been bulldozed over. “We couldn’t believe it,” she says. “It looked like a desert.” All-State Properties had not realized that the entire site was mostly clay, covered by only a thin layer of sand. When Piser arrived, he realized that there was insufficient drainage, and he was forced to remove all foliage from the area, then dig 200 eighty-foot deep holes and fill them with sand to install cesspools.
At this point the town of East Hampton ordered All-State to halt sales of further Leisurama units until a sewage treatment plant could be constructed. The additional costs proved too much for All-State and production stopped after the initial 200 homes were completed.
Today, the vast majority of Leisurama homes constructed in 1965 are still intact. Many have been remodeled and additions attached, but for the most part, they still have carports and picture windows in their original locations and many retain their original furnishings. A few are still owned by their first occupants.
Property values in Culloden are now considerably higher than in the ‘60s, due to increased demand for land near the beach. With East Hampton township now a summer playground for the wealthy, it is not unusual for building lots to sell for more than a million dollars. “There’s nothing here that the average working man can afford,” says real estate agent Bill Wilson. Long time resident Maura Donahue is sure that the Leisurama homes will be torn down eventually and replaced with much larger homes. “That’s valuable beachfront property there,” she says.
“You can go into a department store and buy anything over the counter, except a home,” says Debbie Millman, brand developer, historian and consumer trend specialist. “Why not do it all over again? It’s brilliant! The concept would certainly hold appeal today – especially if someone such as Martha Stewart or Philippe Starck were involved. But if they were built, it wouldn’t be low cost. The only way something low cost could be developed is if it were on the outskirts of an active volcano, couldn’t provide wi-fi and you needed a plane, train and an automobile to get there.”
The Goodman family, like other original Leisurama owners, are aware of the value of the home they have held onto so dearly for 43 years. “Houses have been escalating in cost,” says Laura Goodman. “That’s the way it works. I’m not selling.”
Jake Gorst is a writer and filmmaker. His documentary Leisurama will be broadcast on PBS affiliated television stations throughout the summer and fall of 2008. Copies of the film will be available at
www.leisurama.info.
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