Levitt Houses: Expansion Attics

By Emily Rennie, Archivist for the Levittown History Collection

Most people would agree that one of the eeriest parts of a house is its attic. To celebrate this spine-chilling season on the Levittown History Collection Blog, we’re taking a look at the expansion attics built into the original Levitt houses in Levittown, N.Y.

Worthing, J. (n.d.). Interior Construction of an Attic and Crawl Space [Photograph]. Photograph Collection (LHC.PHO.1036, Book X, PHO.256). Levittown History Collection, Levittown Public Library, Levittown, N.Y.

Attics are a common setting in horror movies, capitalizing on their darkness and unfamiliarity to symbolize hidden and unexplored secrets. In stark contrast, attics in early Levitt homes were a symbolic platform for growth, upon which home-owners could practice American individualism within their cookie-cutter suburb.

Homes in the Levittown development were mass-produced at a rate of 20 houses per day¹. The building firm, Levitt & Sons, made several architectural decisions to reach such a production speed that could accommodate the high demand for housing after the war, including the decision to construct expansion attics. These unfinished second floors required low effort for construction crews to assemble and could easily be converted into habitable spaces in the future by the home-owner. The DIY potential of the attic space made the identical homes adaptable to the different and evolving needs of families.

Eisinger, L. (1955). Levitt House Attic. In L. Eisinger (Ed.), How to Finish Attics and Basements (pp. 50-53). Fawcoll Publications Inc. Reference Collection (Literature), Levittown History Collection, Levittown Public Library, Levittown, N.Y.

Residents took pride in transforming their spaces and in helping others in the community to do the same. During the 1950's, Levittown resident, Oscar Spier, instructed attic construction courses at Division Avenue School to teach even the inexperienced carpenter methods of remodeling². Around the same time, another Levittowner, Harry Burroughs, published a series of articles in the first volume of Levittown’s magazine, Thousand Lanes, that guided basic renovations on early Levitt attics³. Burroughs provided intricate instructions, including an introduction to construction terminology, to support the local community in individually transforming their homes.

Burroughs, H. E. (1952, January). Attic Construction: In easy stages. Thousand Lanes, 1(3) 8-9, 23, 25. Thousand Lanes Collection (LHC.THO.1001), Levittown History Collection, Levittown Public Library, Levittown, N.Y.

Wheaton, J. (1951, December). A Leavitt– not Levitt finished attic room. Thousand Lanes, 1(2) 14-15. Thousand Lanes Collection (LHC.THO.1001), Levittown History Collection, Levittown Public Library, Levittown, N.Y.

Eisinger, L. (1955). Levitt House Attic. In L. Eisinger (Ed.), How to Finish Attics and Basements (pp. 50-53). Fawcoll Publications Inc. Reference Collection (Literature), Levittown History Collection, Levittown Public Library, Levittown, N.Y.

In 1951, four years after the development began, Levitt & Sons announced that new houses built for the development would include a partially finished attic, supplying an additional 180 square feet of living space⁴. The new attic room would come complete with “a double-size clothes closet…a three-drawer chest, a section of open shelves and a section of sliding-door cabinets⁵.”

Extra room built in ‘51 Levitt home. (1951, April 8). New York Times, 6R. Vertical File (Early Levittown I), Levittown History Collection, Levittown Public Library, Levittown, N.Y.

These days, it would be difficult to find an unfinished attic in Levittown– they have all been transformed. The houses themselves are barely recognizable as the replicated starter homes they began as, each one remodeled and expanded upon, starting with the attic.