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Self-Gleoning Homes Forecost

Self-cleaning homes with glowing partition-walls, yearround climate control, and multi-colored lighting were predicted by Industrial Designer Henry Dreyfuss at the opening dinner of McCall's 1958 Congress on Better Living in Washington, October 7.

An outdoor electric eye will automatically balance room light with daylight: as the sun goes down, our glowing walls will give us more light. Our glowing walls will actually be portable partitions, with built-in wiring, electrical outlets, and sliding doors that will open as you approach and break an electric eye beam, allowing housewives to glide from room to room "with their hands full of packages or babies," Dreyfuss pointed out.

The American woman wants more house, by which she means not only more rooms but larger rooms, and she wants better design, by which she means not only the exterior attractiveness and appearance of the house but the way in which that house is oriented into the landscape.

These are the two major trends which developed out of the first of four sessions of the Znd annual Congress on Better Living, a three-day conference of 100 homemaker delegates assembled in Washington, D.C. from all 48 states and Alaska, and held under the sponsorship of McCall's.

The delegates were positive in their desire for more house -50% of them wanted a home with 6 to 8 rooms, which is larger than their present homes; they realize full well that space must be paid for, and went on record as preferring a larger house even though it is not fitted with builtin equipment and appliances rather than a smaller fully equipped house. They want in these homes 2 to 2% b^t}:,rooms and they want these bathrooms bigger.

Many favor the use of native material-such as redwood and fieldstone, and they insist on exterior finishes that are not a drain on the family pocketbook for maintenance.

There is a growing trend toward the family room. But, one of the delegates cautioned the family room is being made to house too many activities, some of which are conflicting. The vote was for a large flexible and even divided area, with one suggestion being advanced to combine the living room with the family room into one huge area.

Many other suggestions were made by the delegates of things they would like to have but would not insist on, among them an entry hall, a mudroom, window walls, provided the house is properly oriented, sound-proofing and one woman expressed a wish for a family prayer chapel.

HlllFAdministrator Albert M. Cole recertified the workable program ,by which Los Angeles, Calif., in May 1955 launched its fight to eradicate slums and blight. The city reports little difficulty in relocating families displaced as a result of urban 'renewal activities and that more than adequate housing is available for purchase or rental at all levels and in all portions of the community.