LEVITT, WILLIAM JAIRD

William Jaird Levitt (1907–1994) revolutionized the U.S. housing industry. Most construction companies in the United States eventually adopted methods invented by Levitt and his sons to lower the cost of making houses for a mass market of consumers. Levitt's innovations made housing more affordable to everyone. Millions of middle and working class people in the United States became homeowners during the mid-twentieth century due to Levitt's efforts.

William Levitt was born on February 11, 1907, in Brooklyn, New York, the son of a lawyer and building contractor. He attended Brooklyn's public schools and then enrolled at New York University for three years before dropping out.

At the age of 22 Levitt dreamed of becoming a commercial airline pilot. He instead joined his father Abraham and his brother Alfred to create Levitt and Sons, a construction company specializing in single-family home building. The company was founded in 1929. When Levitt became the company's president he occupied himself primarily with management and financial matters. Levitt and Sons did modestly well despite the Great Depression (1929–1939) of the 1930s. Levitt joined the Navy during World War II (1939–1945), serving as a lieutenant with the Seabees, the Navy's "can do" construction team. In the Seabees Levitt gained valuable experience in rapid, safe construction under unsafe conditions.

While he was in the Navy, the family business in the United States made much progress. In 1942 it received a federal war contract to build 1,600 homes for military and civilian personnel near a naval base in Norfolk, Virginia. In the construction of the last 750 homes built there, Levitt's father and brother experimented with building processes, especially with standardization and cost reduction.

After Levitt returned to the family business the company entered its greatest era of success. The Levitt family correctly forecasted the tremendous economic boom that happened in housing construction immediately after World War II. They analyzed the factors that caused single-family houses to be expensive. One major factor was that single homes were largely custom-made and required time consuming custom installations.

The Levitts decided to apply assembly line techniques to their housing construction. They developed one basic floor plan for a two-bedroom, 800-square-foot house, and made as many pre-fabricated parts as possible. They then hired specialized workers who did only one basic job, going from house to house, ahead of one crew, behind another crew, in assembly-line style. With these innovations the Levitts began to make 36 houses a day.

The crews worked so fast that the Levitts created instant suburbs. The houses sold as fast as they could be built. There were plenty of potential home buyers, most of them war veterans who had inexpensive mortgage loans guaranteed them under the G.I. Bill, a provision of the U.S. government to help returning war veterans readjust more quickly to civilian life back home. This included a home mortgage plan.

The first community built completely by the Levitts was called "Levittown." It was located on Long Island, New York; construction began in 1947 and completed in 1951. It included 17,500 Cape Cod-style homes spread over 7.3 square miles of land. What had once been potato fields was turned into homes with small parcels of land for buyers. The features of the homes included up-to-date kitchen equipment, laundry rooms, and television sets. Each house had two bedrooms and an extension attic that could serve as a third bedroom or an office. As the houses were built they were immediately put on the rental market for $65 a month with an option-to-buy clause for just under $7000 and no down payment for veterans.

By 1949 business was going so well that the new houses were no longer rented. They sold immediately, now for $8000. The Levitts also built larger homes for just under $10,000, with four to five bedrooms. By building the houses on winding streets and using different color schemes on their facades, the Levitts created houses that all looked "different," at least from the curbside view.

Levitt and Sons earned a profit of $5 million from the building of "Levittown." The mass production techniques used by the company were clearly the key to its success and future. Later Levittown developments were built in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Florida, with the same success.

Levitt understoond his marketing success. The majority of the company's sales were to World War II veterans. Levitt sold to young families who sought inexpensive "starter homes." A Levitt home was a family home, and the postwar United States placed great stress on the family unit and of the quality of family life. The Levitt suburban homes also gave families more privacy than was available in city apartments. Living in the suburbs made it possible for young families to have green lawns, small patios, swing sets in a yard, and barbecue grills.

William Levitt and his family company remained successful from the late 1940s to the late 1960s. Levitt's homes, however, were eventually criticized for their conformity and "ticky-tacky" quality. Levitt was also accused of refusing to sell his Levittown homes to African Americans in the 1950s.

William Levitt died in 1994. During his lifetime he created homes for millions of people in the United States. He provided them with a higher standard of living and a better quality of life than previous generations had enjoyed.

LEVITT, WILLIAM JAIRD

FURTHER READING