National Homes

[washman]

Here's a National home for 100K

Nice area of town where I grew up.

http://https//www.google.com/maps/p...6656!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0x345d88f29064c023!6m1!1e1

 

[circlew]

Thanks, Lawrence! The "Cadet" looks just like the houses I spoke of. I'd forgotten that they had originally came with wall mounted furnaces, which would have run on oil, as our area didn't get natural gas service until 1961 or so.

 

[pulltostart]

Oops

I tried to post in this thread a short time ago and.... my post ended up in the incorrect thread.  Don't ask me what I did!  I will contact our Webmaster to see if it can be corrected.  Until then, look at the other thread.

 

lawrence

http://www.automaticwasher.org/cgi-bin/TD/TD-VIEWTHREAD.cgi?63278_12~1

 

[pulltostart]

Examples of National Homes

Here are some images showing the progression of the National Homes line from about 1950 through 1957.  The first two are classic pre-1953 products; fairly straightforward four-square housing.  The third and fourth images are 1953 models.  The one with the carport was popular and featured the living room on the rear of the house for the first time, the other was a very classic ad and credits Beatrice West (New York color designer) with influencing the look of the house.  The fifth image is from the 1954 model year and includes credit to Charles Goodman's influence.  The sixth image is a larger, clearer one of the 1955 "Fleetwood" model - pure Goodman.  The seventh ad features several models from the 1956 model year (including the optional fully-featured Frigidaire built-in kitchen and the General Electric combination washer/dryer).  The largest image was of a home that was covered extensively in the April 1956 issue of House Beautiful.  The last image is a totally custom house built in 1957 using National's wall components.  The point being that almost any home could be constructed through National Homes.  This particular home was the home of James Price, President of National Homes Corporation and was featured in the May 1957 House Beautiful.

 

I have several of these ads and "one day" would love to have them framed and displayed.  One day....

 

lawrence

 

 

[twintubdexter]

not familiar with National or Lustron homes...

...but on the same note, this is where we bought our first home back in the late 1980's, Rancho Rinconada in Cupertino. 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, about 950 square feet. These homes, all identical except for their placement on the lot, were about $5500 when new. We paid $103,000 and my partner's parents thought we were nuts. Today, a similar house around the corner from ours, 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, 1000 sq feet sold for $1,356,205.00 a few months ago. It sort of justifies the ad stating that these were "Miracle Homes." 

 

When we sold the house we moved to home that was 4 times larger with a huge pool on a prestigious street in the Willow Glen area of San Jose. The "fun factor" in this new house was close to zero and I longed for the "good old days" in the Rancho Rinconada "cracker box." The only good thing was that my non-driving mom lived within walking distance. Today, the first question people ask about your home is "how big is it?'...shades of "bar talk" from when I was young. The size of a person's home has very little to do with happiness. 

 

late addition...You are probably thinking "well it's the lot that's worth the money" but this is only partially true. When we sold our home the Rancho Rinconada area was an unincorporated area of Cupertino. You could do pretty much whatever you wanted to with your property. When our house sold (very quickly) it was bulldozed in about 4 hours and hauled away. A 2-story 3,800 square foot home took it's place. This was very common. Then in 1999, the City annexed Rancho Riconada and it became part of Cupertino proper. One of the things that instantly changed were building codes and permits. A new lot-size-to-house-size rule went into effect. No more giant homes on small lots. Our real estate lady said "they killed the goose that laid the golden egg."

 

[this post was last edited: 12/30/2015-19:34]

 

[pulltostart]

Joe - two words...

Holy Moly!

 

lawrence

 

[washman]

good stuff lawrence

I miss our little home, perhaps due to fond childhood memories but I like where I am now. Slab on grade forever!