For the $50-a-Weelc Man

As an ex-Chicago realtor, Federal Housing Expediter Tighe E. Woods can sympathize with landlords caught between frozen rents and swollen costs. Woods also knows that rent controls would be unnecessary if moderate-income families could get decent houses at decent prices.

Last week, beefy, blue-eyed Tighe (rhymes with buy) Woods invited newsmen to his air-conditioned Washington office and shyly announced that he had a surprise for them: he had built a house to sell for $6,750, including a 1/2-acre lot and a septic tank. Explained Woods: "I thought it was about time somebody did something about housing the guy who makes $50 a week. The building industry told me it couldn't be done, so I decided to find out for myself."

Woods had simply turned the project over to an architect friend, who had got the job done. The architect's fee was $400 for each of the first two houses, but would be shaved to $50 each on a mass-production basis. Woods's profit: $350 a house.

When the newsmen went to see the house, out in the nearby Virginia woods, they found a plain 14 ft. 8 1/2 in. by 36 ft. 8 1/4 in. structure, of plywood walls inside and redwood walls outside, insulated with aluminum foil and wool. Besides picture windows and a cozy fireplace, the house has a small bedroom separated by a draw curtain from the living room. The living room can also be converted into a second bedroom. The house is heated by a system of glass-radiant heaters that plug into sockets, throw off infra-red rays which warm the body but not the air.

The newsmen agreed that, while it was not much bigger than a dollhouse, it was attractive and well built. Georgia's salty old Congressman Carl Vinson, Chairman of the Armed Services Committee, had a more positive reaction. Vinson's committee was studying a bill to spend an average of $16,500 apiece for houses for 7,798 armed services families. After a look at Woods's house, the Congressman demanded: "How come the Army needs $16,000 if another Government official can do it for $6,700?"

Soldiers at nearby Fort Belvoir were already excited over the house. Woods had said that he would build 42 altogether, and sell them for $40 to $45 per month with no down payment.

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