some zoned mini-splits + central), with some insulated windows, and the overhead costs can be decreased a good bit in our modern world.
ALL on wide and deep lots for lots of outdoor activities or even a "rear garage" for car projects, on-site! In the correct places, these would be Million $$$$$$$ Properties in modern times.
Thanks for finding these, Rick!
Cdadbr - You are very welcome.
DeleteThank you for posting these! Love them all, but especially the first, second, and last ones.
ReplyDeleteMark - You are very welcome too.
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