The Genius of The Lawns

According to Bob Wiese, RHS class of 1966, this picture is one of the few Cap Cod style houses left in The Lawns. Originally, there were 310 houses of this type and by the late 1960s they were all within a short walk of the Hawes Elementary School. Children didn't have to worry about crossing busy streets without supervision, unlike most of the other elementary schools in Ridgewood.

Bob goes on the say in a FaceBook post on the Ridgewood Ex Pats group wall:

There were no garages or fences, The home owners build their own garages and fences ( they would go into the woods and cut down white birch trees and make a fence out of them.). They drilled their own well to water their grass. Sounds like the wilderess to me, but then on Monday the men would board the train and go to work in the big city NY and return around 6pm by train to their nice little homestead. All was right with the world.

Sounds like something most people would appreciate now, too.

I call this all "genius" because the houses were affordable, they were located near plenty of woods for the children to explore, and there was nearby public transportation for the commuters. According to one source, the Cap Cods sold for between $9,000 and $12,000. While I admit this must be adjusted for inflation, the fact is you could come up with the 20% down payment more easily than a 20% down payment today on a house costing $600,000. It's the tyranny of large numbers which makes those old time homes seem more affordable.