Andrew Geller (this author’s grandfather), vice-president of the housing division at the world-renowned design offices of Raymond Loewy/William Snaith, Inc. Laura rushed home and told her husband, “We’re buying a house in Montauk.”

Laura and Roger Goodman were typical of many of the 200 families that purchased Leisurama homes over the following year. Most fit into the economic middle class; they were teachers, salesmen, firemen and policemen, a number of them immigrants. Most had apartments in New York City or western Long Island. All wished for an escape from their daily routine. To be able to own a piece of land with a house for a few hundred dollars down and an affordable Federal Housing Authority mortgage — making the yearly cost the same as a typical summer vacation — was irresistible.
Construction of the homes was challenging. Not enough construction workers were available in the local community to handle the enormous volume of work. All-State Properties brought in Charlie Piser, president of Building Ventures, Inc., to organize the building trades. Piser hired construction workers from all over Long Island and housed them at the local racquet club. They lived there during the week and went home to their families on the weekends. The typical workday was long, but well organized. “In order to keep building costs at a minimum without sacrificing quality,” says Piser, “I instituted an assembly-line construction technique in building the homes.” Lumber was pre-cut to size, banded and painted in large warehouses adjacent to the site. Whenever feasible, construction materials were processed and taken to the job site only as needed.

Laura and Roger Goodman recall that they fell in love with the landscape in Montauk during their first visit. Rolling brush-covered dunes descended to a beautiful white sand beach. “They were going to put the house within the bushes,” says Laura. “We said, “That’s even better. We don’t have to landscape.’” But when they returned some time later to inspect the home construction they found that the entire area had Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132