Property of Mr. and Mrs. Irving Zion, Lawrence, Long Island, New York | Archiects: William N. Breger and Stanley Salzman

9/06/2025 09:33:00 PM

After the children marry and go off to homes of their own. father and mother have won their independence. Once more there are just two of them. This can be a time of new freedom, leisure and fresh horizons. It proved so with the Irving Zions. When both their children had married and Mr. Zion, an attorney, had rounded out 12 years as Mayor of Lawrence, Long Island, he and Mrs. Zion gave up their big, old house and built a compact new one in the same community. Originally they intended to spend winters in New York. But the house did so much to pamper them and free them from care that they are now busy with local activities all year round. It has proved to be a house, not for retirement from life, but one that continually renews their interests. Many such houses are going up today in numbers rivaling those built for young marrieds.

The Zions' former house was boxy and closed in and demanded endless upkeep. The new one, in contrast, takes care of them instead of calling for ceaseless care itself. All on one level, it has no stairs to climb and consists of just four, easily managed rooms. Walnut plywood walls need no repainting, dust-catching trim is eliminated, a stone floor wants only occasional mopping. Dust circulation is discouraged by radiant heat in floor and ceiling which provides draftless warmth at an even temperature.

On the south and east sides of the house, glass walls invite solar heat, too, so that on sunny winter days the furnace shuts off from 10 A.M. until 4 P.M., greatly reducing fuel bills. The house is equally comfortable in summer. Roof overhangs keep out the sun and indoor temperatures can be lowered 10° to 15° in less than half an hour by faucets which flood the roof with cold water.

To save steps, there are telephone jacks throughout the house, speakers for music indoors and out, pass-through storage between kitchen and dining area and a radio controlled garage door.

Best of all, according to the Zions, is their closeness to outdoors. Glass walls at the rear of the house look out on two landscaped golf courses and beyond them the boats sailing on the Reynolds Channel. The pleasures of bird watching, sunrise and sunset, a dramatic snow- fall or rainstorm, changes of season can all be enjoyed from the snug comfort of the living room. On the two acres surrounding the house, paved terraces, ground cover and gravel paths eliminate all grass cutting, while evergreens and flowering trees do away with the "manicuring" of flower beds. But thousands of spring and fall bulbs, tubs of geraniums and chrysanthemums give Mrs. Zion, a long time gardener, the flowers she loves. Now she has the leisure to enjoy them.