NEW YORK TIMES Sunday, May 28, 1961; p. 1, 8R $2,950 HOUSE SHELL MADE OF ALUMINUM The house, scheduled for volume production, will be sold nationally though the Major Realty Corporation of Rosemont, Pa., Alcoa's associate in the venture. The basic price of $2,950 includes an aluminum shell, consisting of the walls and roof, aluminum frame, sliding windows, aluminum jalousie doors and roughed-in plumbing. Sliding glass doors between living room and patio, or bedroom and garden, may be substituted for any part of the outer walls at no extra cost. Completing the house — partitioning the interior, and installing the plumbing, electrical wiring, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, septic tank and well — can be undertaken by the buyer or Major Realty. The company estimates that a completed house, including land, will sell for about $7,500. The shell is 28 feet long and 24 feet wide. It has almost 700 square feet of floor space, which can be partitioned into two bedrooms, living room, kitchen and bath. The ceiling height is seven and a half feet. The factory-made aluminum wall and roof components come in various colors. The manufacturer says that they will not need repainting for at least ten years. The aluminum wall panels contain a core of plastic foam insulation and have an interior finish of Masonite. The roof sections also are insulated with plastic foam to deaden the sound of rain and to prevent condensation. Insulation against temperature extremes is contained in the space between the ceiling and the roof. The shell was developed in consultation with Prof. Pietro Belluschi, dean of architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; C. Frederick Wise, architect, of Rosemont, Pa.; and Jacques Fresco, industrial designer of Miami, Fla. The first models of the shell will soon be erected on a tract owned by Major Realty two miles west of Jacksonville, Fla. |