William Levitt
| William Levitt | |
|---|---|
(1964)
|
|
| Born |
William Jaird Levitt February 11, 1907 |
| Died | January 28, 1994 (aged 86) |
| Nationality | United States |
| Occupation | real estate developer |
| Known for | American suburban development |
| Spouse(s) | Rhoda Kirshner (divorced) Alice Kenny (divorced) Simone Korchin |
| Children |
with Kirshner: *William Levitt, Jr. *James Levitt |
| Parent(s) | Pauline Biederman Levitt Abraham Levitt |
William Jaird Levitt (February 11, 1907 – January 28, 1994) was an American real-estate developer. In his position as president of Levitt & Sons, he is widely credited as the father of modern American suburbia. He was named one of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century."
Levitt was born in 1907 to a Jewish family. His generation was the second since immigrating from Russia and Austria; the grandfather who immigrated to the United States had been a rabbi from eastern Europe. Levitt grew up in Brooklyn, New York. His father was Abraham Levitt, a British-born real estate attorney and part-time investor; his mother was Pauline Biederman. A younger brother, Alfred, was born when William was 5 years old. William received a public school education at Public School 44 and Boys High School. He then attended New York University for three years, but dropped out before graduating.
In 1929, William's father, Abraham, founded a real-estate development company called Levitt & Sons. Levitt & Sons built mostly upscale housing on and around Long Island, New York in the 1930s. William Levitt served as company president, overseeing all aspects of the company except for the designs of the homes they built, which fell to William's brother Alfred.
During World War II, Levitt served in the Navy as a lieutenant in the Seabees. After returning from the war, he saw a need for affordable housing for returning veterans. America's post-war prosperity and baby boom had created a crisis of affordable housing.
Even before returning from the war, Levitt had experimented with mass housing projects, building a 1,600-shack community in Norfolk, Virginia, which was not a success - units remained unsold in 1950. 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. The assembly line construction method allowed Levittown to be constructed more efficiently than other developments at the time, with teams of specialized workers following each other from house to house to complete incremental steps in the construction. Levitt also reduced costs by freezing out union labor – a move which provoked picket lines – enabling him to use the latest technology, such as spray painting. He also cut out middlemen and purchased many items, including lumber and televisions, directly from manufacturers, as well as constructing his own factory to produce nails. The building of every house was reduced to 26 steps, and sub-contractors were responsible for each step. His mass production of thousands of houses at virtually the same time allowed Levitt to sell them, fully furnished with modern appliances, for as little as $8,000 each ($65,000 in 2009 dollars), which, with the G.I. Bill and Federal housing subsidies, reduced the up-front cost of a house to many buyers to around $400.
...
Wikipedia