Slowly, rumor morphed into reality: Men in suits were negotiating with local farmers, initially to buy 300 acres, then 300 more. And back then, nobody knew for sure who the buyer was.

It was none other than William J. Levitt, already the creator of Levittown, Long Island, and Levittown, Bucks County. He would forever change the face of a part of Burlington County where the land was flat and Route 130 was an access road. Eventually, 4,900 acres would be earmarked for a community and a shopping center.

In planting his last Levittown, the developer also changed the lives of generations of home buyers, many of them young families seeking fresh air and green grass in the suburbs.

They got that in a town ultimately divided into 11 "parks," each with street names that began with the same letter, and offering schools, pools and recreation areas. Prices started, back in 1958, at $11,990 for the smallest Levitt model, the Cape Cod; about $13,000 for a rancher, and $14,500 for three- and four-bedroom Colonials, all with appliances included.

Later, several more-deluxe models were added, including the Framingham, an expanded Cape Cod with five bedrooms, and a handful of Manor Houses, stately Southern Colonials with front pillars.

In October 1963, Levittown Township's citizens voted to change its name back to Willingboro, to establish its identity apart from the other Levittowns. The move so enraged Levitt that the developer withdrew funding for building the community's schools.

Now through the end of the year, Willingboro is marking the 50th anniversary of its first Levitt houses. We asked some longtime residents to tell us how their homes, each a different Levitt model, have served them and why they have stayed for decades.

Marie Weller and her husband, Ned, were living in a small apartment in Pennsauken when they decided they should have a look at the Levitt models going up a few miles north.

"We already had looked at the homes in Levittown, Pa., but my husband didn't like the idea of crossing the bridge - he was working at the Ford Motor Co., first in Teterboro and then in Pennsauken," Weller recalls. "We looked at the smallest model, the Cape Cod, and we fell in love with it."

What captivated the Wellers, and countless others, was a design that had the look and feel of a New England cottage with "two and two" - two bedrooms upstairs, two downstairs.

"I loved the turquoise cabinets in the kitchen, which were very popular back in 1958," she says, "and we loved the price, which was $11,990, with an $87 down payment."

The Wellers moved into their Cape in Levitt's first park, Somerset, on Dec. 26, 1958. "All of our neighbors were young, all of us were happy to have homes of our own and space for our kids."

Marie and Ned Weller also had flexibility. As more children came along (for a total of five), and as Ned's mother moved in and stayed with the family for 15 years, there were periodic bedroom shifts. At one point, the four Weller boys occupied the two upstairs bedrooms, with Grandma joining them. Karen, the family's only girl, moved into the second downstairs bedroom - the one not occupied by her parents.

"At various times, our older boys wanted their own rooms, so adjustments had to be made, but we never felt that the house was too small," says Marie Weller. "The only modification we ever made was to add a screened porch that we glassed in after a few years."

The eight occupants of the house lived in about 1,250 square feet, quite happily. The Cape Cod had no dining room and no family room, but it had more important things, Weller says.

"We always felt cozy and comfortable in the house - it suited us at every stage of our lives. And when the children left, Ned and I moved back upstairs into the largest bedroom."

Marie Weller, now 77, lost her husband over the summer, and her children are urging her to consider moving into a 55-plus community. But she resists.

"The kitchen is upgraded with cherry cabinets and bisque appliances now," she says, "and I love the look and feel of the rooms. This is home for me - it has been for 50 years. We really made a wonderful decision back in 1958."