Unions opposed it, builders dismissed it, but the American homebuyer would embrace prefabricated housing as soon as they could afford it. Despite fierce opposition, the government made it a reality by allowing FHA financing on prefabricated homes with loans of $6,000 or less. In announcing this expansion, FHA’s administrator proclaimed, “What America needs is a good $6,000 house!” And, with that, American entrepreneurship kicked into high gear in 1948.
Jim and George Price responded immediately, building a model home that incorporated their decade-long experience prefabbing nearly 14,000 homes in their Lafayette, Indiana factory. When they listed this two-bedroom model for $5,750 with a lot included, they drew a crowd of 3,000 people on the first day they showed it, booking 300 orders. Afterward, inquiries came from other builders, many of whom were from out-of-state, lending credence to the Price’s ambitions of taking their company, National Homes, into the national market. [For all images, See PDF or View in Full Issue.]
Meanwhile, traditional builders like William Levitt of Levittown acclaim went back to stick framing after the war. Others tried building components on site, but few could realize enough savings to get under the $6,000 threshold.
But an increasing number of builders realized that they could not build components efficiently in the field, so they began ordering packages from prefabbers. By 1951, over 3,000 builder-dealers had allied themselves with one of 60 prefabricators. This impromptu arrangement produced a torrent of desperately needed affordable houses, delivering the American Dream to millions of World War II veterans and average middle-class Americans.
The lasting legacy of the prefabbers is that they embedded the use of trusses into residential framing practices. Because the prefabbers installed windows and doors in wall panels, once the trusses were installed and sheathed, the entire structure was closed in and finish work could begin. There were a few large multi-plant firms, including National Homes and Scholz Homes, that framed rafters and ceiling joists 4’ on center, and dropped in premade 2x4 ladder-framed roof and ceiling panels between them. However, these holdouts would soon convert to trusses to recover space on their delivery loads, since trusses would consume only one-tenth the volume as roof and ceiling panels.
In the summer of 1950, National Homes purchased a 175,000 sq. ft. former army depot in upstate New York to build homes for their eastern dealers, producing 10,000 homes that year. By then, they were the dominant producer in the country, building approximately one-third of all prefabbed units. Gradually their practices were being accepted by the building community, leading to their appearance at the NAHB Exposition in 1952. Co-owner and VP George Price attributed their success to volume buying, affordable pricing, and shipping the whole house on a single truck.
The turn of the half century brought amazing tracts of entry-level housing and uplifted millions of families across America. The majority of these homes have weathered well, as shown in these present-day pictures of two 75-year-old beauties.
Also in 1950, The University of Illinois set up its Small Homes Council to determine the best ways to design and build the most affordable homes, those typically 24’ x 36’ in size. They began by studying the most efficient interior wall layouts, and in the early 1950s erected houses to determine the optimal construction techniques, paving the way for wider acceptance of panelization and truss use. Also, at this time, a young engineer named Cal Jureit was testing the best way to connect trusses in a small lab in south Florida, and his work would soon blossom with the invention of the modern truss plate.
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The Earliest Housing Innovator
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