Leisurama - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Leisurama is a development of vacation homes in Montauk, New York

Montauk, New York

Montauk [ˈmɒntɒk] is a census-designated place that roughly corresponds to the hamlet with the same name located in the town of East Hampton in Suffolk County, New York, United States on the South Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 3,851 as of 2000...

, that was constructed between 1963 and 1965 following the developer's success with a model home at the 1959 American Exhibition in Moscow. This model home was the venue of the famous Kitchen Debate

Kitchen Debate

The Kitchen Debate was a series of impromptu exchanges between then U.S. Vice President Richard Nixon and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow on July 24, 1959. For the exhibition, an entire house was built that the...

between Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Khrushchev

Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...

and Richard Nixon

Richard Nixon

Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...

.

Herbert Sadkin, president of All-State Properties, returned from Moscow to develop the Lauderhill community in Florida. Two years later he started the Leisurama project, building vacation homes which sold for between $12,995 and $17,995. Macy's

Macy's

Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its flagship Herald Square location in New York City, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States...

at Herald Square

Herald Square

Herald Square is formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue and 34th Street in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. Named for the New York Herald, a now-defunct newspaper formerly headquartered there, it also gives its name to the surrounding area...

marketed the homes with an exhibit on its 9th floor. Raymond Loewy

Raymond Loewy

Raymond Loewy was an industrial designer, and the first to be featured on the cover of Time Magazine, on October 31, 1949. Born in France, he spent most of his professional career in the United States...

/William Snaith, Inc. was contracted to design the homes. The project fell to Loewy vice president and well-known architect Andrew Geller

Andrew Geller

Andrew Geller is an American architect best known for designing modern beach houses in the coastal regions of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut during the 1950s and 60s. In 1955 he designed the Elizabeth Reese house, built in Sagaponack, New York...

.

The houses came fully furnished with General Electric

General Electric

General Electric Company , or GE, is an American multinational conglomerate corporation incorporated in Schenectady, New York and headquartered in Fairfield, Connecticut, United States...

appliances, and other fixtures including plates, towels, even toothbrushes.

Some Leisurama homes were exhibited at the 1964 New York World's Fair

1964 New York World's Fair

The 1964/1965 New York World's Fair was the third major world's fair to be held in New York City. Hailing itself as a "universal and international" exposition, the fair's theme was "Peace Through Understanding," dedicated to "Man's Achievement on a Shrinking Globe in an Expanding Universe";...

.

The housing project is the topic of a documentary titled "Leisurama" in PBS broadcast distribution through American Public Television.

External links

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