1949 - Architecture, Real Estate

Architecture, Real Estate

Congress passes a federal Housing Act July 15 to fund slum-clearance and low-rent public housing projects. Sen. Robert Taft (R. Ohio) has sponsored the legislation. Title I of the new Housing Act encourages municipalities to acquire and resell substandard areas at prices below cost for private redevelopment.

A two-bedroom U.S. house sells typically for $10,000 while a five-bedroom New York apartment rents for $110 per month. A four-bedroom duplex cooperative apartment in the East 60s near Park Avenue with two-story living room and wood-burning fireplace in its 16 x 21-foot library sells for $8,250 with annual maintenance of $2,970, an eight-room co-op on Fifth Avenue in the 70's with three bedrooms, 30 x 17-foot living room, and a view of Central Park sells for $7,434 with annual maintenance of $3,591.

New York architect Philip Johnson puts up a glass house at New Canaan, Conn., to serve as his residence.

Houston's Shamrock Hotel opens March 17 (St. Patrick's Day). Wildcat oil millionaire Glenn McCarthy has built the place.