Leisurama is a development of vacation homes in Montauk, New York, that was constructed between 1963 and 1965 following the developer's success with a model home at the 1959 American National Exhibition in Moscow.
Some of the Leisurama homes were exhibited at the 1964 New York World's Fair,[1] and the development was subject of a 2005 documentary, titled "Leisurama", broadcast by PBS.
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In 1959, Andrew Geller, vice president of the Housing and Home Components department at Loewy/Snaith, supervised the design for the exhibition, the "Typical American House," built at the American National Exhibition in Moscow. The exhibition home largely replicated a home previously built at 398 Townline Road[2] in Commack, New York, which had been originally designed by Stanley H. Klein for a Long Island-based firm, All-State Properties (later known as Sadkin enterprises),[3] headed by developer Herbert Sadkin.[4][5] To accommodate visitors to the exhibition, Sadkin hired Loewy's office to modify Klein's floor plan.[2] Geller supervised the work, which "split" the house, creating a way for large numbers of visitors to tour the small house[2] and giving rise to its nickname, Splitnik.[2]
Subsequently, Richard Nixon (then Vice President) and Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev on July 24, 1959 began what became known as the Kitchen Debate — a debate over the merits of capitalism vs. socialism, with Khrushchev saying Americans could not afford the luxury represented by the "Typical American House".[6] Tass, the Soviet news agency said: "There is no more truth in showing this as the typical home of the American worker than, say, in showing the Taj Mahal as the typical home of a Bombay textile worker."[2]
The temporary 'Typical American House' exhibit was demolished, and the developer hired William Safire as the company's marketing agent.[2] All-State later hired Geller[2] to design the homes, marketed at Macy's and built on Long Island — leveraging the press coverage from the Russian exhibition.[2]
Visitors to Macy's could view and purchase an entire home — down to and including a 45 piece, eight place setting of Melmac dishware — which was displayed on the 9th floor at the store's central New York location. The houses were marketed aggressively, and Herbert Sadkin's All-State Properties (later Sadkin Enterprises)[3] — built approximately 200 of the homes in a development called Culloden Point (variously described as Culloden Shores) in Montauk, New York in 1963 and 1964. All-State went on develop Leisurama homes in an area near Fort Lauderdale, which grew into the city of Lauderhill.[3]
In 2003, The New York Times described the Macy's homes:
