Margaret - your knowledge about your local market and real estate in general is a tribute to you as a REALTOR. I'm bookmarking this post to do some research of my own. Thanks

Margaret, I remember Levittown in NY after WWII being such a biggie. Thanks for bringing all this information together for the rest of us.

Hi Margaret, your post sure brings back memories. I love the links and am saving each one in my del.icio.us account and cross referencing them for convenience.  I am sure they are going to be some excellent reading. Thank You. That photo you used also is a bit of Americana itself. It reflected upon a day when our homes and communities were not just a financial aspect of our lives , but played a greater central role in how we lived them. It makes me think of the Saturdays, when we would mow the lawn ( that smell of freshly cut grass was amazing-more after the fact though, lol)and tend to the flower beds and the Sundays after church when we felt that contentment of being home with our families and the tremendous satisfaction and joy it brought.  The picture alone was nostalgic for me. I fear I must sound like my parents but the inner peace of those days is never forgotten. I guess it was also a lifestyle and I was fortunate to have that.

Margaret, I love the way you cover so many different aspects about your market.  It's like I'm in school everyday.

Sounds like you did a great job making Active Rain a source of info on Levitt Communities. You know you are the expert. At least you look like it.

It is hard to imagine how some people can extend their personalities and impact communities.  I would say they will impact lives for years to come with the structure they have built.  Nice post...interesting bit of history.

Hi Margaret,

Being from the west coast all my life I had no idea that Levitt built in so many places. The only one I was aware of is N.Y. after seeing a story on 60 minutes years ago.

Judy Tuscano, NH Real Estate Professional - Thank you, Judy - It never occurred to me 'til recently that current residents might be interested in this, but I'm sure they are!

Gary Woltal - REALTOR® Dallas Ft. Worth - I remember some of these stories, from my early days in this area, but I found the online info very interesting - especially the Time Magazine article.

The Real Estate Text Book authored by William Johnson GRI CRS e-PRO - That photo is actually my house, William.  The life you describe is exactly what we have here, and you remind me to appreciate it!

Mark Organek - Tempe Mesa Chandler Gilbert Loan Officer - I seem to remember that Levitt built a couple of communities in Arizona during the 70's, and I just looked online to confirm it:  Moon Valley Views in/near Phoenix is one, and there seems to be some speculation there might have been a community called Canyon Crest.  I remember a Levitt company rep coming to an office meeting and telling us about Levitt homes in Arizona and Florida - but don't remember any details.  They offered to pay us a referral fee for sending them leads.

Karen Luke --- Stockbridge -- McDonough Real Estate - I did a search before posting this, and most of the AR posts are about the recent Levitt bankruptcy - no others about the history.  I'm surprised, given how many Levitt communities there are around the country.  Well, let's see if I can get the ball rolling!

Gary White~ Grand Rapids Real Estate, FLexIt Realty, a call or click away! - Here we are, years after Bill Levitt did his thing, and thousands of families are still making memories in his homes.

Orange Co. Real Estate~Lynda Eisenmann, Broker-Owner, Brea, CA - 'Don't know if you had any chance to read the Time Magazine article - but it's really interesting.  Even though I've been here for many years, I still learned a lot from these articles and website articles.

 

Hi Margaret:  As you know, I lived in the MD/DC/NoVA market for about six years in the late 80's and early 90's.  I sold mostly townhouses for builders, Scarborough/Winchester, William Berry, Sully Station (I forget the builder) and I actually grand-opened a Levitt Homes neighborhood in an area near downtown Manassas.  It was a layout unlike anything I had seen before.  All cul-de-sacs with parking at the curbs and also around a parking island in the center of each cul-de-sac. 

I cannot remember the name of it, but it was off Hastings near downtown Manassas.  Levitt was a good builder to work for... at least when I was with them.  Decent quality, decent pricing, and great customer service.  At the time, my VP's and all were based in Boca Raton... I think the VP guy was named Al West... a great manager.  Oh well... memories, memories.

Karen Anne - I wonder if any builders - even Levitt Corporation - use Levitt's 26 steps to keep down costs today!   'Sounds like you were with them after the family was out of it, but I'm sure that the company's history is interesting even to today's Levitt homebuyers.

There are a number of Levitt Communities around Northern Virginia.  The houses and layout of the neighborhoods are similiar.  I'll try and grab a few for a post to link back to yours.

Cindy, I asked many Northern Virginia agents about the Levitt communities over there when my son was looking for a home, because I knew he would like one.  None of the agents I spoke with had any idea what or who I was talking about.  I think posting about Levitt communities may be a way for us to capture business from people who previously lived in one - it would have been true in my son's case.  He ended up in Arlington, in a much smaller home than he could have had in a Levitt home, for less money.  I think you and I could go for that niche in our area, and get a lock on it!  Just think of the thousands of Levitt homes and multiply that by 3 or 4 kids who grew up in them...

This is great...I have family that lived in a Levitt home in PA when they were new.

Actually, I grew up in Manhasset, NY and lived in Strathmore in a Levitt house.  They were/are so beautiful; all stone, tudors, colonials etc.  These homes were very different than the classic Levitt homes of Levittown.  I believe there were the same houses in Great Neck in an area also called Strathmore.

Joan, I didn't grow up in a Levitt home but raised my family in Levitt homes of the 60's - 70's.  They were not the Levittown homes of the late 40's and 50's, but you could see their earlier roots evidenced in the later designs.  From researching this article, I found they built more upscale, even custom, homes before World War II.

Margaret - interesting comments about Levitt. I'd like it if Active Rain were one of the most comprehensive resources for information about all builders and communities.

I will have to see if there were Levitt homes in my area. We had rows of homes for the iron miners, but they were very modest.

Sharon - Good point!  That would be good.

Kathleen - Except for the early Levitt homes (pre-World War II), most Levitt homes were very modest - at least up until they sold the company around 1970.  I don't remember seeing anything about Minnesota, but you could check the LevvitBeyond website to see if it's mentioned.