Barbara Billingsly and Funcitional Obsolescence

Yesterday Barbara Billingsley passed away.  She played the mother in a television program that ran from 1957 - 1963 called Leave it to Beaver.  For those of us from the generation that watched Wally and his family she was the perfect mother with the perfect family in the perfect house in the perfect neighborhood. It was sheer fantasy but we were young then and didn't know that.  We wanted to grow up just like the Mother in Leave it to Beaver. Things have changed since that 1950's.  Houses that had certain layouts and features worked back then and now are considered functionally obsolescent.  Think of how far we have come:

• By 1950, 45 percent of all new homes had an attached garage or carport.
• Sales of automatic washers first surpassed wringer washers in 1953.
• In the 1950s, coal was being replaced by fuel oil and natural gas

The 1950 home design was originally small, usually around 1,000 square feet and a one story ranch.  They had a living room, kitchen, and three small bedrooms. They probably had one bathroom, but may have had two. All of them had attached garages that created the long, low roof look so typical of this style house.   They cost anywhere from $7000 to $17,700 depending on where you were in the country and what appliances were included.

These 1950's ranch houses have evolved over the years.  They were functionally obsolescent without dining rooms, or 2nd bathrooms. maybe not enough bedrooms, eat in kitchens were demanded by families with small children. So these houses have been expanded, topped with a second level, dens, additional bathrooms have been added.  Cedar shake has been replaced with vinyl siding.

Guess what?  These houses are now considered retro and are being bought and reverted to their original products.  Vinyl is being removed and cedar shake being restored.  The public is okay with one level living again.  Things have come full circle.  Now these homes cost a lot more, however.