THEN AND NOW: Merilee Flamm's residence at 8 Cherrytree Lane

From 1958. Merilee Flamm, class of 1961, in front of her Levittown home.

The 9 Cherrytree Lane house as it looked last month.

Her 8 Cherrytree Lane Cape Cod house in 1954.

Looking east down Cherrytree Lane to Valley Road.

By Merilee Flamm Kubart

Class of 1961

My mom and dad bought this two bedroom Cape Cod house in 1949. It was a resale and just two houses away from my aunt, uncle and two cousins. My brother and I shared a room until my father was able to finish off part of the attic as a bedroom for him.

It was fun living so close to my two cousins, and our family seemed so much bigger because of it. My parents and aunt and uncle would host big family holiday dinners in our small house by taking the furniture out of the living room and putting several tables together with many chairs.

We were two blocks up the street from Division Avenue High School and a short walk from both the North Village Green and Mays/Penney's shopping center on Hempstead Turnpike.

Split sessions were the word of the day, and we were sent from school to school across the district as they were built. When Summit Lane was completed, I remained in place for three years until I went on to Division Avenue for junior high and then high school.

As the years went by, there were many changes on Cherrytree Lane. Most of the houses were enlarged in one way or another. My parents added a front porch, extended the kitchen and main floor bedroom, and broke through the living room wall to make a dining room/living room with a built in fireplace. The attic was extended again and another bedroom appeared. I lived in this house until I got married in 1965 when we moved to a garden apartment in Jericho.

I continued to visit my parents home almost every day and we even bought our own Levitt house on Gardiners Avenue in 1967. My parents sold the house in 1972 and moved to Florida. I've seen the house many times over the years, and took another look before we left Long Island in 2008. Everything looks very different these days and I'm happy for all the good memories that remain.

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Color photos by Marilyn Monsrud Frese.