TREND HOME LETTERS TO THE TIMES LOS ANGELES TIMES Tuesday, July 6, 1948; p. 4 LETTERS TO THE TIMES: MODEL HOUSE VISITED Last week, at the invitation of a friend, I went to see a model home now on display. This home is not one of the so-called $15,000 beauties. It isn't even a $10,000 bargain but is a home that has all the modern conveniences needed in our houses today and sells for $5,500. The reason I am writing this letter is because I have noticed how much publicity has been given to the $15,000 doghouses and how this home, which is within the means of most average families, has been completely ignored. C. D. Berg, Los Angeles LOS ANGELES TIMES Wednesday, July 14, 1948; p. 4 LETTERS TO THE TIMES: THAT MODEL HOUSE More power to expressions of opinions like C. D. Berg's in letter to Times. Why, indeed, not give publicity to this house, that seems to be ideal not only in eye appeal, construction, household facilities and equipment, but also in its reasonable price. I take it that the writer refers to the "Trend Home" at the Warner Bros. Sunset lot in Hollywood, the showing of which is being sponsored by the Cancer Society. The publicity given this house would at the same time benefit a worthy cause. A.V., Olive View [A.V. "takes it" correctly. The house Mr. Berg referred to is on the Warner Bros. Sunset lot in Hollywood. Many readers have inquired about its location.] Monday, August 16, 1948; p. 4 LETTERS TO THE TIMES: CRITIC OF LOW-COST HOME ANSWERED A recent letter relative to the Trend Home signed by E. F. K., Carpinteria, requires an official answer. Owing to the fact that we have been busy in setting up mass production facilities for the house, we have had little time to keep up with other than essential correspondence. At the display of the Trend Home recently held on the Warner Bros. lot in Hollywood, there were seven engineers (who conceived and built the house) in attendance at all times to explain that the house on display was a "handmade model" and as such this first completed model cost in excess of $70,000–not $8,000 or $10,000, as stated by E. F. K. The Trend Home is a completely industrialized house and is not prefabricated, as your correspondent stated. Too, its only reason for being is that it must be produced in vast quantities in order to be practical and to insure a low price. On the basis of 30 units a day, which will be produced in the first plant, which has been licensed to the Service Construction Corp. of Los Angeles, the price of the house can be even less than the $5,200 which we have been advertising. We are not trying to kid the public. Housing experts and financiers, as well as bankers, have told us to charge much more than the above price because, as they state, the market will stand it. However, it is our sincere effort to produce a low-cost house within the reach of people who have limited financial means and who direly need places to live. Owing to the large number of people who wanted to see the house, which is being displayed under the sponsorship of the Cancer Prevention Society of Los Angeles for the benefit of the Memorial Cancer Center, we were forced to dismantle and move it to a new location at 169 N La Brea Ave., where it will be put on public display again within the next week. MICHAEL SHORE, Los Angeles |