Levittown Lifer Preserves Jubilee History

In 1958, Sally Sondesky and her husband Jack purchased an original Levittown Jubilee home in the Highland Park section of town where they still reside today. Because many original aspects of the home have been preserved, museums, students from abroad and authors have taken interest in the home.

For instance, up until 2002, Sondesky's home featured the original, all pink kitchen. She despised the color. When she finally decided to remodel, she planned to store the kitchen in her garage just to preserve it, since it was an original.

"I hated it from day one, but we couldn't afford [to redo] it," she said. "I had it from 1958 until 2002."

Shortly after they decided to remodel, she said she saw an ad in the paper promoting Levittown's 50th anniversary and looking for people who lived and worked in the area. Sondesky called the state museum, which placed the ad, and told them she still lived in an original home.

"I said I have the original kitchen and he said, 'No, you don't,' and I said, 'Yes, I do,'" she explained. After going back and forth like this for a while, the gentleman asked if she had the refrigerator that was sold with the house.

"I said I do. You're welcome to come look at it. He comes in and is standing at the edge of the kitchen in disbelief. I said, 'Believe it and I hate it,'" she laughs.

So she decided to donate the kitchen, cabinets, stove, washer and dryer, refrigerator and all to the state museum to be used in an exhibit honoring Levittown. The exhibit explored the early history of the town from the perspective of the people who built and lived the suburban dream, according to the museum's website.

Then in 2008, Sondesky's kitchen was featured in a book—"America's Kitchens"—that explored the importance of the room and highlighted technological developments and more through photos and illustrations.

She got the book not knowing what to expect, opened it to the first page and there was a picture of her children and some other neighborhood kids enjoying a snack at the table in her kitchen. Photos of the room and an enlarged photo of the first picture were featured later in the book.

Cookie Cutter Homes

Levittown featured mass-produced, single-family homes. According to the state museum's website, "Levitt sacrificed individuality and custom design for low-cost efficiency." The development featured six house models in different styles. For instance, each style had a different kitchen color, according to Sondesky. The Jubilee was pink, she said, but others were all yellow or blue.

This has led students from abroad to track down Sondesky to study her home and the surrounding area.

"Swedish and German students come to study the architecture of mass produced homes and return to school and give presentations on it," Sondesky said.

Most recently, Sondesky welcomed a group of students from Germany's Bauhaus school to tell them about her home and Levittown.

"They were so taken with it," she said.

Though she and her husband have donated the kitchen and made some other additions to the home, many features are still original. For example, Sondesky's downstairs bathroom has the original blue toilet and bath tub, some rooms have the original wooden flooring and paint on the walls, and outside she still uses the original mail box and garage lights. When people come through to see the home she shows them these features, as well as the spacious bathroom cabinets (which she says are on of her favorite features) and the original windows.

The German students returned to their university and held a presentation on Levittown. They sent Sondesky photos and an informational flyer promoting a new class focused on the area. The class, which is in its second semester, explores, "Levittown, the role model of American suburbia, and the fate of its latest developments as the starting point of a comparative international study on economic, social and cultural implication of a global suburbia."

Sharing History

Sondesky said she was surprised that these students had such a strong interest in her home and the architecture, but that she loves to share the history with anyone who is interested. This can be attributed to her love of history: She helped form the Bensalem Historical Society and wrote the books on the town's history, in addition to her hobby of studying genealogy.

While she knows a lot about Bensalem, she also knows a lot about Levittown. But she said she has never had the opportunity to share that wealth of knowledge other than with the state museum, the kitchen book and through the students. It is, however, something that she said she would love to do.

"I would love to get involved in it... preserving the history of Levittown," she said. "I've never seen an ad. I would, but I don't know who to go to."

Sondesky said that since there aren't too many original Levittown people around, she would love to do something for the 60th anniversary, if anyone is planning anything.

She and Jack have no plans on leaving Levittown. She's from Bensalem and he is from Croydon, and all of their family lives nearby, so why would they move? Furthermore, she said the house is really well built, which made them want to stay.

"Yes, it was made like a production line, but we've never had a problem," she said. "All in all these were a wonderful buy. You couldn't ask for anything better really. You can add on to them. You can do a lot with them."

Her son has even vocalized his interest in moving in, so the Sondesky's hope is to stay in the Jubilee home as long as possible and then keep it in the family thereafter.