A February 1964 New York Times article described new homes being built in Lauderhill, Florida, where you could buy a 2-bedroom, 1 1/2 bath house for $16,990, "completely furnished, even down to the dishes and linens." This was the Leisurama South development, built by All-State Homes, which also built Leisurama in Montauk, on Long Island, New York.
A 2005 episode of PBS' History Detectives traced the path from Nixon and Khrushev's Kithchen Debate in Moscow to these modern homes near Fort Lauderdale. Architect Andrew Geller designed the kitchen where those two world leaders argued the relative merits of their contry's political systems, while looking at household appliances. Geller also designed the Leisurama homes.
Herbert Sadkin was the developer of Lauderhill. An interesting quote from the History Detectives: "Richard Nixon used the kitchen debate to sell the world capitalism. Herbert Sadkin used it to sell houses in Florida." (click here for a pdf of the episode's transcript)
The City of Lauderhill's website includes the story of how its name came close to being "Sunnydale," if not for the advise of William Safire.
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I was just flipping through an old copy of the "Official Guide - New York World's Fair, 1964/1965" and saw an advertisement for Macy's. The ad mentioned Macy's connection to the Leisurama developments in New York and Florida - which led me to this site. Thanks for the additional information!
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