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