What was a home like in the 1950's and how much did they cost
Although it took the world quite awhile to recover from the affects of World War II, the 1950s were more of a prosperous time than in times past. Vast improvements in housing were made during this time. A priority was placed on building homes for war veterans and families. Early 1950s Family Homes
In 1952, several homes were placed on the market and those homes were primarily purchased by families. Some of the most attractive homes that were built during this time were ones located in Oakland California.
These homes were complete with one or more of the following features: Attached double garage, central heat, cedar roof, brick and stone trim, 100 feet of land with trees, large front and rear covered porches, spacious rooms. Careful attention to interior decorating detail was given during this time.
Additional attributes of these homes included brick fireplaces, hardwood floors, ranch-style kitchen, and/or garbage disposal. What made these homes so desirable is their convenient location near elementary schools as well as police fire stations.
Homes Still Being Offered to War Veterans
Even though the Second World War was finished for about 10 years, in the year 1955 provisions for veterans were still being made. Homes such as this one below were being offered to them:
Homes such as the ones in the picture above were described in a local Long Beach, California newspaper as three- and four-bedroom luxury homes. Buena Park Homes were designed with features such as heavy hardwood flooring, rock wool insulation, lath and plaster walls, two-foot concrete foundation, cedar shingles, and/or "built up rock roofs".
Extra heavy hardwood flooring was often used in the construction of the above-mentioned veteran homes as well. Additionally, these dwellings typically included two bathrooms, shower stalls with glass doors, ceramic tile tub/shower splashes, and rubber tile floors w/easy to clean cove base. Roomy service porches were also attached to these homes to make party hosting easier.
In the kitchens of these veteran homes the sand-colored cabinets installed matched the built-in gas range and oven, and double-drain sinks. Furthermore, the kitchens of thee fine homes also more often than not came with a heatproof, drain proof stain board. The kitchen floors in these homes were typically made from linoleum.
Other features of these luxury homes: sliding glass patio door, interior slab doors, huge walk-in closets, oversized wardrobes, shutters, trellises on porches, natural redwood sidings, window boxes, bay or picture windows. Moreover, these homes came with landscaped front and back yards (grass planted from seeds, shrubbery planted, etc.).
The description of housed above were dwellings of the development called Buena Park Homes. Homes were built for veterans in mind in other locations as well, such as in East Anaheim.
In East Anaheim (Sun Estate) ranch style homes were designed with features such as custom made draperies, force air heating system, built in range and oven, and barbecue patio area. Additional attributes of Sun Estates homes included built-in bar, interior planter, and room dividers made from brick or slump stone.
Stratford Homes was another 1950s housing development located in East Anaheim. The following is a picture of the outside of one of these homes:
A typical Fresno home usually was made with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, as well as a family room and a living room. This is the design of a large number of homes even in the present day (2007), and is most likely considered a classic home design of all times.
Additional features of a Fresno, California home would possibly include a large patio area and one or two fireplaces. These homes varied in cost, with many in the high $20,000 or low $30,000 range. These were considered some of the finest homes of the times and were located near schools, a garden park (Fig Garden Village), and other local conveniences.
Another housing development area known as Meadow Fair Homes included homes loaded with a variety of unique features and modern conveniences. For instance, three homes often had a garbage disposal installed in a dual sink or low-maintenance (not hard to clean) corktone tile.
Another unique feature of the Meadow Fair Homes is the elegant noiseless monolithic floors. Moreover, these homes were modernized with sliding aluminum windows.
Pasadena is another area where fine homes existed. A large number of these homes that were available to buy in the year 1959 usually were built with fully equipped kitchen facilities such as electric refrigerator, range and oven, and "disposer" (presumably a kitchen garbage disposal. These homes often had washers and dryers installed within them as well.
Efforts were made to ensure home safety. For example, fire extinguishers were made for and installed in kitchens. The following picture will give you an idea of what fire extinguishers looked like back then:
One of the units that was used to heat homes looks just like in this picture below:
This particular heating system costs a little over $189.00. Some people still operated the models of furnaces that they may have purchased in the late 1950s as well. (See 1940s models of furnaces.)
If you want to get an idea of what 1950s kitchens may have looked like you would look like then you may want to take a look at these images:1956 Anaheim California Kitchen (Stratford Homes) and the 1955 California Kitchen (Miranda Park, Long Beach Press)
Some of the items advertised in local newspapers during the 1950s include items such as sofa chair covers for the living room or 72-inch (or 81-inch) curtains that did not need to be starched or pressed.
In order to understand more what furniture was like during these times you can take a look at these black and white photos and/or drawings of living room and/or dining room furniture and design. Please view the images below (edited photos from various 1950s newspapers):
Childrens toys offered a much wider range following the boom in babies born, but toys were very much gender designed with dolls, prams, dressmaking for girls toys and Cowboys and indians, cars and construction sets for boys.
Part of our Collection of Toys from The 1950's
Some further examples of home prices in the 1950's from Newspaper Adds